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All Episodes Talk: TRMS 2018 Season

formerlyfreedom

By formerlyfreedom
in The Rachel Maddow Show

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Calvada

Calvada

It's not exactly breaking news that judges with lifetime appointments can act like petty dictators on the bench.  I know hundreds of government lawyers who were not at all surprised by anything the judge in the Manafort case said or did.  I think there are some judges who truly believe the only way they can appear to be completely impartial is to be an asshole to everyone who appears before them, whether they work for the government or are an attorney in private practice.  

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jjj
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. 

Hanahope
Hanahope

It was such a delight to have full and complete sentences and coherent thoughts.  I weep that Hillary is not our president.

Morrigan2575
Morrigan2575

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

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fairffaxx

fairffaxx

14 minutes ago, Calvada said:

It's not exactly breaking news that judges with lifetime appointments can act like petty dictators on the bench.  I know hundreds of government lawyers who were not at all surprised by anything the judge in the Manafort case said or did.  I think there are some judges who truly believe the only way they can appear to be completely impartial is to be an asshole to everyone who appears before them, whether they work for the government or are an attorney in private practice.  

That was my experience working in the Federal courts, so I don't disagree that some of those judges can be jerks.  But, after all, this poor judge was hungry!

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jjj

jjj

50 minutes ago, Sharpie66 said:

Loved Rachel’s handoff to Lawrence.

LOD: I am aware your holiday begins as soon as we are done here. Do you want to say anything after your hour?   RM: Bye!!

I thought Rachel had grimaced a little, as she had just provided the illusion (which she knew that we know is not true) that she would be present tomorrow.  "I'll see you tomorrow" said she, as she described the show about the Supreme Court nomination, then Lawrence waved her off to her canoe.   Honestly, I can take knowing everyone will be away and they have recorded shows already.  I don't need the illusion that they will be on the air live.   

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meowmommy

meowmommy

I'd already read about the Senate visit to Moscow, but watching Rachel unpack it was unbearably depressing.  I expected Senator Shelby to break out any minute with "Vladimir Putin is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life," while fixated on an apparatchik holding the queen of diamonds.

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jjj

jjj

6 hours ago, M. Darcy said:

Darn it, Trump is announcing his Supreme Court pick at 9 pm tonight which cuts into Rachel's show.  Grr. 

Oh, yuck, I had not realized that.  Well, they don't take questions, so it should not last too long.  But then her show slot will need to focus on the choice, and that might mean a panel led by Brian Williams. (!) ??

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ScoobieDoobs

ScoobieDoobs

Why the heck did it take Rachel over 20 minutes to get to the mention of Peter Strzok -- and then nearly a half hour to get to her point about him?  This drove me nuts.  Honestly, Rach, there are 10 billion more important things going on now to discuss.  WTF?  

I tuned out when I saw she was rambling too long about Russian spies from 20 years ago & wouldn't stop.  Why'd you do this, Rach?

The stuff on Manafort was pretty enjoyable.  Wish Rach had started off with that.

meowmommy

meowmommy

2 hours ago, ScoobieDoobs said:

Why the heck did it take Rachel over 20 minutes to get to the mention of Peter Strzok -- and then nearly a half hour to get to her point about him?  This drove me nuts.  Honestly, Rach, there are 10 billion more important things going on now to discuss.  WTF?

At least it's reassuring to know that real FBI agents are infinitely more competent than the fictional Stan Beeman.  (And that the real life spies were infinitely less murderous than Philip and Elizabeth.)  Only too bad that Peter Strzok didn't have a chance to serve up proof that we have a Manchurian candidate at the helm.  Rachel wanted to give background to the existing and future attacks on Strzok.  Maybe a little overlong; well, a lot overlong, but still relevant.

As far as other topical topics, I don't mind because almost all of them, such as SCOTUS and the sabotage of NATO, are too depressing to contemplate, and other people are adequately draped all over them.  Protecting the Mueller investigation is just about as important as anything I can think of.

