All Episodes Talk: TRMS 2018 Season

[kassygreene]

Rachel & Lawrence both had podcasts from last night; Chris Hayes & Brian did not.  I dipped in to see if it was worth watching the recording (had other things going on last night) and realized pretty fast that it was not, so that's four hours of my life saved.

Gave up military exercises for a promise of eventual de-nuclearization (that based on history will be broken)?  Yep, the sucka got played.  Looking forward to tonight's analyses.

[ScoobieDoobs]

I luv how Rach really enjoys a truly goofy story.  And yeah, the Trump-insisting-on-shredding story is nuts.  And yet, it's a story that (to me) reflects his nastiness & his self-absorbed mindset.  He surely was told many times that for the sake of history, shredding is against the law.  So he gets the concept -- he just doesn't give a fuck & the man-baby wants to do what he wants to do.

I get why Rach thought all of this nonsense was crazy to the point of being laughable.  And yet, I think it's just another thing to be horrified of by this administration, altho seemingly trivial -- well, at least it's not nearly as bad as some of the other shit they get away with (cough, cough, ahem, Jared & Ivanka, puke, retch & barf).

[jjj]

The best part of the shredding story, the Rachel twist, was when she was imagining him tearing paper into *tiny* pieces "with his ENORMOUS hands"!  I just howled.  

I basically have not been able to watch the news for the past two days, so appreciated that Rachel's analysis at the top of her show got me back in the swim.  

2 hours ago, ScoobieDoobs said:

I luv how Rach really enjoys a truly goofy story.  And yeah, the Trump-insisting-on-shredding story is nuts.  And yet, it's a story that (to me) reflects his nastiness & his self-absorbed mindset.  He surely was told many times that for the sake of history, shredding is against the law.  So he gets the concept -- he just doesn't give a fuck & the man-baby wants to do what he wants to do.

I get why Rach thought all of this nonsense was crazy to the point of being laughable.  And yet, I think it's just another thing to be horrified of by this administration, altho seemingly trivial -- well, at least it's not nearly as bad as some of the other shit they get away with (cough, cough, ahem, Jared & Ivanka, puke, retch & barf).

[attica]

8 hours ago, jjj said:

him tearing paper into *tiny* pieces "with his ENORMOUS hands"! 

Yes, this was good tv indeed.

[ScoobieDoobs]

I know there are some among Rach's fans who are fascinated by Watergate & any possible connections to Trump & his crew.  Not me.  I was getting really impatient she was gonna spend a half hour again on Watergate.  Thankfully, she only spent 15 minutes, but even that was too much for me.  OK, OK, the Watergate connection was mildly interesting.  But honestly, I'd much prefer for her to concentrate on why the focus now on Cohen is so important.  I mean, LOD (who I like) can be so over-the-top sometimes, but he focused right in with his guests on the possibilities of what Cohen can be indicted for (collusion with Russians, Saudi Arabs, etc.) . . . and yet, Rach didn't do this.  Uh, why?

[M. Darcy]

I wonder if there is now a staffer working full time on just researching Watergate history.  Which, actually I would find an awesome job - I love researching and reading about history.  She does probably need to spend little less time talking about it but if I was doing the work, I would love it. 

[chessiegal]

44 minutes ago, M. Darcy said:

I wonder if there is now a staffer working full time on just researching Watergate history.  Which, actually I would find an awesome job - I love researching and reading about history.  She does probably need to spend little less time talking about it but if I was doing the work, I would love it. 

I love the Watergate history too - but I lived through it. I was in my early 20s.

[M. Darcy]

Quote

I love the Watergate history too - but I lived through it. I was in my early 20s.

I was alive but missed it - I was too little and my Dad was stationed in Germany during that time and I don't think they were showing the hearings on tv there. I  do remember seeing the front page of the newspaper when Nixon resigned.  Everything I actually know about Watergate (besides what I'm learning from Rachel) is from reading Doonesbury strips from that time.  Which is actually a very good history. 

[attica]

I really appreciated Rachel using the IG report to really highlight the whole working-the-refs angle. I wish it would help to bulwark against this kind of thing in upcoming months, but our great Liberal Media [/eyeroll] is just too entrenched in lefty-punching to protect the fee-fees of the wingnuts.

[DXD526]

Am I the only one who found last night's show crushingly depressing? It truly made me despair for this country. From the opening stuff about Comey to the closing interview with Elizabeth Warren, it all made the current situation seem so hopeless. I felt like stepping in front of a speeding bus by the time the hour was over. 

