"YOU"????? Really?

Rachel Maddow second-persons us. Her. We. The gays. WTF?

by msnbc.com

So, I came home last night, energized by the sneak-peek of GVS's powerful Milk at the Arbor. I sat at my desk to edit a few blog posts, warm with the glow of renewed gay vigor (really, go see this film) and realized that I could click on MSNBC to catch the rerun of the night's broadcast of my fave first-out-lesbian Rhodes Scholar and first-out-lesbian national news commentator and recurring Gay Place crush of the millenium, Rachel Maddow.

Maddow is broadcasting from Los Angeles instead of her home studio in NYC and has seemed a little off this week.

I can't figure out if she's A) suffering from some seriously bad Hollywood lighting, B) stuffed up and sick as a dog, or C) cranking too many poppers with the West Coast circuit boys… none of which explains her jarringly hostile sounding punchline at the end of the "Debunking the Prop 8 Voters" segment in last night's show.

The MSNBC clip is included below, and you'll have to forward all the way to the last minute (forward to the 4:00 mark).

The piece attempts to clarify the correlation between African-American Obama voters and voters for Prop 8, with the conclusion that the real proponents were Republicans, Evangelicals, and McCain supporters. I scratched my head at the purpose of this piece, as the initial outrage about the black voter block has died down, was addressed early on, and everyone pretty much knows who pushed the thing through. But her abrupt and self-denying conclusion: "You've got your work cut out for you, gay rights movement," was felt in this writer's gut.

"YOU"? You've got to be kidding me, Dr. Maddow. For all the insertions and assertions of your own personal politics, for all the refreshing clarity of your stance on issues, for all your damn demystifying and windmill tilting, your freaking writing staff couldn't come up with a more eloquent way to skirt around your objectivity-defying and undeniable (whether you like it or not) role as standard bearer (whether you like it or not) for the very movement you are chucking into second-person?

That, Dr. Maddow is the day's TRUE Holy Mackerel story.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

Support the Chronicle  

READ MORE
More TV
Mondo Gallery Turns the Channel to Nickelodeon
Mondo Gallery Turns the Channel to Nickelodeon
Plus exclusive first look at Avatar print

Richard Whittaker, Dec. 8, 2016

Notes on <i>Regarding Susan Sontag</i>
Notes on Regarding Susan Sontag
Doc opens up about Sontag's loves and career path

Marjorie Baumgarten, Dec. 8, 2014

More Election 2008
Craddick's Cash
Craddick's Cash
Texans for Public Justice file ethics complaint about former speaker

Richard Whittaker, Oct. 7, 2009

Small Consolation for Doherty
Small Consolation for Doherty
Last November's CD-10 challenger was the "biggest loser"

Lee Nichols, Jan. 27, 2009

More by Kate X Messer
LBJ Library at 50: All the Cake
LBJ Library at 50: All the Cake
Getting some free cake on LBJ's birthday is a rich tradition

Aug. 26, 2021

The Gay Place: It's Aliiive!
It's Aliiive!
You can't keep a Gay Place down; just ask Sarah Marloff

Jan. 20, 2016

KEYWORDS FOR THIS POST

TV, Election 2008, Rachel Maddow, gay rights movement, MSNBC, Prop 8, black vote, debunk

MORE IN THE ARCHIVES
One click gets you all the newsletters listed below

Breaking news, arts coverage, and daily events

Keep up with happenings around town

Kevin Curtin's bimonthly cannabis musings

Austin's queerest news and events

Eric Goodman's Austin FC column, other soccer news

Information is power. Support the free press, so we can support Austin.   Support the Chronicle