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jjj

jjj

I think that embedded Russian spy saga is fascinating (and yes, I watched all of "The Americans"), but I did not need to hear the whole story to know it was Peter Strzok who headed that.  I wish him the very best; he has earned the high regard of this country, and is entitled to make idiotic yet accurate remarks about what he is seeing on television.  I will not be watching the public hearing, but look forward to hearing highlights.  It gets so exhausting to see each political party pushing partisan spectacles.  

I did laugh at the end of the show, when Rachel was relating Sarah Huckabee Sanders attempt to say that John Kelly was making a face (at those insults directed at Germany) because he was expecting a "full breakfast" instead of Belgian pastries and cheeses.  Nice job, Sarah, unsuccessfully masking the obvious disagreement about the insults, but also managing to insult the host country.

Manafort is going to have a tough couple of months in the Alexandria city jail.  I did love the number of times Rachel pointed out his "extension cord" for his in-cell laptop.  No, I'm betting the Alexandria city jail is not going to have the same amenities nor access to polo shirts.   Also loved Rachel pointing out the judge's comment that the jail has managed to house "spies and traitors" successfully. 

4 hours ago, Medicine Crow said:

I love her stories & the punchline to this story was surprising!!  All that he did for the U.S. & it's bye-bye when he reveals his true feelings!!??

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attica

attica

I enjoyed last night's A block more than any in the past bunch of months. I was internally betting that the reveal would be either Bobby Threesticks or "Fran Shmeeman", either of which would have tickled me. Strzok surprised me!  "Please can we be Canadians again?" Come on, that's just good teevee.

6 hours ago, jjj said:

I did love the number of times Rachel pointed out his "extension cord" for his in-cell laptop. 

Yes, and I bet some potential new cellies with suspiciously Eastern European accents will find that tidbit tantalizing, too. Not that anybody's ever used a long, strong cord for any nefarious purposes -- perish the thought!

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M. Darcy

M. Darcy

When she was talking about Manafort's prison set up, I was thinking if they had that storyline on Oz, we would have said it was unbelievable - even Ryan O'Reilly wouldn't have gotten away with it (all he managed was his secret cell phone)….and then the first commercial after that segment was the Mayhem ones with Mr. Dean "Ryan O'Reilly" Winters himself.  Now that's synergy. 

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ScoobieDoobs

ScoobieDoobs

4 hours ago, QueerGirrl said:

Another great A block by TRMS.  Keep it going!  Haters be dammed. 

I had to rewind to hear her say that the news sometimes makes her think she's dead and in hell!!  Brilliant!

Last nite's Peter Stzrok blitz lost me, but I knew to turn back when she finally finished up with that stuff.  Ah, but when she said that awesome line about feeling dead, watching the news . . . I thought -- mmm, kay, I'm back with ya again, Rach!

Yeah, maybe Rach was being relevant on Strzok, but this crap today with him & Congress ain't gonna mean jack in the end.  Still, they did manage to give some nice ops for fun clips I'm sure Rachel will play tonite.  

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Hanahope

Hanahope

16 hours ago, Medicine Crow said:

I love her stories & the punchline to this story was surprising!!  All that he did for the U.S. & it's bye-bye when he reveals his true feelings!!??

Well, his true feelings a no doubt based on his long history of seeing Russia make numerous attempts to spy on this country, the tactics they've used to get intelligence from people, including businessmen.  He saw what Russia has done and what it was doing with trump.  His "feelings" were that of patriotism to our country and its disgusting what the GOP is doing to him.

I knew all about the Russian spies from Canada and their basis for The Americans.  I didn't realize that the FBI knew about them from the beginning.  And I didn't know Peter Strzok was in charge of that investigation.  No wonder he was tapped to be on Mueller's team, and its no wonder at all why he was against trump, whom he saw as nothing more than a russian pawn, who bamboozled this country.  Putin must be so delighted.

Manafort and his attorneys really screwed the pooch on his cushy jail.  I really hope he gets put into prison clothing and looses every perk he had.  A jail that previously held "spies and traitors" indeed.

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netlyon2

netlyon2

6 hours ago, M. Darcy said:

When she was talking about Manafort's prison set up, I was thinking if they had that storyline on Oz, we would have said it was unbelievable - even Ryan O'Reilly wouldn't have gotten away with it (all he managed was his secret cell phone)….and then the first commercial after that segment was the Mayhem ones with Mr. Dean "Ryan O'Reilly" Winters himself.  Now that's synergy. 

