Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

I was promised a recession.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

He really is that stupid.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

You are here: Home / Fox Nation Insults Rachel Maddow… Poorly.

Fox Nation Insults Rachel Maddow… Poorly.

by | 82 Comments

This post is in: 

This isn’t even really mean. It’s just stupid. I’m sure whoever thought of this headline thought that they were being oh snap! in yo face!, but they failed. It’s embarrassing, and Fox News is already embarrassing enough as it is:

20121206-082636.jpg

I’m sure Rachel Maddow has been called all manner of things in her lifetime — being a woman, being a lesbian, and being the most prominent newscaster in the country right now — but for fuck’s sakes. If you’re going to insult the woman, at least try to be clever about it. “Madd-cow”? It doesn’t even make any goddamn sense. Then again, it makes about as much sense as calling Michelle Obama “Moo-chelle.”

She obviously has a sense of humor about these things, given that she routinely mocks those trying to mock her, so if you’re going to try to get under her skin, make sure you don’t fail out loud in the process, mmkay?

Idiots.

[cross-posted at ABLC]

Reader Interactions

82Comments

  4. 4.

    jl

    Which one of you jokers infiltrated the Fox Nation editorial staff? So juvenile and dumb, clearly a set up by a mole.

  6. 6.

    General Stuck

    Idiots.

    These are the same type people who have a serious symposium on getting more of the minority vote for republicans, by encouraging Hispanics, (among others), to start acting more American. We ought to create an Exhibit for our wingnuts at the Smithsonian, betwixt Peking Man and The Ringling Brothers.

  7. 7.

    stinger

    Reminds me of when Robertson or one of that ilk called Ellen “degenerate”. Her response was appropriate: “What is this, fourth grade?”

  9. 9.

    Nick

    It’s just a juvenile put down. She’s mad, and she’s a cow, i.e., not a string bean like Coulter or the other one.

    It’s puerile, but what do you expect? Fox is just the broadcast version of World Net Daily.

  10. 10.

    Ash Can

    No matter how bad you expect them to be, they’ll be worse. It’s just how they roll.

    @Joel: Is it still “nutpicking” when it’s a big honking headline on a major-traffic website?

  11. 11.

    ? Martin

    @stinger:

    Her response was appropriate: “What is this, fourth grade?”

    And you know what was awesome for empowering women and minorities? Fourth grade.

    The GOP rebuilding continues.

  12. 12.

    Tom Levenson

    One thing her opponents don’t get about Maddow is that she is both ferociously smart and, by what I hear (from Chris Hayes, in this case) is also the hardest working person at the network.

    I talked with Hayes when he came to MIT and his description of Maddow bordered on awe. It was like the line allegedly uttered at the first race in what became known as the America’s Cup.

    Queen Victoria asked an onlooker, “Who is first?” “America, Your Majesty.”

    “Who is second.”

    “Your Majesty, there is no second.”

    IOW: Fox folks are here punching waaaaaaay over their weight class.

    Better duck.

  14. 14.

    wrb

    I doubt they thought anything of it.

    In certain circles of Wingnuttia “Mad-Cow” has been her name for a long time.

    They probably weren’t sure how to spell that other name she uses.

  16. 16.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Speaking of Maddow did you see that Laura soon to be unemployed Ingraham was having a hissy fit about the MSNBC hosts going to the White House to meet with POTUS and saying “can you imagine what would happen if Fox News hosts were invited to the Bush White House” completely forgetting of course that they were, and she was at the meeting.

  17. 17.

    Teacherboy

    Oh, I know this one. One of my guilty pleasures is listening to right wing talk radio in the car. My favorite is Mark Levin, who I am convinced is going to stroke out live on the air someday. Anyway, he like coming up with nicknames for things he hates, like the New York ‘Slimes” or MSLSD or the Washington Compost. I’ll pause while you collect your breath, I know these are funny. Rachel Madd-cow? That’s one of his. So not only are the idiots at Fox both mean and stupid, they are also really, really lazy.

  21. 21.

    Thomas F

    Please provide documentation for the claim of “the most prominent newscaster in the country.” Your subjective perspective and/or psychological need for wish-fulfillment obviously do not count. Kthxbai.

  24. 24.

