The progressive media are on a roll today. One show I saw on TV and another that I heard on the radio were among the best progressive broadcasts I've ever been privileged to see or hear. And, good news, if you missed them there's still time to remedy that.
The first was The Rachel Maddow Show. Chris Hayes was the guest host this evening, which usually means the show just isn't as good as it is when Rachel's there. (Sorry, Chris, I really like you, but Rachel is Rachel.) Tonight, that pattern was smashed to smithereens. The first half-hour of the show -- which is all I've seen so far, because I'm watching it in time-delay on my DVR -- was as good as some of the best episodes Rachel herself has ever done.
The first excellent thing he did was explain, in the same kind of patient, rational, step-by-step, incontrovertible detail that Rachel uses, why blaming state and municipal deficits on the public unions is bull puckey, plain and simple. It was a brilliant exposition, and the delivery was nothing short of masterful.
The next excellent thing he did was interview Ezra Klein. That's pretty much a no-lose proposition right there; Ezra is brain candy, and if he ever decides he wants to run for President I would be happy to quit my job to work on his campaign staff. But even Ezra outdid himself tonight, in his explanation of the underlying equities involved in breaking the public's promise to pay pensions to public employees.
So if you didn't get a chance to catch TRMS the first time through, or you saw it wasn't Rachel and changed channels, I highly recommend catching one of the reruns tonight.
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The other show that was awesomer than usual today was NorMAN GoldMAN, specifically the part of the show where he gave a little speech to Tea Partiers, about halfway through the 3-hour show. I tend to find his show a little simplistic, but he did a great job today of laying out for the Tea Party mind why they should not be blaming unions and the left for their problems, how we're really all on the same side, and the people who are really to blame are the corporate interests.
It was really very, very well done -- the kind of thing I've always wished I could put together to explain reality to them in terms they might understand, but never felt that I could do.
I strongly recommend that if you know of a Tea Partier whom you think might-maybe-could-just-possibly be open to reason, you somehow get them to listen to that portion of today's broadcast. Norman has free podcasts of all episodes of his show available at his website, normangoldmanDOTcom.