[jjj]

I certainly hope Rachel is on the air this Friday evening tonight. 

So, aside from all the head-exploding, depressing news, I appreciate that she took time (Wednesday) to highlight the cat prediction of the World Cup winner.  And the Russian cat chose the Russian team by choosing the Russian bowl of food.  I'm sure it had nothing to do with the broccoli in the other dish and the bacon topping on the Russian bowl. ???  Thanks for the break in the relentless news, Rachel. 

Edited June 15, 2018 by jjj

[attica]

Ooh! Dramatic reading of court transcripts! Whee!

[Calvada]

12 hours ago, M. Darcy said:

I was alive but missed it - I was too little and my Dad was stationed in Germany during that time and I don't think they were showing the hearings on tv there. I  do remember seeing the front page of the newspaper when Nixon resigned.  Everything I actually know about Watergate (besides what I'm learning from Rachel) is from reading Doonesbury strips from that time.  Which is actually a very good history. 

I was a pre-teen when Watergate occurred and as someone even then curious about both politics and crime, I was fortunate to live in the area of Madison, Wisconsin, and have parents who got The Capital Times, the afternoon newspaper.  (Kids, news used to come in paper form, and you could get a newspaper in the morning and afternoon.)  Anyway, The Cap Times was a proud progressive newspaper and was one of the few in the nation that carried the Washington Post Woodward/Bernstein articles from the beginning.  Plus it had Doonesbury!  I was one of the better informed kids in the country, I think.  Of course, I could never understand how people didn't realize sooner that Nixon was a crook.  To my child's eye, he seemed the very manifestation of a crook - always looking like he needed a shave, sweaty upper lip.  I was astounded that so many adults were stunned to discover he was a liar and worse.

I always enjoy watching Rachel learn something from the person she is interviewing.  Tonight as she realized that the NY AG's civil suit has the potential to make lots of trouble for many big donors in addition to the Trump family members, I think the graphics department should have put a light bulb over her head.  

[jjj]

2 hours ago, attica said:

Ooh! Dramatic reading of court transcripts! Whee!

I generally cannot stand to listen to someone reading a document, especially when the text is also visible -- but Rachel reading transcripts that are hot out of the printer is a real treat.  And the drama of it really does come through because of the reading.

[meowmommy]

37 minutes ago, jjj said:

I generally cannot stand to listen to someone reading a document, especially when the text is also visible -- but Rachel reading transcripts that are hot out of the printer is a real treat.  And the drama of it really does come through because of the reading.

Normally she is pretty good at putting fresh spin on old news, as the Manafort case has been done to death all day, but this felt like filler and nothing unique.  I mean, really, the part where the judge made her decision was pretty good (and very well written, especially if the judge really came up with it during a 15 minute court recess!), but did Rachel really have to drone through the initial segment where they're reading the counts of the indictment and the pleading?  And then later she ends the block asking about pardons with her new favorite theory that 45 can't pardon anyone because he can't pardon the Russians.  She's hanging onto that like LOD once hung onto his crazy idea that the VP would invoke the 25th Amendment and remove 45.

Edited June 16, 2018 by meowmommy

[ahisma]

8 hours ago, jjj said:

And the Russian cat chose the Russian team by choosing the Russian bowl of food. 

Astonishingly, the Russians did win their first match. So, score one for the psychic cat, I guess?

[jjj]

The canoe:  In the handoff, Lawrence went on about Cohen and Avenatti, but Rachel's head clearly already was on the canoe.  She actually swiveled her chair before Lawrence was done (then stayed).  Don't get between Rachel and the trout, Lawrence.  

[ScoobieDoobs]

Yeah, we know she doesn't give a hoot about Avenatti & would usually just humor LOD''s mentions of him cuz she likes LOD.  But this was different.  This was hilarious & Rach may have been pooped & ready to dream of fish, but she enjoyed this -- as I did too.  Cohen lost his request in court to quash Avenatti & specifically mentioned LOD in his request.  That's why LOD said he booked him to appear.  I thought it was awesome.  Bet Rach did too.

Edited June 16, 2018 by ScoobieDoobs

[meowmommy]

9 hours ago, ScoobieDoobs said:

Cohen lost his request in court to quash Avenatti & specifically mentioned LOD in his request.

You know you watch too much political TV when you review the court filing, which contains multiple excerpts from multiple interviews on multiple networks, and realize you actually saw just about all those interviews as they happened.  Including Rachel's one-and-only Avenatti interview.