    The Other Chuck

    @KG:

    @stinger: eh, is it any different than calling McCain “Walnuts” or DeMint “DeMinimus”?

    So basically, the standards of random blogs are to be those of Fox Nation, is that about right? Actually, given the commentariat over at Fox Nation, I think FreeRepublic is pretty much their level.

  25. 25.

    maya

    Aw, cummon, folks. FOX really, really understands their viewer’s mentality and social skills like nobody else does. They didn’t write that headline for YOU. they wrote it for their market. Kuddos, Mur-dorks!

  27. 27.

    Hill Dweller

    @Tom Levenson: Maddow’s first segment, which weaves disparate events into a smooth narrative illuminating the day’s big story, is the best thing on TV news. It obviously takes a lot of work to pull it off five nights a week, but Maddow and her staff accomplish it.

    My only problem with Maddow is her insistence on bringing Andrea Mitchell on the show and treating her credibly.

  28. 28.

    ShadeTail

    Speaking of Dr. Maddow, she somehow convinced Mr. Steve Benen to take a vacation. There’s a note about it on Maddowblog right now. I continue to be impressed by her. Getting Mr. Benen to take time off is like doing a marathon up the side of Mt. Everest.

  29. 29.

    Chyron HR

    @Thomas F:

    Please provide documentation for the claim that the President is a “Kenyan muslim sociaIist food stamp rapist Chicago thug baby daddy”. Kthxbai.

  30. 30.

    ShadeTail

    @KG:
    Yes, actually, it is completely different. Find a major news site (or propaganda mill, if you prefer; this is Faux “News” we’re talking about, after all) doing that, rather than nutpicking random lefty blogs, and then you’ll be able to say that it’s the same.

  31. 31.

    Tom Levenson

    @Corner Stone: @BGinCHI:

    Well, Bruce and I are like that….

    ….which is to say not like that at all.

    Now I do have some Yo-Yo Ma stories — but I’ll never tell ;) [He was kind enough to sit still for interviews for my second book]

    But seriously: yeah, name dropping — but at the same time I have a bias towards stating sources.

  32. 32.

    WereBear

    @Hill Dweller: My only problem with Maddow is her insistence on bringing Andrea Mitchell on the show and treating her credibly.

    Maddow believes that how she treats people reflects on her, not them.

  33. 33.

    TooManyJens

    @Tom Levenson:

    It was like the line allegedly uttered at the first race in what became known as the America’s Cup.
    __
    Queen Victoria asked an onlooker, “Who is first?” “America, Your Majesty.”
    __
    “Who is second.”
    __
    “Your Majesty, there is no second.”

    “Eclipse first, the rest nowhere.”

  34. 34.

    TooManyJens

    @Corner Stone: In fairness, Hayes said that on Twitter. I don’t think Levenson was claiming any special access.

    ETA: never mind, I didn’t read the whole thread. But I knew the same thing about Hayes that Levenson did. :)

  39. 39.

    Karounie

    I think it’s a cleverer insult than you are giving them credit for. They aren’t calling her fat, they’re calling her an incurable disease of the brain. Still stupid and juvenile.

  40. 40.

    Mnemosyne

    @Karounie:

    I wouldn’t call it “cleverer,” but I agree it’s probably not meant to be a fat joke. I’m sure they’re more than happy to have people pick up that implication as well, though.

  41. 41.

    Lihtox

    Heck, that’s not even a bad picture of her; in fact she’s darn cute in it. Where’s the menacing shadows, the fleeting growl? Lazy job, Fox! The work ethic of those conservatives, I tell you…

  42. 42.

    Betty Cracker

    I saw Maddow interviewed on the Ellen show months ago, and she (Maddow) was laughing about the “Mad-Cow” thing. She said she gets lots of hate mail and that practically every single idiot who writes to her addresses her as “Mad-Cow” and obviously thinks it’s incredibly clever and original. Maddow was laughing about it, but Ellen was adorably indignant on her behalf…

  43. 43.

    NonyNony

    @Mnemosyne:

    I wouldn’t call it “cleverer,” but I agree it’s probably not meant to be a fat joke.

    I think you give them more credit than they deserve.

  44. 44.

    Brachiator

    @Karounie:

    I think it’s a cleverer insult than you are giving them credit for. They aren’t calling her fat, they’re calling her an incurable disease of the brain.

