All About Rachel

11 Comments

1. 

   BooMan on January 27, 2009 at 4:41 pm

   I’m off to DL.  I just want to say that I love Robert Gibbs and may consider becoming his fanboy.  

   • 

     Steven D on January 27, 2009 at 4:45 pm

     Ah the mancrush. Don’t worry Boo, I’ll protect your little secret.

   • 

     michaelmt on January 27, 2009 at 7:29 pm

     Fans of both…

     Love the way Gibbs actually responds to people, rather than repeating talking points. Brightest in the position in a long, long time!

     And Maddow–I’m literally losing sleep over her, since I get up very early.

2. 

   MikeInOhio on January 27, 2009 at 5:13 pm

   LESLEY: Do you think, as a self-proclaimed liberal, that you’re actually going to have trouble covering him? Do you find that having come off covering Bush, where it was so easy to be negative and to take your shots, that you’re going to find yourself in a difficult place?

   MADDOW:  No, I don’t. Honestly, it’s two things. The first is that I think there is no shortage of bad ideas in Washington and some of them will come from the administration, and some will come from the opposition. I enjoy making fun of a bad idea, no matter who says it.
   …
   I also don’t feel any loyalty or particular affection for any individual politician, the president included.

   LESLEY: That was interesting. And that kind of surprises me. I’m glad that you’re doing that, because I think that a president whose feet aren’t held to the fire right away, can get too heady.

   Yep! Wouldn’t want a President to get too heady or anything.  They might invade a country for no good reason or decide to shred the Constitution.  Glad to see Leslie Stahl has come around to the primary role of journalism in our democracy….about eight years too late.

   • 

     Sawgrass on January 28, 2009 at 12:02 am

     Given your citation, and questions and comments like these…

     LESLEY: But still, you are a screaming intellectual.

     [What is a screaming intellectual?]

     …
     LESLEY: … You know, I anchored “Face the Nation” through two presidents and they — it was Reagan and then it was Bush One. And Carter, as well. I was there. But they all really had a system of being completely fair among the networks, and rotating and so forth.

     [Hey Leslie remember something: That was an entirely different era. There were no alternatives besides the Big 3 and PBS then, and Fox News didn’t even exist until 1996. ]

     …
     LESLEY: [MSNBC is] trying to make you into the un-Fox network, the liberal place to go.

     [Isn’t this simply a right wing talking point? I like how Rachel’s rebuttal uses blatantly obvious examples that discredit the false claim.]

     I don’t know Leslie Stahl’s body of work but this interview seemed to lack preparation, and she seemed willing to spout conventional wisdom without any critical thinking about her own perspectives.  I was surprised how easily Rachel schooled her on how to handle Cheney and global warming.  I was not impressed with this interview.

     Not only is it refreshing to have a president who is smart, Rachel shows the value of having smart journalists, too.

3. 

   Zandar1 on January 27, 2009 at 5:30 pm

   I like Rachel.  She’s terribly intelligent and uses the work “dorknozzle”.

   • 

     budr on January 27, 2009 at 5:37 pm

     And she makes infrastructure sound sexy.  I straighten up just a bit and give her my full attention when she says it.

     • 

       ask on January 27, 2009 at 6:00 pm

       She’s said as much several times. She perks up (even more) when the subject comes up.

     • 

       halo0 on January 27, 2009 at 10:28 pm

       Careful, you don’t want to stray into Rich Lowry territory!

4. 

   robertdsc on January 27, 2009 at 9:56 pm

   <3<3<3 for Rachel.

5. 

   Hurria on January 28, 2009 at 2:07 am

   Rachel is an uber-smart lady, and I am very glad she is not giving Obama an easy pass. I really wish she would take him on for that bombing in Pakistan and killing an entire family on his second or third day in office, though. Way to imitate Bush, Barack!

   I often disagree with Juan Cole, but on this I agree with him. And he has more to say about it here. Killing children in his first week in office is not change I can believe in. Oh wait – it’s not change at all.