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Tonight's show was the first time I have been disappointed in TRMS reporting. When quoting Romney about whether PA was critical to winning the WH in the FALL she said it wasn't important and referenced Santorum as needing to win. A clear misrepresentation of the quote used-she's talking about the primary, while he clearly was talking about the general (unless primaries are happening in the fall after the conventions which obviously is not the case). What question was Romney answering? I can't believe I'm "defending" Romney but as skilled of a journalist as I have found Rachel Maddow to be, I have never felt as though a quote or issue has been clearly misrepresented to make a point (that really didn't need that quote to make). Having said that, 99.9% of her show I have found to be rooted in logic and fact. She illustrates issues in a very susinct way and is always open to debating the issues with those that do not agree with her (but most won't show up because their positions arent logically defendable). In any case overall I appreciate the views and perspectives on TRMS but today's program on this specific issue missed the standard I've become accustomed to from Ms. Maddow.
I noticed this too. I hope it makes it into a Dept. of Corrections segment, because it was pretty plain that he was referring to the general election, not the primary, but then she explicitly and specifically used that quote to paint Romney as out of touch—which he is, but not on this one point—by saying that he was talking about PA being crucial to the primary. I'd be willing to bet that it was an honest mistake on her part, but it's a mistake nonetheless and deserves retraction.
Also, the comments section needs to be fixed—the "Post Comment" button isn't enabled on iPad unless XHTML mode is on.
How is it that it has taken a year for the truth to be exposed in Michigan? Can't wait to see how the story unfolded for your team to reveal...Big question is where is the U.S. Department of Justice and the Attorney General in this investigation since so many citizens' civil and voting rights have been abridged, denied, and revoked? Where is the Michigan State Supreme Court? What recourse other than the Democratic Representatives of the Michigan House suing the Republicans is available to stop this heinous abuse of power and disregard for the citizens of Michigan? We await the MSM's pick up of this story to assist in the pursuit of justice or does NBC do that kind of journalism any more? You and MSNBC are about the only "Truth to Power" journalists left, it seems. Don't stop believing.
"What recourse other than the Democratic Representatives of the Michigan House suing the Republicans is available to stop this heinous abuse of power and disregard for the citizens of Michigan?"
Well there is always the second amendment solution. That is one thing that I agree with the Tea Party folk about. Remember, the Declaration of Independence lays out the legal and moral justification for the People to take up arms and overthrow "despots and tyrants". A representative government is a basic human right which CANNOT be taken away by any means and we have the DUTY to defend it by taking up arms if need be.
These people are fascists and they will do what all fascists do if someone doesn't stop them.
Yes, they're fascists, but don't advocate violence. Go to the courts. Go make your case to other people, in order to have things change.
Besides you risk stirring up the dreaded conservative persecution complex.
I'm not advocating violence, I'm expressing how I feel. Violence is and should be only a last resort but it should be there as an option. Maybe we are not at that point yet and there are still legal remedies available but at some point it may come to that.
Read your copy of the Declaration of Independence again. It lays out the moral justification for the People to throw off undemocratic governments. We have the *right*, even the duty, to remove such governments up to and including force if need be. But no, all legal options have not yet been exhausted.
On the other hand I don't believe they will give up their power willingly. They truly are right wing authoritarians as Rachel said and so it seems to me the probability for things to get very bad very fast is high.
From one of the articles that I found about the Michigan House Democrats filing the lawsuit(from the Detroit News), the issue is not so much about many of the previous times they have given passed legislature immediate effect. The issue they are presenting in the lawsuit is that roll call was not given when enough Democrats had brought the request to the floor. The state constitution states that roll call "shall" be conducted when requested by one-fifth of the House members(22). Michigan House Democrats have acknowledged that they have previously used the rising vote(seen in the clip where the Speaker asks those in favor to stand) when they were in charge. Even a Republican acknowledged it as common practice for decades, regardless of party. Unless the rising votes looked drastically different under these parties, this can't be the used in the lawsuit. So, the only legislature that can be called into question will most likely be ones where House Democrats requested roll call with at least 22 of its members and were not granted that vote. Otherwise, this could easily devolve into chaos with lawsuits.