[bad things are bad]

Quote

Everything I actually know about Watergate (besides what I'm learning from Rachel) is from reading Doonesbury strips from that time.

GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY

[kassygreene]

I remember that particular strip was so CONTROVERSIAL that some papers moved Doonesbury to the editorial page.

[chessiegal]

1 minute ago, kassygreene said:

I remember that particular strip was so CONTROVERSIAL that some papers moved Doonesbury to the editorial page.

Where he still is to this day in my hometown paper, The Capital Gazette.

Looking forward to a well rested Rachel tonight.

[jjj]

I've been hearing the recording (part of it, or another one) of the children being detained, so I was already disturbed both for the children and because of the heartless reaction to the recording by top federal officials.  But when Rachel played a long section of recording of a couple of children with a black screen and translated words, it just destroyed me.  The one child so sure that her aunt would stop by to pick her up ("I memorized her number") and the other child who kept moaning "Papa..." -- what a horrible situation for both of them -- and their parents.  If anyone else had this particular recording, I had not heard it during the afternoon.  I was not clear on who the guest was talking about (the child was moved to a new site, or the person who made the recording?), because I could not even focus on the interview.  I had not realized that every living First Lady had written with concern about this crisis. 

[attica]

12 hours ago, jjj said:

I had not realized that every living First Lady had written with concern about this crisis. 

I'm warming to the idea that there's a secret FLOTUS lair, where they all meet, have drinks, plan things.

[ScoobieDoobs]

15 hours ago, jjj said:

I've been hearing the recording (part of it, or another one) of the children being detained, so I was already disturbed both for the children and because of the heartless reaction to the recording by top federal officials.  But when Rachel played a long section of recording of a couple of children with a black screen and translated words, it just destroyed me.  The one child so sure that her aunt would stop by to pick her up ("I memorized her number") and the other child who kept moaning "Papa..." -- what a horrible situation for both of them -- and their parents.  If anyone else had this particular recording, I had not heard it during the afternoon.  I was not clear on who the guest was talking about (the child was moved to a new site, or the person who made the recording?), because I could not even focus on the interview.  I had not realized that every living First Lady had written with concern about this crisis. 

The prob is every boob on CNN & MSNBC is playing this 8 billion times.  Hopefully, it won't lose its impact.  As a viewer, when I see they're gonna play it, I tune out cuz by now it's exploitative & for their own purposes -- to create drama & inflate ratings.  I refuse to get sucked into that.

Rach played it once.  Will she play it again tonite?  I suspect not.  There is PLENTY of other stuff for her to discuss.  

Was glad to see her follow up on Flint.  Her guest was good & I liked that she mentioned Rachel's importance in the Flint story.  Rach was modest, but without her spotlight on Flint, little would have been done.  She was a hero there.  That should be remembered.

[M. Darcy]

4 hours ago, attica said:

I'm warming to the idea that there's a secret FLOTUS lair, where they all meet, have drinks, plan things.

I hope that there's a former First Ladies Facebook group.

Really Rachel?  We get an update on the canoe story without a picture of you in the canoe!!

[fairffaxx]

6 hours ago, attica said:

I'm warming to the idea that there's a secret FLOTUS lair, where they all meet, have drinks, plan things.

I suspect that things would be going a lot better (or at least more to my own liking) if that were true.

[Morrigan2575]

God dammit! Rachel started crying and now I'm crying. ?

[jjj]

Oh, Rachel.  Our hearts are breaking with yours.  When Rachel Maddow bursts into tears on the show -- well, this is a very new and horrifying era. 

[M. Darcy]

Damn it, poor Rachel. Poor babies.  

[jjj]

3 minutes ago, M. Darcy said:

Damn it, poor Rachel. Poor babies.  

Poor parents.

[M. Darcy]

She tweeted out an apology but I don’t think she needed to. She’s still a human and she’s reporting heartbreaking news. 

[Apprentice79]

It was unsettling to watch Rachel cry tonight. I have seen her on the verge of tears. I had never seen her like this, it is because she sees our country becoming something, so, ugly, alien and vile...We don't put babies in warehouses.  I think of the psychological damage that is being done to them. I feel like we are becoming monsters, as a country.

[jjj]

I don't think I can watch this again, but here is a clip from the end of the show:

http://thehill.com/homenews/media/393161-rachel-maddow-breaks-down-in-tears-while-describing-tender-age-shelters-for

[meowmommy]

LOD did a nice job picking up for Rachel and finishing the reporting.  Great teamwork on such a tough subject.

[Medicine Crow]

Stephanie Ruhle also lost it (as did I).  I can't believe what's going on!!!