This reminds me of how one of the guys behind Leverage (can’t remember if it was Dean or John) tweeted that the plots and storylines that TNT dismissed as too far-fetched couldn’t hold a candle to the schemes that keep getting uncovered nowadays.

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jjj

jjj

(edited)
36 minutes ago, Medicine Crow said:

C'mon guys, I have a lot on my DVR (it's Stampede time in Calgary so Rodeo & Chuckwagon races are a must).  Wash Rachel's show a "must see"?

Yes, because she had both the ranking (Democrat) member of the House Intelligence Committee plus the former Ambassador Victoria Nuland on for interviews, and both were well worth hearing.

She did not say this, but her show will not air on Friday-- Richard Engle show scheduled in her slot.  Of course, if Trump spills tea on the Queen, maybe there will be a live show.  

Edited by jjj
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ahisma

ahisma

4 hours ago, Medicine Crow said:

C'mon guys, I have a lot on my DVR (it's Stampede time in Calgary so Rodeo & Chuckwagon races are a must).  Wash Rachel's show a "must see"?

Seconding jjj's recommendation! The big buildup Rachel gave the night before? Was totally deserved. Rachel also played a LOT of choice clips of Strzok being an absolute straight shooter and the R's not getting the tv points that they wanted. Rachel has a rather colorful metaphor I won't spoil you for. :D

(And the Victoria Nuland interview was excellent, as well.)

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ScoobieDoobs

ScoobieDoobs

Idk, I think Wendy Sherman had the best take of anyone today, when she said it may not be about him on the US side or on Putin's side -- that he could merely be looking out for himself & just thinking of money-laundering real estate deals.  With Russia's shithole economy & lack of anything worth trading for, what can Putin offer Trump that he's so hot for?  Those Russian oligarchs who'll buy into his crap real estate?

Still, I thought Rach was kinda congratulating herself for sticking with the Russia story.  And dammit, she has every right to.  Today was one of those moments that proved her suspicions have been dead-on right about the connections of Russia & Russians to the Trump campaign & the 2016 election.  And she has been absolutely right to keep following this story. 

But what if Trump's Putin-love isn't as "harmless" as Trump wanting to get at Putin & his henchmen/oligarchs for their dough, to grab as much as he greedily can for his shady real estate shit?  What if it is the "worst case scenario" as Rach had up behind her & kept turning around to look at?  Thanks, Rach, for pointing this out & emphasizing it!  No, as Rach said, we don't want to think about it, but we have to -- cuz we are in it . . .

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meowmommy

meowmommy

My DVR, for reasons completely unknown, decided to re-record All In during Rachel's hour, and then scheduled itself to record Rachel's second showing which will start in about half an hour.  I was able to go to the NBC News app and watch her A block, but not the rest of her show.  I noticed that she's not listed among available shows with full episodes, unlike Chris and LOD, but only highlights are available.  Anyone know why that should be so?

6 minutes ago, ScoobieDoobs said:

Still, I thought Rach was kinda congratulating herself for sticking with the Russia story.  And dammit, she has every right to.  Today was one of those moments that proved her suspicions have been dead-on right about the connections of Russia & Russians to the Trump campaign & the 2016 election.  And she has been absolutely right to keep following this story. 

Could not agree more.  She's been like a dog with a bone, long past the time when many people probably thought she was doing it to death, and it turns out she was right 100%.  If this all plays out to its logical conclusion (which, being logical, it probably won't), she should win a prize for service to the Republic.  I wouldn't be surprised if some of her early work on the subject even created a blueprint or map for government investigators to start looking.

Hope I get to see the rest of her show soon.

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jjj

jjj

TPTB stopped offering full video of her shows on podcast years ago; I can't even explain it anymore, but it had to do with licensing.  There is full audio of her shows on podcasts.  And the MSNBC app does have her full shows in video, but sometimes not until the next day.  

I also agree this is more about "Team Trump" than blackmail of him personally, perhaps threats to his family involved in this -- other MSNBC shows have been using that term.  I suspect he has a sense that his family is on an indictment list, and I think everyone is waiting for that day to come.  Rachel is right to bring in Wendy Sherman's perspective on this.  