"Michigan House Democrats have acknowledged that they have previously used the rising vote"
So they are just as much to blame. Democracy is a process and if you don't take steps to safeguard that process you will no longer have it. The same is true for science. It is also a process and if people do not respect that process, even if they call themselves scientists, they are no longer doing science.
Someone remind me why the right wing fascists in Michigan are not hanging from the lamp posts? The reason that the right wing fascists of Michigan, I refuse to call them Republicans or GOP as I don't think they are either, can get away with the things they do is because people allow them to. This illegal behavior has been going on all year and the Democrats of Michigan have only just now decided to lodge a protest??
If you're not willing to defend your democracy then at a certain level I think you deserve to have it taken away from you.
Indeed. Why have the Feds not interceded on the Countries behalf here? Why are the courts not inundated with lawsuits and challenges after lawsuits after challenges? You see it is tea bagging republican extremist who have done this not the left or Democrats like the GOP would like you to believe they are going to. ;]
This is corruption at its core. A need to simply corrupt the system beyond fix beyond repair leaving it to be theres and theres alone. Democracy is simply in the way of the money grubbing corruption they wish to have while doing the bidding of the select few pulling the strings. Miss. Rachel I do hope you publish the names of the three top doggy's responsible for this push to end democracy in this country.
ALSO call on My. Good Friend President Obama to end this. As commander and Chief he is bound to the Constitution to defend it and also he is bound to defend Democracy as we did in Nazi Germany and Korea and etc etc.. ; ]People should in fact be put on trial and put away for circumventing this Democracy in such a flagrant manner.
Cheers
Tonight, when you showed the letter from Romney to Gov. Pataki you missed an opportunity to comment on a misuse of the verb, to effect, by Romney:
"Thank you for you invitation to embark on a cooperative northeast process to reduct the power plant pollution that is harming our climate. I concur that climate change is beginning to effect our natural resources and that now is the time to take action towards climate protection," Romney said in the letter, adding, "I believe that our joint work to create a flexible market-based regional cap and trade system could serve as an effective approach to meeting these goals."
Climate change is effecting natural resources, is it? This is a common freshman mistake, but a four-year graduate of Harvard should not be making it.
I am saddened and disheartened by the cheap fraud by the Michigan Speaker and his party - but not surprised. Not since Nixon's time have I been surprised when the GOP sank to the lowest, ugliest means to further their agenda. Surprised, in fact, only when they did not.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
There are some American men and women who never believed this statement either as a universal truth or as the philosophical foundation for "their" country. Indeed, they have always been angry with the rest of us and with the Creator for demeaning them to suffer equality with the rest o humanity.
They believe that they are "divine" and, therefore, justified in any lie, exploitation, deception or murder to maintain their relative status on Earth. They are otherwise unfettered by any morals or ethics they prescribe for everyone else.
They have no common physical features or place of origin and they will be with us as long as ego is a part of the human psyche. Their psychology is insatiable, cannot be satisfied and always leads to self-destruction. The question is whether this generation will allow them to destroy American democracy and enslave its population or can we sustain the vigilance and vigor required to maintain the delicate balance of democracy against the maniac's eternal antagonism.
Why is no one in the Media beside Rachel Maddow reporting on this complete hijacking of Democracy in Michigan? I have heard nothing on CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS!
Why is the Justice Department of the United States not doing anything at all about this unconstitutional move by the Gov. Of Michigan to wipe out Democracy in the state of Michigan.
Why is Rachel Maddow fighting this battle alone? Is she the only damn journalist in the United States who can root out a story and report on it.
Things may be going on in the background that we don't know about. The legal system does move slowly, that's a good thing, but it can be frustrating when the stakes are so high as they are in this case. But I do agree that there ought to be more of an outcry in the media.
Swing States Poll: A shift by women puts Obama in lead
It continues to be overlooked that this poll also shows Obama leading Romney by ~15 points among men under 50. Given the GOP's longstanding advantage among men, this is pretty damned earthshaking stuff.