[irisheyes]

Rach usually keeps it together through all of the horrifying news she has to report.  I don’t know if I’ve ever seen her lose her composure like that. 

I have a six year old and a ten year old.  Their favorite thing to do in the summer is have “sleepovers” in my room (my husband works night).  I can’t imagine how terrifying it would be for them if we were separated.  I don’t want to imagine how terrifying it would be for me.  These parents aren’t even being given a way to reconnect.  It’s like their kids are just being sucked away, never to return.  I hope hell is real, because the President and his enablers all belong there. 

[Skycatcher]

A Bit of a Rant - I have been immersed in the coverage of the border atrocities. I just finished watching the 12:00 p.m. rebroadcast of TRM. I've noticed something a little odd. I get deeply caught up in the reporting.  All of a sudden the broadcast breaks for commercials and I'm abruptly inundated with car ads, owls trying to get me interested in vacations, actors pretending to need meds, whatever.  My immediate visceral response is to be completely stunned at the idea that  anyone could be interested in these things in the midst of this  crisis.  There is no way on Earth that I could be ripped from my own horror and enticed to buy a little red car.    (Although, the anti-depresents.......maybe)  For me, these commercials, juxtaposed against the news coverage really highlight our rampant consumerism. Now I'm really turned off of these various products.  The money I am not at all tempted to spend  will better serve one of the organizations helping put these families back together again and change the political climate that has allowed this to happen.

[Hooper]

Being in the Pacific Time zone, I already knew about Rachel's break thanks to the Twitter.  Maybe I was just imagining it, but knowing what was coming, it seemed to me like I could see Rachel struggling more and more to keep it together throughout the hour.  She started out with her usual snarky schtick, but by the end of the first half hour she just started getting grimmer and grimmer. 

Anyway, I mainly came here to say essentially the same thing Skycatcher just posted.  For me, watching at 9:00 on the west coast, in one block of commercials I sat through three variations of "you need this mattress."   Uh, no.  Children huddled under space blankets in cages on floors of an abandoned Walmart need a mattress.  AND THEIR PARENTS.     I'll somehow bear up under the ordeal of not having a mattress that automatically warms my feet and senses when I roll on my side and adjusts to my pressure points.

And yes, Lawrence was a real pro in handling the transition to his hour, but I only lasted through the first 20 minutes.  The mattress that will allow me to sleep tonight doesn't exist.

[meowmommy]

9 hours ago, Skycatcher said:

For me, these commercials, juxtaposed against the news coverage really highlight our rampant consumerism. Now I'm really turned off of these various products.

Maybe it's because I watch virtually everything on a delay so I can FF through commercial breaks, but they don't bother me.  Try to keep in mind that without commercial sponsors, there would be no TRMS.  Better they sponsor Rachel than Hannity.  When there is serious, urgent news, MSNBC is pretty responsible about blowing off most of their commercials.  ICBW, I think Rachel's A-block went almost 30 minutes last night.

8 hours ago, Hooper said:

Maybe I was just imagining it, but knowing what was coming, it seemed to me like I could see Rachel struggling more and more to keep it together throughout the hour.

I thought she was already slightly agitated from the get-go.  Her voice was up just the tiniest little bit during her monologue, then she got it together for her interviews, and then of course at the end lost it.  It was painful to watch her beg her control room for some graphic to put on the screen so people wouldn't see her breaking down, and then realize they had nothing for her.  I wonder what, if anything, she'll say about it tonight.

[DXD526]

Crying tears of empathy for fellow human beings in pain. Something 45 will never, ever do.

That was a hard thing to watch. I rely on Rachel keeping it together, like I relied on my parents as a little kid. Seeing her fall apart like that is disturbing. Completely understandable, but disturbing. We are indeed in uncharted territory.

[shirazplease]

I know Rachel struggles with depression.  I'm afraid that it's going to be almost impossible for her to sustain coverage of this and come out of it without some damage. I hope she takes care of herself.  I know that in relation to the damage these poor families are going through, that's a relatively minor thing but this forum is Rachel centric, so I'm going to try to stick to that even as  I want to howl at the universe for this obscene injustice.

[attica]

If Cronkite can cry on air when reporting on JFK, Rachel CERTAINLY has a pass on this atrocity.

[car54]

Rachel has been my strength week night since November 2016---many times I've thought I was losing my mind at the things that were happening and she'd help me put things in context ---so she deserves a minute.  I've been crying every day for a week over the news of what is happening.

