Posts by Rachel Maddow

Rachel Maddow is the host of her own show on Air America Radio. She has a doctorate in political science (she was a Rhodes Scholar) and a background in HIV/AIDS activism, prison reform, and other lefty rabblerousing.

Rachel Maddow: Why Do 1/3 of New Jersey Conservatives Think Obama Might Be the Anti-Christ?
Posted by Rachel Maddow, AlterNet on September 18, 2009 at 11:00 AM.

The following is a transcript from Rachel Maddow's Sept. 16 show of her interview with Christian Right expert Frank Schaeffer:

Rachel Maddow: Public Policy Polling released results from its new poll of residents of the great state of New Jersey.  The poll found that 18 percent of New Jersey conservatives say they are sure that President Obama is the anti-Christ.  No questions asked.  Another 17 percent of New Jersey self-identified conservatives say they just aren‘t sure, but they‘re not willing to rule it out.

What do you think the White House strategy is going to be to rebut the fact that more than one in three conservatives think the president might be the anti-Christ?  At least in New Jersey.  That is a P.R. challenge.

Joining us now is Frank Schaeffer.  He grew up in the religious far right.  He is the author of “Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right and Lived to Take All or Almost All of It Back.”

Mr. Schaeffer, thank you so much for coming back on the show tonight. ... I do not know what possessed this polling firm to ask whether or not people think the president is the anti-Christ, but they did.  Does the response rate among conservatives surprise you?  More than one in three saying yes or they don‘t know.

SCHAEFFER:  Well, I was a child when President Kennedy was assassinated, and my mother thought, because he died of a head wound, foretold in scripture of the anti-Christ he would be resurrected as the anti-Christ.  She thought this might be a possibility.

So, those of us who come from the evangelical subculture have been weaned with our mother‘s milk on a changing cast list of villains.  It might be Kennedy to one generation, Obama to the next.

But I think the larger point this brings up is that the mainstream—not just media, but culture—doesn‘t sufficiently take stock of the fact that within our culture, we have a subculture which is literally a fifth column of insanity, that is bred from birth through home school, Christian school, evangelical college, whatever, to reject facts as a matter of faith.  And so, this substitute for authentic historic Christianity, and I may add as a little caveat here, I‘m a church-going Christian, really brings up the question: Can Christianity be rescued from Christians?  And that‘s an open question.

And when you see a bunch of people going around thinking that our president is the anti-Christ, you have to draw one of two conclusions.  Either these are racists looking for any excuse to level the next accusation or they‘re beyond crazy?  And I think beyond crazy is a better explanation.

And that evangelical subculture has rotted the brain of the United States of America and we have a big slice of our population waiting for Jesus to come back.  They look forward to Armageddon.  Good news is bad news to them.

When we talk about the “Left Behind” series of books that I talk about in my book “Crazy for God.” what we‘re talking about is a group of people that are resentful because they‘ve been left behind by modernity, by science, by education, by art, by literature.  The rest of us are getting on with our lives.  These people are standing on the hilltop waiting for the end.

And this is a dangerous group of people to have as neighbors, and they‘re our national neighbors.  And this is the source of all of these insanities that we see leveled at the president.  One way or another they go back to this little evangelical subculture.  It‘s a disaster.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Rachel Maddow: Republicans & Their Small Angry Tent
Posted by Rachel Maddow, The Rachel Maddow Show on September 13, 2009 at 1:00 AM.

Rachel Maddow weighs in on the fringe elements of the conservative movement taking over the Republican party. (hat tip to Crooks and Liars for surfacing the video).

Rachel Maddow Interviews Barack Obama
Posted by Rachel Maddow, MSNBC on October 31, 2008 at 11:30 AM.

The second part of the interview can be viewed below:



AlterNet is a nonprofit organization and does not make political endorsements. The opinions expressed by its writers are their own.

Rachel Maddow: John McCain's Celebrity Birthday Bash
Posted by Rachel Maddow, MSNBC on October 3, 2008 at 4:45 PM.