43 minutes ago, meowmommy said:

My DVR, for reasons completely unknown, decided to re-record All In during Rachel's hour, and then scheduled itself to record Rachel's second showing which will start in about half an hour.  I was able to go to the NBC News app and watch her A block, but not the rest of her show.  I noticed that she's not listed among available shows with full episodes, unlike Chris and LOD, but only highlights are available.  Anyone know why that should be so?

Could not agree more.  She's been like a dog with a bone, long past the time when many people probably thought she was doing it to death, and it turns out she was right 100%.  If this all plays out to its logical conclusion (which, being logical, it probably won't), she should win a prize for service to the Republic.  I wouldn't be surprised if some of her early work on the subject even created a blueprint or map for government investigators to start looking.

Hope I get to see the rest of her show soon.

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ScoobieDoobs

ScoobieDoobs

2 hours ago, jjj said:

Rachel is right to bring in Wendy Sherman's perspective on this.  

And don't forget Michael McFaul!  They've both been popping up everywhere in the MSNBC lineup.  But I'm pretty sure Rachel had them both on very regularly first.  I was hoping she'd have both of 'em on tonite -- and she did.

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jjj

jjj

(edited)

Oh, the "A" block podcast is going on my iPod forever. ("A" blocks are available for download as video.)

It is not the salacious parts and Rachel saying "f-ing, but it doesn't really say f-ing," (meanwhile, we are staring at the work "fucking" on the screen, but okay, Rachel), or "word that starts with 'sh'-tty".  And it is not even the as-ever golden reading of today's court transcript of Maria Butina and the new character in the form of the expert counter-intelligence official "known to the Court, but please state your name for the record."  Rachel saying "butt" instead of "ass" in another quote (not really sure that *is* better, Rachel, but okay.)  Rachel about Maria:  "Rhymes with 'pie', but starts with an 'S'".  (ETA!  HA! HA! HA! an update at the :40 mark to note that they did not *mean* to show the actual word "fucking" in the headline, but meant to blur it!  Another reason to save this!)

No, for me the platinum diamond part of the "A" block was when she got to linking Maria to the older stories about Russian influence on the choice of Secretary of State.  When Maria reached out in November to "Russian Official No. 1" to see "what our people think" of the likely choice (Mitt Romney).  And then the way Rachel showed how the various social media platforms were saturated with negative influence about Romney.  (Bye-bye, Mitt!)  And then Tillerson "never served in public office but was decorated by Putin himself" appointed because of backchannel pressure.

Think of where we viewers were on the night of November 8, 2016, in shock and disbelief, then more disbelief as the days went on.  But as we were sitting here stunned, Maria and her officials Nos. 1 through No. 2000 said "time to get busy".  

Then (still in the "A" block) Rachel showed us the pictures we remember of Tillerson getting that honor from Putin, and we remember seeing it then -- and now it looks ominous in an entirely new way.  And that picture of the hostage dinner with Trump and Romney ("please get me out of here") looks desperate in a whole new way.  The pictures from November 2016 to January 2017 (and beyond) now have such a Rashomon quality -- what we thought we were seeing was not at all what we were seeing.  Now we see the puppet strings, and Rachel might as well start drawing the strings onto the photographs she is displaying.  

"A" block.  Was that really just 23 minutes?  It seemed like it went on for months and months.  And Mitt Romney should thank his lucky stars that he did not get mixed up in this administration.  (I was no fan of Mitt, but now he could be on Mount Rushmore.)   

Edited by jjj
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ScoobieDoobs

ScoobieDoobs

Fortunately, Rach has hardly been the only one to come to the defense of Michael McFaul, but glad she did -- and that she led her show with it.  Nice move, Rach!

Loved her Russian spy girl coverage tonite.  Got a giggle when she read the spy girl's description of why she stuck around with some loser who was introducing her to people she was trying to get in with.  Daily Beast named the loser & describes him as  . . . well, predictably, a loser.  Eh, who cares about who he is?  I was enjoying Rach's telling without knowing or caring about his actual identity.