Makes me want to kick the regime who is doing this in their collective shins for making Rachel cry.    I was glad Lawrence was there to pick up and carry on for her.    I am so glad that MSNBC has sent so many anchors and reporters down there to broadcast live and shine a light on this.    

[CatsAndMoreCats]

30 minutes ago, car54 said:

Rachel has been my strength week night since November 2016---many times I've thought I was losing my mind at the things that were happening and she'd help me put things in context ---so she deserves a minute.  I've been crying every day for a week over the news of what is happening.

Makes me want to kick the regime who is doing this in their collective shins for making Rachel cry.    I was glad Lawrence was there to pick up and carry on for her.    I am so glad that MSNBC has sent so many anchors and reporters down there to broadcast live and shine a light on this.    

This.

[attica]

May I take a shallow break for a minute? Jeh Johnson is handsome and has s nice soothing voice.  

There. Thanks.

Now back to the horror show.

[SpiritSong]

10 hours ago, shirazplease said:

I know Rachel struggles with depression.  I'm afraid that it's going to be almost impossible for her to sustain coverage of this and come out of it without some damage. I hope she takes care of herself.  I know that in relation to the damage these poor families are going through, that's a relatively minor thing but this forum is Rachel centric, so I'm going to try to stick to that even as  I want to howl at the universe for this obscene injustice.

This is such an important story and I'm very glad MSNBC is covering it pretty much around the clock, but I just can't watch. It's too heartbreaking. I record their prime time block, and end up just fast forwarding through most of it. I was able to watch the first 10 minutes of TRMS yesterday, then since my DVR always records the last couple of minutes of the previous show, I saw Rachel break down when the LOD show started. Felt so bad for her, but it was a very human reaction. I understand she felt like it's her job to be able to read the news, but these circumstances are anything but ordinary. I feel she should be praised for her reaction.

[ScoobieDoobs]

What worries me is if her reaction will be mocked or she'll be accused of faking it for dramatic effect or to garner ratings.  Look, we know this was an honest reaction.  And from what Rach said on her Twitter, I suspect she was disappointed in herself for having this reaction -- because she couldn't do her job & finish the show the way she wanted.  Well, that's what she said.  I don't think that was all of what bothered her.

She stressed in the show how the Trump administration (in particular, Trump, Sessions & Miller) wanna get a reaction.  They want people to be upset.  They were loving all the fuss the media was making.  Rach said this.  And yet she showed her own reaction -- very publicly.  And so she gave them exactly what they wanted.  And that thought probably doesn't sit well with her.

And Rachel, along with her snarky & smart & knowing demeanor, always comes off (to me) so casually confident.  There's such an impressive & obvious strength to her casual confidence.  Unfortunately, on-air crying can be mistaken for weakness.  Just sayin', I think this is yet another reason Rach may have been bothered by her choking up.

In any case, tonite she really seemed completely past being choked up, and she apologized for not finishing last nite & seemed more than ready to move on.  Upward & onward.  Well-handled, Rach! 

I'd prefer Rachel not to choke up, but if she has to & the Trump-news-of-the-day is that horrible & awful, please feel free to let the tears flow, Rach.  We will never think of you as weak, Rachel -- or mistake your sensitivity, caring & kindness for weakness, as this administration does on a daily basis.

Edited June 21, 2018 by ScoobieDoobs

[M. Darcy]

Rachel actually gave me a little hope last night - both the story she did about the family trying to just raise $1500 to help just one person with the bail money and they raised $15 million (and the that the money is going to an organization that knows what to do with it) and the fact that people are leaking the pictures of the kids.   Its still a shit bucket but that made me feel a little better. 

[TexasGal]

7 hours ago, ScoobieDoobs said:

What worries me is if her reaction will be mocked or she'll be accused of faking it for dramatic effect or to garner ratings.  Look, we know this was an honest reaction.  And from what Rach said on her Twitter, I suspect she was disappointed in herself for having this reaction -- because she couldn't do her job & finish the show the way she wanted.  Well, that's what she said.  I don't think that was all of what bothered her.

 

Other organizations have covered that she broke on air, she must really hate that.  But I agree with you, there is nothing to be ashamed of for being a caring human being.  Unlike a garbage human being like Corey Lewandowski.

I may be combining Lawrence and Rachel, but I think it was Rachel who pointed out that the administration keeps going further and further right to appeal to his 30% base, but doesn't seem to realize or care that they are increasingly pissing off the remaining 70%.  I had never really thought of it that way and found that really interesting - and hope that it is true and holds at least through November!!