It's fairly common to lament that Rachel Maddow, despite being by far the most engaging and analytically interesting political commentator on TV, hasn't been given her own show. Kay Steiger's interview with Maddow will only sharpen that sentiment, particularly because, when Kay asks her about having her own show, she says, "I’ve made no secret about the fact that I would love for that to happen, but there isn’t a secret Rachel Maddow show on TV in the works." So we can't even pretend it's in development! For those unfamiliar with Maddow Kay also tosses up this YouTube clip, which is a good representation of her style of on-air commentary. The segment is about the Obama fist bump, and Fox's decision to sell it as a "terrorist fist jab." Maddow laughs at Fox, but she also makes the point that the "terrorist" stuff is a bit of a red herring. The real project is to recast the gesture as something "unalterably foreign to the American public. Hill [the Fox commentator] goes on to say 'what happened to the great pat on the back?' as if that's the only physical gesture of affirmation appropriate to American politics." It's liberal, yes, but it's sophisticated and illuminating and even irreverent in a way very few hosts, no matter their political orientation, manage to pull off.
