Rachel's Grand Experiment

Oh my, was it a hoot.

If you thought Tweety's "Thrill up my leg" couldn't be topped, hang on ...

The Garlic is not in the camp (and it's a big one) that believes Rachel Maddow walks on water.

Far from it.

Even if we were, I don't believe I could have ignored this monumental display of obsequiousness.



When she was just a mere rookie MSNBC pundit during last years primary elections, she received the proverbial rookie treatment, getting paired up with Pat Buchanan for those post-election night debates.

Well, road kill would shine against the former Nixon Nazi, so it was pretty much a false facade being erected.

Besides, Maddow all but wore a Hillary t-shirt, or covered up with make-up, the "Clinton" tattooed on her forehead, which we commented on at one point.

But that didn't hinder her ascent, as she soon began sub-hosting for the MSNBC Mount Olympus, Keith Olbermann.

The whispers and buzzing soon morphed into a clamoring - "Give her a show!" - and the MSNBC suits, apparently after getting a Bogart-like nod from Olbermann, soon complied.

Now, there hasn't necessarily been any improvement, per se, but hey, she got the show.

Each night, Monday-Friday, she follows Olbermann, with an Olbermann-like show, of pithy politics, imbuing it with her own pithiness.

Well, we should say straining to imbue it with her own pithiness.

And, boy, does she suck up to guests.

Rarely is it a simple, "Thank you", and moving on to the next segment, Maddow has to fawn all over whoever it is she just talked with.

Constantly ... All most every night.

Last night was no different.

With the big Stimulus Package day coming to an end, the Stimulus Bill passing the Cloture vote, Maddow had Obama Guru David Axelrod on the program.

It was about a 10-minute interview, with Maddow tossing quite a few softballs;

Earlier today, you said the president is going to keep his foot on the gas pedal when it comes to the stimulus. Has the stimulus plan gotten better or gotten worse as it has gone through Congress? Qualitatively, has it improved or not?

Do you sense any frustration from the president with some of the rhetoric on the Republican side, Lindsey Graham, for example, accusing him of being AWOL on this legislation—which seems to me to be, frankly, ridiculous. Is that frustrating for you guys, for the president himself?

How much do you expect this bill to change between the time that it passes the Senate tomorrow and it is expected to pass, and the time that it actually reaches the president‘s desk? Do you think it will be a whole new ball game?

Not edge-of-the-seat, earth-shattering, but they paid for the satellite time, so, I guess, you had to allow for some filler.

But, as the interview ended, is where Maddow shined.

Like a giggly school girl talking to the football captain, trying, desperately, to connect, to show she was "with him", looking for his approval, seeking his blessing, that it was an "OMG, what did she just do!"

Here's the video

Rachel Maddow Show - David Axelrod, counselor to President Obama - press conference tonight



Fast forward to the 9:32 mark, for this;

MADDOW: I feel like I‘m part of this grand experiment where everybody else is talking about partisanship and you, guys, are talking about urgency. And I can feel you changing the frame around me while I‘ll try to resist.

Ooooh Nooooo!

Talk me down!

She didn't just drool all over Axelrod, did she?

"Changing the frame on me while I try to resist"

The heroine, tied to the railroad tracks, resisting , no, no, no ...

But, suddenly, the frame changes around her, her resistance starts buckling ...

"Hey man, I'm with ya! ... I'm on your team! ... Give me the cup, I'll drink from it from now on!"

I searched the World Wide Web, and I just couldn't find any instances of Walter Cronkite slobbering all over Pierre Salinger.

Not only that, but by uttering "part of a grand experiment", no doubt, the tinfoil hat crowd of her fan base must be in a tizzy today.

What experiment, and just what makes it so grand?

Is she going to expose it on her show?

What should we do to prepare for it?

Ohhh, I don't know ... Bring back Abrams, or Rita Cosby, maybe.

There must be a backlog of Missing White Woman, or Anna Nicole Smith, news stacking up.