And yet I haven't found a single story that even mentions it. The only way you can find it out is by putting together Romney's negligible 1-point edge among men overall with his 18-point lead among men over 50. (To complete the arithmetic, it helps to know that men under 50 are approximately 51.3% of registered male voters, or at least were as of the November 2010 Current Population Survey's Voting Supplement.)
Rachel, thank you so much for covering what is going on in Michigan.
What Michigan Republicans are doing isn't just criminal, it's treasonous. It seems to me that the Federal Government should get involved in this. You cannot sit by and wait for procedure to take place when there's an emergency happening. Violating the rights of the minority en masse, and stripping them of the most basic of fundamental rights is something that should not be tolerated for a single day.
Obama should call in the US army to Michigan.
I'm not sure he can do that and I don't think he ought to just yet. What there needs to be first is an outcry in the media calling for a solution. Once there is public opposition maybe, but legal solutions need to be tried first. Only when all options are eliminated should federal force be used.
I actually think that Obama could use this to get some favorable support from independent voters. Maybe even Tea Party officials and voters. The Tea Party is not the caricature that the left would have them be and I think it is *possible* to frame this in such a way that they would also express their opposition too.
In fact............... I think Rachel should try to seek their support. Have some Tea Party leaders or just rank and file on her show and then frame the issue in such a way they would feel compelled to join her, and us, in opposing this nonsense.
We need solidarity more than ever.
I was over the moon with gratitude last night when I watched your segment on Michigan. You--as others have pointed out--are only one that I have seen on TV (or pretty much anywhere) pointing out what is going on in Michigan (and other state governments) on a regular basis that is totally undermining democracy--one state at a time. There definitely needs to be a giant red flashing light going on in every depiction of Michigan whenever a map of the US is shown in any context on TV. Even the dullest slug of a TV personality might then notice it and say, "Wow, I never noticed that before--wonder what it means?" Maybe, just maybe they might finally bestir themselves and take a look before it's too late. Thank you, Rachel for doing what the rest of the newspeople haven't--but desperately need to do--by pointing out it isn't both sides doing this on a state level--it is one side and it is absolutely destructive of our most basic foundation necessary for remaining a free country. Everyone needs to see that light flashing in Michigan and bring those destroying our democracy from the inside to a courtroom. A very public trial of these who believe they are above the law--although, they have sworn to uphold it. They are breaking the law in order to make their own laws of unending total one-party rule.
KUDOS to TRMS for reporting this travesty. I hope the clip about the Michigan "Bullpucky" going on goes viral! Every American who values his/her right to vote should show it to someone.
It is the duty and promise of legislators to faithfully and responsibly represent their constituents. I don't think any of their constituents would approve of the MIchigan GOP's behavior. The people of Michigan should loudly stand up to the Gaggle Of Plutocrats who are destroying their democracy! Any legislator who is proven to be circumventing democratic process should be removed...immediately.
Thanks again for bringing this story to light.
The report on Michigan was deeply unsettling. I hope the issue gets more widespread attention. What the Michigan GOP is doing is outrageous, and sadly, their tactics are likely taking place in other states. I fear for the future of this country. It may be too late.
PLEASE give us more information about the travesty of democracy that Michigan seems to have become. Is anyone trying to take legal action to question the validity of any of these laws? Where is the ACLU? Can you make suggestions about what concerned citizens outside of Michigan can do to put an end to what sounds like a coup? Why has the mainstream media not reported about this story?
Please keep the link to the Michigan GOP segment of 4/5 up, and readily/easily available, until that situation is completely resolved and voters' rights and protections are restored.
The Michigan GOP isn't even using the pretense of loopholes in the law; it's just steamrolling over the state's constitution, and by extension, all citizens.
Every so often, we can look back and find a particular defining moment when a society or its politics change in an incredibly significant way. And often, those moments are overlooked in real time. I believe this is one of those moments and pray the the MI Dems get this handled before it spreads.