And I'm really enjoying Rach's Manafort updates!

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suomi

suomi

3 hours ago, jjj said:

"A" block.  Was that really just 23 minutes?  It seemed like it went on for months and months.  And Mitt Romney should thank his lucky stars that he did not get mixed up in this administration.  (I was no fan of Mitt, but now he could be on Mount Rushmore.)   

I watched all but a couple minutes of the block so I missed the part where she revealed that Mitt refused 45's offer. All this time I thought it was the other way around, that he interviewed for SoS but wasn't offered the position. Hoping to catch the 1:00 AM rerun. 

jjj

jjj

(edited)
29 minutes ago, suomi said:

I watched all but a couple minutes of the block so I missed the part where she revealed that Mitt refused 45's offer. All this time I thought it was the other way around, that he interviewed for SoS but wasn't offered the position. Hoping to catch the 1:00 AM rerun. 

No, Romney was never offered the job.  But briefly, he appeared to be close to getting it.  She did not say he turned the job down, and I don't see that in my post, either. (?) (Do I need to add a contraction?!) There was a dinner with Trump with pictures, where Romney looked terrified.  

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-mitt-romney-dinner-photo-meme-jokes-twitter-face-a7446791.html%3famp 

Edited by jjj
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attica

attica

I was glad McFaul came on to talk about the possibility of being handed over to Putin. He appeared much calmer than I would ever manage to be. If he's un-calm inside, well, it's good he's the one in the diplomacy biz, and I'm the one chewing off my fingertips. Idle thought: does he have any political aspirations, I wonder? We could use some Russian experts who aren't sleeping with Black Widow cosplayers or sucking up those Rubly-bitcoins....

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suomi

suomi

8 hours ago, jjj said:

No, Romney was never offered the job.  But briefly, he appeared to be close to getting it.  She did not say he turned the job down, and I don't see that in my post, either. (?) (Do I need to add a contraction?!) There was a dinner with Trump with pictures, where Romney looked terrified.  

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-mitt-romney-dinner-photo-meme-jokes-twitter-face-a7446791.html%3famp 

(I thought I explained myself but I guess I forgot to hit Submit because I don't see my post)

I missed a couple minutes of the block and when you mentioned Rushmore in your post I inferred that Mitt had done something notable/heroic in turning down a job offer. If that makes sense. 

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jjj

jjj

11 minutes ago, M. Darcy said:

I need to rewatch this week's shows. Apparently, Rachel sent us a Secret Signal this week to stage a coup this weekend.  She needs to do better because I totally missed it. 

It took me a while to figure out what the heck this was.  Thanks for the alert(?!). For those who care to click, the link goes to a Wonkette piece on Rachel and a video of a lunatic who claims to be right-wing, but who makes the actual right-wing look like The Peace Corps.  According to him, Rachel has indicated that we will all show up this weekend and basically have a French Revolution at the White House, complete with guillotine. 

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Quilt Fairy

Quilt Fairy

2 hours ago, jjj said:

we will all show up this weekend and basically have a French Revolution at the White House, complete with guillotine.

You forgot the black-clad commandoes rappelling down from helicopters.  I'm not sure who exactly is supplying them.

In all fairness Rachel has been rather breathless this week, just a hair's-breath away from "I don't give a fuck anymore"  - a line that Lawrence O'Donnell crossed some time ago.  She definitely wants somebody to do something.

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Tunia

Tunia

3 hours ago, M. Darcy said:

I need to rewatch this week's shows. Apparently, Rachel sent us a Secret Signal this week to stage a coup this weekend.  She needs to do better because I totally missed it. 

 

3 hours ago, jjj said:

It took me a while to figure out what the heck this was.  Thanks for the alert(?!). For those who care to click, the link goes to a Wonkette piece on Rachel and a video of a lunatic who claims to be right-wing, but who makes the actual right-wing look like The Peace Corps.  According to him, Rachel has indicated that we will all show up this weekend and basically have a French Revolution at the White House, complete with guillotine. 

I read about her supposed "secret signal" last night on Democratic Underground and was alternating between completely floored and laughing hysterically.  I want what that guy was smoking/drinking!

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