I woke up early for that?
I had (probably unwarranted) high hopes for MTP today. It seemed like all the of the ingredients were there for a great show. Insert crazy right wing guy in the middle of the mis-information campaign against reform (Dick Armey), kind of White House shill (Sen. Daschle) , Rep. Lawmaker (Sen. Tom Coburn) and progressive commentator (Maddow).
Needless to say, Gregory is an idiot. Due to being in Army training and now Iraq (I'm on 2 week R&R right now) for the past 2 years or so, this was the first full MTP I've seen since Gregory took over.....
I didn't know it had turned into this. dammit.
I was really excited about the prospects of having Dick Armey and Rachel Maddow on MTP together. Knowing that she always comes with facts and is great at turning the discussion from senseless talking points to the real debate, it seemed like a great opportunity to see someone actually face to face knock down the inaccuracies being spewed from people like Dick Armey.
BUT, I think my expectations for David Gregory were a little too high. During the second segment, EVERY single question proposed by Gregory was first directed at Sen. Daschle. It was so discouraging to have such a great opportunity (without being naive to the fact that not that many people watch MTP) to see someone so great at what they do on the show and see it wasted.
Rachel did a great job with the time she was given. But it was clear the idea to have Maddow on was to have a "liberal progressive" on the show. The final question, and only one directed at Rachel, went something like: "would liberals or progressives accept reform w/o a public option?"
It's clear the suits at NBC notice the success of Rachel's show, but don't really understand or care to understand what she actually says on her show. She presents common sense arguments and does so while debunking the crazy that is out there right now. She is a progressive. She is a liberal. But it doesn't define her as a commentator. It is clear that NBC doesn't get that.
UPDATE: Some clips from the show are up on NBC website. But I can't get them to embed here. Something about
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any help??
also. Rec list! nice.
with help! thanks lava!
UPDATEx2: From the comments about selection of guests to debate this issue. My dream line-up would be as follows: Sen. Max Baucus, Rep. Mike Pence, Rachel Maddow and Sen. Bernie Sanders . Oh how sweet that would be.