Mark Ames and Ari Berman have a great scoop over at the Nation involving John McCain, Rick Davis, Hollywood's Anne Hathaway, and an all too familiar con-man on a yacht together in Montenegro (read it).

Ames and Berman's look at McCain's love of celebrity became Rachel Maddow's first exclusive. Watch it:

Rachel Maddow: Newt Wants 'the Future,' Not the White House [VIDEO]
Posted by Rachel Maddow on October 6, 2007 at 12:00 AM.

Published below, the transcript from Rachel Maddow's Campaign Asylum video segment posted to the right on the screen.

Things are going to go pretty fast from here on out. It'll be Halloween, then thanksgiving, then no one gets any work done between then and Christmas, and then boom the New Hampshire primary will probably be done before your new year's hang is done. Every other primary happens within five minutes of Iowa and New Hampshire and by the first blush of February, we’ll essentially know who the presidential nominees will be.

This primary calendar is so stupid now, it’s going to be over really fast. Which means crowning the early frontrunners.

On the democratic side, it just makes it that much harder for someone other than Hillary Clinton to get the nomination, on the Republican side, it means they probably won’t have enough time to come to their senses and realize that they probably ought to go with Huckabee instead of any of their so-called "frontrunners."

But most importantly, the speed at which the process will unfold from here on out means that the menu of candidates from which we will choose? Is probably set. There’s no time now for new additions to the menu.

Which is sad news, for those of us who were looking forward to the return of the Newt.

In the little time we had, with protocandidate Newt Gingrich, he spoke the Spanish, on the Youtube. He brought to the Iowa straw poll this year, a baby alligator, a hedgehog, an owl, a gecko and a bunny.

Baby alligator, hedgehog, owl, gecko, bunny. Newt!

He told Fortune magazine, quote, "I am not running for president. I am seeking to create a movement to win the future." In November, he gave a speech to a dinner that was honoring freedom of speech? And he came out against it. He said freedom of speech will have to be "re-examined" in America.

Newt created the awesome slogan for his new group American solutions -- their slogan is "real change ... requires ... real change!"

Newt made himself the candidate of Second Life. His admirably out-of-shape avatar -- which kind of looked like Large Marge a little bit -- his avatar gave speeches, to really really admirably busty John Edwards volunteers, and some guy with no pants on.

So it is with a heavy heart, that I admit, that this time around, there will be no Newt Gingrich for president. It’s been fun while it lasted. It's possible that other candidates can maybe rent the hedgehog from him now ... if he’s not using it, maybe?

Rachel Maddow On the "Values Voters" Debate a.k.a. Wingnutty Wingnutville [VIDEO]
Posted by Rachel Maddow on September 21, 2007 at 12:00 PM.

Where can you hear the Republican candidates weigh in on important issues such as...."Transvestite Teachers"? Where can you hear a reworked anti-patriotic anthem called "Why Should God Bless America"? Where can you finally catch a glimpse of the right's elusive dark horse candidate John Cox? Why, the Values Voter Debate, of course, held this past week in Fort Lauderdale!

Rachel Maddow on Fred Thompson's Sex Appeal [VIDEO]
Posted by Rachel Maddow on September 7, 2007 at 6:29 AM.

To win the Republican nomination, new candidate Fred Thompson needs to overcome a number of serious challenges. How will he convince voters to overlook his lobbyist past, equivocal stance on abortion rights, lack of miliary service, atypical family values, etc.? Answer: Raw Sex Appeal. (Very Raw.) Check out the video to your right for more.

Rachel Maddow's GOP Hooker Scandal Countdown [VIDEO]
Posted by Rachel Maddow on August 31, 2007 at 4:40 AM.

In the wake of the 2006 midterm elections, Karl Rove identified Mark Foley (and Republican sex scandals) as the main reason for the Republicans losing Congress. Since that time, an ever-growing number of high-profile Republicans have become implicated in hooker scandals and other sexual indiscretions. Here's a refresher course on the top GOP hooker stories of the past year. One wonders what the implications could be for the 2008 Presidential race.

