So she insulted half her viewers, the straight ones anyway.
Deploying trademark saccharine smarm, Rachel Maddow last night rushed to defend Planned Parenthood from the predations of Indiana governor Mitch Daniels and like-minded Republicans in the legislature who have blocked federal funding to the abortion provider's clinics in their state.
In the process, Maddow used a surreal approach -- briefly converting her MSNBC studio to a "man cave" that looked like the sports den of a middle-class dad -- then talking down to the men in her audience as knuckle-draggers unable to comprehend beyond football and cars (video below page break) --
Ladies, you can take a powder. I just need to talk, I just need to talk, you know, to all the menfolk who are watching right now, just me and the guys. I'm apparently allowed to open a beer, they told me. All right, here's the deal. Ready? Man-cave moment. Here's the deal -- every three thousand miles. (raises eyebrows for emphasis) That's a familiar concept, right? I don't want to talk about synthetic oil, let's forget the whole synthetic oil and that whole complicated thing -- every 3,000 miles. You know what I'm talking about, right? Every 3,000 miles, oil change! Every 6,000 miles, rotate your tires! (wags finger for emphasis) At a certain number of miles, you check the brakes, you check the differential, maybe the spark plugs you can check at home depending on your skill level. But when it comes to, like, getting an alignment, re-balancing your wheels and all that stuff, basically speaking you take it in.
Not because there's anything wrong with your vehicle, fellas (sarcastic smile for emphasis). It's just preventive maintenance! (begins tossing football) So, preventive maintenance, right? Preventive maintenance -- Planned Parenthood (guffaws). Oil change -- breast exam. Rotate your tires -- can I say pap smears on TV? At the same time that I just opened a Budweiser?
Fellas, just like your car needs a little bit of preventive maintenance from time to time, so do the ladies in your life. Is this making it sink in at all?! (flaps arms for emphasis). Is this helping with the politics here?! The ladies in your life, just like all of the automobiles in your life, they have sort of a 3,000-mile thing. Every 3,000 miles. It's not like anything's wrong. Certainly if something's wrong you gotta go get things taken care of, but even if nothing's wrong, even if everything's going fine, you gotta have your 3,000-mile checkup (bellowing, pointing finger for emphasis) and you gotta do it every 3,000 miles!
Imagine the vein-bulging apoplexy among liberals, especially those of the fairer sex, if Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Beck, et al., did anything remotely similar to what Maddow disgorged last night. It might sound something like this --
CONSERVATIVE PUNDIT: Guys, I need you to chill somewhere, this is between me and the womenfolk. All right, gals, here's the deal. Are you ready? Brace yourselves. Triple coupons. Yes -- triple coupons. You're familiar with the concept, right? Can't live without it, especially nowadays when you're counting every penny. Well, cutting our vast unsustainable entitlement spending is a lot like trimming your household budget. And how do you do that? Bingo -- triple coupons! And watch those savings grow!
Social Security going broke? Triple coupon! Medicare out of control? Ditto! Public-sector workers taking paid time off to protest for better pay and benefits? Whip it out, with gusto!
Gals, just like your household budget needs preventive maintenance to keep from going out of whack, so does our federal budget. Is this sinking in at all in those pretty little heads?! Or are the politics too complicated here ...?
By the way, Ms. Maddow, the need for preventive maintenance isn't limited solely to ladies.
