Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Mirror Imaging

One follow up to the post below - and the literally hundreds of emails it has elicited ...

Just before I traveled to Afghanistan, I accepted an invitation to appear on "The Rachel Maddow Show" on MSNBC when I returned. This was not something I'd normally agree to do: I don't watch the show, but I had (or thought I had) a rough idea of what it was like.

But I write a column for The Week, the appearance was booked through them, so I agreed to do my bit.

Big mistake. I watched the show in horror in the MSNBC green room. Maybe I was a bit crankier than usual: I'm still jet-lagged enough that I have been going to bed by 8:30 most nights this week ... Anyway I was unprepared for the sarcasm and anger of what I saw.

So when it was my time to go on air - and instead of being asked about Afghanistan I was asked about how awful and hateful the John McCain campaign was - I got a little grouchy. I dont know if there's a tape visible anywhere. 

(My closest relatives insist it was OK. Then again, my wife is a big believer in Judith Martin's quip that the key to a happy marriage is the ability to say with a perfectly straight face, "I don't know what you are worrying about darling. I thought you were very amusing last night, and I'm sure everyone else did as well.")

If I find it, I'll link.

Now after receiving more than 100 emails from NRO readers (mostly) scolding me for selling out the team by criticizing the McCain campaign on CBS in the morning, I am now sifting through more than 300 emails from (mostly) enraged viewers accusing me of rudeness to Ms Maddow (sorry - her fans call her "Dr Maddow") for declining to criticize the McCain campaign on MSNBC in the evening ...

PS: Here's the clip ...

10/14 06:18 AM