Rachel Maddow: It's a "Gay Debate", But Don't Tell Anybody [VIDEO]
Posted by Rachel Maddow on August 9, 2007 at 6:27 AM.

Hurray for the candidates who are appearing at the Human Rights Campaign presidential forum. Even though since the HRC makes no mention of homosexuality in its name, so few may know that it's even a "gay debate". But did they have to ask a former girlfriend of Fred Thompson to be on the panel of questioners? Check out the video to your right for more.

Rachel Maddow Takes a Journey to "Tancredo Land" [VIDEO]
Posted by Rachel Maddow on July 27, 2007 at 4:44 AM.

Tom Tancredo - one of the less noticed republican candidates. But he’s taking credit for John McCain’s campaign falling apart, he’s still seen as the party’s standard bearer, on the republicans’ favorite racist populism issue – immigration.
But Tom Tancredo’s presidential campaign, itself, is a piece of work.

Have you seen the miniseries he’s produced about himself and posted on youtube? it’s called TANCREDOLAND, and it involves for example, tancredo reminiscing fondly about his favorite priest killing a guy

Check out the video to your right for more.

Rachel Maddow: Republicans Celebrate Their Whiteness [VIDEO]
Posted by Rachel Maddow on July 19, 2007 at 7:35 AM.

Republican candidates for president... are in a bit of a SPOT when it comes to the policy stuff that americans care about right now.

Americans are mad about iraq, our health care sucks, rich people are getting wwwwwwwwwway waaaay rich while everybody else is sinking or barely swimming, we’re worried about the environment and global warming and everything.

The republican candidates.... NOT ON the right side of any of those issues. It’s a problem. What DO the republicans have going for them? well, they’re WHITE guys.

Check out the video to your right for more.

Rachel Maddow: Why "Blaming the Iraqis" is a Stupid Strategy [VIDEO]
Posted by Rachel Maddow on July 11, 2007 at 8:00 PM.

As the Republican candidates like Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani eagerly suggest that they may put more troops in Iraq if they become president, the Democrats have often been just as disappointing (see Hillary's blame the Iraqis speech). Why can't these candidates get their act together on what should be the most important issue in the 2008 race for the White House? Rachel Maddow investigates in this most recent episode of "Campaign Asylum", check out the video to your right for more.

Rachel Maddow: "Hey, Mitt Romney, Why'd You Strap Your Dog to the Roof Your Car?" [VIDEO]
Posted by Rachel Maddow on July 6, 2007 at 4:22 AM.

The next big presidential debate is going to be sponsored by CNN and YouTube, meaning ostensibly regular people can film themselves asking questions to the candidates and submit them. Rachel Maddow, in a hilarious edition of "Campaign Asylum", plans to probe the minds of Sam Brownback, Chris Dodd, and Ron Paul.
For instance did you know that Duncan Hunter wants there to be private islands for veterans to hunt on? Why do the islands need to be private? And why can't other Americans get private islands for stuff? Check out the video to your right for more.

Rachel Maddow’s Most Improved Candidate Awards [VIDEO]
Posted by Rachel Maddow on June 21, 2007 at 4:18 AM.

In this edition of Rachel Maddow’s “Campaign Asylum”, 2008 presidential candidates are awarded their very own medal for “most improved” of the primary season so far. The winners may just surprise you.

Rachel Maddow: Mike Huckabee's Mini-skirt Madness [VIDEO]
Posted by Rachel Maddow on June 14, 2007 at 5:18 AM.

Republican Mike Huckabee's candidacy is so pathetic that the only way he's generated any interest lately is with an interview with Marie Claire where he's come out strongly against...the mini-skirt. Maddow sheds some light on Huckabee's curious past and explains what is so disturbing to Huckabee about the mini-skirt in the video to your right.