Today: An absolute humdinger of a show. Rachel chats with Ron Paul, Bob Barker (yes, THAT Bob Barker), and the marvelous Elizabeth Warren.
Common Wisdom #Fail
Rachel started us off with the observation that, thanks to the announcements of three whole retirements, many terribly savvy political analysts have decided that the Democratic Party is totally collapsing and maybe on fire and is definitely now less relevant than the Whigs or the Free Soil Party.
Rachel gently called bullpucky by noting that there might be one or two difficulties on the Republican side as well, given that they are currently being completely flummoxed by tea partiers and occasionally by crazy dumb frothing racist tea partiers.
Rachel welcomed Congressman Ron Paul (R — Texas) to discuss the internecine conflicts and how kids today just can’t stop talking about the secrecy of the Fed.
And then she wished him goodnight with one of the most hilariously tactful outros I’ve ever seen.
“Admit We Have a Problem”
Rachel reported the wondrous news that Michael Steele wants to come on The Rachel Maddow Show! But before the silent tears of joy had finished rolling down my cheeks, Rachel broke the news that the Republican National Committee won’t let him.
For some reason, I can’t think what, Steele’s RNC colleagues don’t want him to go on the air with a host who has a crack team of video archivists, a subversive sense of humor, and a brain that can laser through solid granite.
Some people think Republicans are heartless just because they’ve been trying to block health care legislation that would save thousands of lives a year. But you only see the real cruelty when they take Michael Steele from us.
Someone, please. I am begging you: Infiltrate the RNC and make this happen. We’ll all be the richer for it.
Steele is eager to empathize on our behinds at the moment because he has just released a book called Right Now: A 12-Step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda.
Rachel suggested that a good first step might be admitting to a problem with nards-out lying as though the Internet does not exist, or as if they had a whole national news outlet that would never, ever fact-check them.
Oh.
The latest gambit has been to claim, ridiculously, that President Obama doesn’t say the word “terrorism” enough. Rachel speculated that some Republican talking heads think that saying the name of a thing enough times will keep it away.
DickCheneyDickCheneyDickCheneyDickCheneyDickCheneyDickCheneyDickCheneyDickCheney.
Bob Barker and the Whalers
Rachel showed us footage of the Sea Shepherd trimaran the Ady Gil clashing with a Japanese whaling boat. After the Gil‘s bow was smashed, its crew had to be rescued by the Bob Barker.
You’ll never guess where that one got its name.
Bob Barker, a longtime animal rights activist, donated $5 million to Sea Shepherd’s Captain Paul Watson after he guessed the price of the mission without going over.
Ms. Information
The Obama administration has appointed Amanda Simpson, a cybersecurity expert, to be a senior technical advisor at the Department of Commerce.
Ms. Simpson is transgender, which means that we have to listen to idiot bigots howl about how being qualified for one’s job is totally irrelevant when someone makes them uncomfortable.
Rachel had the line of the night. Enjoy.
Protection Racket
Of all the things the Republicans seem to be getting away with lately, refusing to regulate financial institutions and trying to spin that refusal as a populist bid to help the little guy is the one that makes it the hardest to keep my jaw properly hinged.
Who believes that? Who in all the world believes that it would be a bad thing for regular folks if we had some rules for the people who jigger your interest rates and nearly made the economy collapse down to one based on trading scavenged food for rat bite bandages?
The remarkable Elizabeth Warren, who I would watch explain anything, joined Rachel to talk about why a Consumer Financial Protection Agency might in fact help consumers.
You know what, reality TV producers? I do not wish to see any more dancing, renovating, weight losing, or any show called [Noun] of Love.
What I want to see is a show in which Elizabeth Warren one by one visits, lectures, and shames the people who caused the financial collapse. I would watch the hell out of that show. I’m just saying.
Census Sensibility
The 2010 Census form asks about race, and one of the choices is “Black, African Am., or Negro,” which many people found, well, not actually offensive, but maybe a little off-putting and archaic, and definitely odd.
The Census Bureau explained that there is a sizable (older) population of people who identify as Negro and the Bureau didn’t want them to feel excluded.
David Wilson, managing editor and founder of TheGrio.com dropped in to chat with Rachel and say that having the word on the form isn’t exactly the way to fire the enthusiasm of younger Census participants.
Citizens who would like to let the Census Bureau know their views on the topic should type their comments neatly in triplicate on carbon paper, send them via telegram, or place a toll call to KLondike 5-1212.
