Chris Matthews and Alex Wagner Respond to Mitt Romney's Birther "Joke"

While on a campaign stop in Commerce Twp, MI last Friday, Mitt Romney made a so-called joke about President Obama's place of birth. Stay classy Willard!

In the first clip, Hardball's Chris Matthews takes RNC chairman Reince Priebus apart during a segment on Morning Joe. In addition to confronting Reince on Romney's birther "joke", Chris also called him out for the Romney ad which falsely claims President Obama ended the work requirement for welfare. Since I cannot stand Priebus, it was a pleasure watching Chris gut him on live TV.

In the second clip, Alex Wagner (the host of MSNBC's NOW with Alex Wagner) took her turn addressing Romney's alleged attempt at humor. As one of the most congenial political pundits on TV, Alex usually keeps her anger in check. However, you could see she was pissed about what Romney said. Still, she handled it with her customary class and intelligence. 

Ever since President Obama was sworn in, some on the right have been directing race-based jabs at him (both overt and covert). And every time they do, it's the job of the media to call them on it.  Props to both Chris and Alex!

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The Hypocrisy of Paul Ryan

On the Sunday 8/19 installment of Up with Chris Hayes, the host revealed a devastating 2002 clip of Paul Ryan giving an impassioned plea for stimulus. You're not likely to see this clip air on Fox "News".



This is yet another case of IOKIYAR. The stimulus was OK under then-President Bush, but it's not now that President Obama is in office. I don't see how even the most ardent Ryan supporter can spin this one. If any of you want to give it a try, I'm all ears.

Rachel Maddow Busts Rush Limbaugh Over His Bain Conspiracy Rewrite

Tuesday on his radio program, Rush Limbaugh put forth his conspiracy theory that the release of the film The Dark Knight Rises was an orchestrated plot to undermine the Mitt Romney campaign. According to Rush, it's no coincidence the new Batman movie features a villain (Bane) with a name that sounds like the private equity firm which is causing Romney some problems (Bain Capital). Of course, that conspiracy theory falls apart when you consider two things: The character Bane was created back in the early 90s and the decision to use him as the villain in The Dark Knight Rises was made long before we knew Mitt Romney would be the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

After being roundly mocked for his idiotic conspiracy, Rush attempted a rewrite on Wednesday. In addition to calling him out for it, Rachel Maddow also explains why it's important to keep an eye out on the nutty conspiracies coming from the right.

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The Cycle Set to Premiere Monday June 25th on MSNBC

The hosts of The Cycle (l-r)- Steve Kornacki, S.E. Cupp, Krystal Ball, and Touré

As some of you may have heard, The Dylan Ratigan Show ended its 3 year run on MSNBC on Friday June 22nd. To fill the void at 4 pm EST, Martin Bashir's self-titled program moves up an hour on Monday June 25th. Replacing Martin at 3pm EST will be a brand new program titled The Cycle, a panel ensemble show hosted by MSNBC contributors Steve Kornacki, S.E Cupp, Krystal Ball, and Touré. With a format that looks to be similar to Fox's The Five, all four hosts will take turns facilitating the discussion. With the inclusion of Cupp, there are some who have misgivings about a conservative hosting a program on a left-leaning news channel like MSNBC. In the first clip below, The Young Turks discuss the topic. Please note this clip is from June 18th and at that time, MSNBC hadn't finalized the details of the upcoming program.



I don't have a problem with the selection of S.E. Cupp as one of the hosts of The Cycle. I think having opposing viewpoints helps enliven the discussion. It may come as a surprise to some, but I've mellowed on S.E. over the past several months. This is due to her appearances on another MSNBC program, NOW with Alex Wagner. For the most part when S.E. guests on NOW, she represents a fairly reasonable conservative point of view. However, when compared to the nonsense spewed by such conservative pundits as Sean Hannity and Andrea Tantaros, calling S.E. a reasonable voice from the right may be akin to terming Moe "the smart stooge".  At any rate, I'm looking forward to checking out The Cycle. In the clip below, Dylan Ratigan introduces the four hosts during the final telecast of his program and has a discussion with them about how their show will bring a fresh take to cable news.

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Political Silliness In Michigan: The Vagina Dialogues

While speaking last Wednesday against a bill requiring doctors to ensure women aren't coerced into ending their pregnancies, Rep. Lisa Brown (D-MI) told Republicans, "I'm flattered you're all so concerned about my vagina. But no means no." As a result, Rep. Brown was barred from speaking in the House on the grounds she violated decorum. Since when did using the medically correct term for a body part become an offense?! To really offend the GOP, maybe Rep. Brown should have said "Keep your stinking paws off my pussy, you damned dirty Republicans!"

Mich. lawmaker barred for "vagina" comment in abortion debate 

Rep. Lisa Brown's op-ed piece on the controversy

On last Friday's installment of The Ed Show, guest host Michael Eric Dyson had on Rep. Brown to discuss the controversy.

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In an awesome postscript, Rep. Brown will take part in a performance of the play "The Vagina Monologues" along with the writer of the play (Eve Ensler) on the state capitol steps on the evening of Monday, June 18th.