Three Things I Hate About Rachel Maddow

Here are three things I hate about Rachel Maddow:

1) Pandering--Virtually every time Rachel mentions a U.S. state, she calls it "The great state of...." We get it--like all cable talk show hosts, Rachel is desperate for ratings. But trying to curry favor with her audience by describing every state as "great" is really sickening. It's like Rachel is challenging Brian Williams for the title of "Biggest Panderer At NBC Universal". That's not a title anyone should want. Rachel is also very fond of saying, "The good folks at...." when she is describing a group of people. "The good folks at NASA." "The good folks at the ASPCA." "The good folks at the IRS." "The good folks at the insurance industry lobby." More nauseating pandering. Just say the name of the state or group. We'll decide how good or great they are.

2) Fishing--Rachel begins almost every interview by asking her guest, "Did I explain that correctly? Did I get anything wrong?" We understand. Rachel's really smart. She's a lot smarter than any of us viewers. She was a Rhodes Scholar, after all! But it's really sickening to hear her begin almost every interview by forcing her guest to bow down and pay homage by telling her just how smart she really is. "You got that exactly right, Rachel!" "No, you didn't make any mistakes, Rachel!" "I couldn't have explained that any better myself, Rachel!" "Rachel, you must have been the Rhodiest of all the Rhodes Scholars!" Oh, please. I think it would be better if Rachel just wore a hat that said, "I'm So Much Smarter Than You!" That way, she wouldn't have to fish for compliments from her guests.

3) Promoting--Rachel goes way too far when she promotes "The Ed Show". We get it--part of being a cable host means promoting the network's other shows. No problem. But does she have to take it to such extremes? She raves about Ed like he's the modern-day incarnation of Edward R. Murrow. "Ed's doing the best job in the universe of covering the situation in the great state of Wisconsin!" "Ed has more information than anyone else about Kate Middleton's wedding dress!" "Ed will tell you how to reduce your mortgage payments by 87%!" "Make sure you watch Ed to find out next week's winning Powerball numbers!" When Rachel gushes about Ed, it sounds really forced and insincere. She should just stick to the written script and not try to improvise. I mean, if Ed is as magnificent as Rachel makes him out to be, why is he languishing at MSNBC?