    I see your point, but “mad cow” is a dated reference. And I don’t mind juvenile if it’s funny. But this quip is too jejune to even be juvenile.

  45. 45.

    Hill Dweller

    @WereBear:

    Maddow believes that how she treats people reflects on her, not them.

    I’m not suggesting Maddow should treat Mitchell rudely. Mitchell is a hack, but Maddow brings her on the show and acts like she is a bastion of journalistic competence. It’s weird.

  47. 47.

    ThresherK

    @Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God: But it’s not that Rachel’s overweight, it’s that she’s a woman, and in their playbook, the worst thing you can call a woman is fat.

    Drill down deeper into that playbook and it’s almost more an insult to put her in the bin of “fat women” when she isn’t. They’re hoping the target would first become defensive and then say all the ways she (target) is not fat.

    (As others have mentioned, I consider Fox is dealing with the wrong target, personality-wise.)

    To wit: My lesbian mechanic (no lie) is a chunk heavier than I am, which is apt because she needs to be strong enough to be a mechanic, and I only need the strength to operate a keyboard. I can’t imagine anyone who’d think they’d accomplish something by trying to insult her as fat, as it’s be apparent that it’d be foremost a sign of the insulter’s desparation.

  48. 48.

    handsmile

    On TRMS, she comes across as so unflappable and unself-conscious, even irreverent, about her media persona that I can imagine her reporting this story and then mooing (followed by uproarious laughter). Next she would earnestly ask the Fox writer to come onto her show or at least agree to be interviewed at a dairy.

    On Tuesday over at Digby’s, David Atkins (“thereisnospoon”) introduced his post thusly, “Rachel Maddow, national treasure, tells it like it is.”

    http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-economy-needs-stimulus-not-deficit.html

  50. 50.

    Joel

    @Ash Can: yes, highlighting anything from Fox Nation is nitpicking. It’s basically the Fox-endorsed version of Red State with prettier graphics.

  51. 51.

    The Tragically Flip

    @Marmot:

    If there’s a thing I would dearly love to see go away, it’s this idea that because something is “on the internet” it doesn’t matter. The internet is just a medium. The content matters in how it motivates people to act, and how it reflects on the beliefs of those saying it.

    There’s a casual meanness to this thing that is worth noting. They have such contempt and scorn for her that even just seeing her book succeed in some form makes them angry enough to call her (sexist) names.

    Maddow can take it, but this kind of bullying drives some people to commit suicide. We’d all like to think we’re thick skinned but I hope never to be the next Sandra Fluke or Graeme Frost target of wingnut online rage.

  52. 52.

    MattMinus

    You’re putting the accent on the wrong syllable. It’s Mooch-elle not Moo-chelle. When given the choice wingnuts would rather go racist than sexist.

  54. 54.

    The Tragically Flip

    Calling women you don’t like “cows” is a well worn trope, and doesn’t necessarily even refer to weight in my experience. It’s just a slightly more polite form of “bitch.” As in “that cow down in accounting rejected my expense claims AGAIN!”

  55. 55.

    TooManyJens

    @Joel: I think the key word here is “Fox-endorsed,” no? I mean, I think it’s just petty insulting dickishness, but it’s petty insulting dickishness that the premier right-wing media outlet is clearly fine with. That’s not the usual definition of “nutpicking.”

  58. 58.

    JasonF

    While Fox Nation is owned by and affiliated with Fox News, so they should take some blame for this, it’s important to keep in mind what Fox Nation is: it’s an open platform where anybody can post an article. The community then upvotes it or downvotes it as they collectively deem appropriate. So it’s more like a diary by a random DailyKos poster than an official statement by a paid Fox News contributor.

  60. 60.

    Southern Beale

    No, this is a wingnut thing. I’ve heard others refer to her as Mad Cow. Fox is just picking up on something Limpd!ck started.

    Oh wow, there I did it, too. Both sides do it! { ducks, runs… } I know … CNN or MSNBC would never refer to Limbaugh as Limp D!ck in a headline … I get it …

  61. 61.

    Southern Beale

    @JasonF:

    it’s important to keep in mind what Fox Nation is: it’s an open platform where anybody can post an article.

    Really? How did I not know this? How have we not used this knowledge to our advantage? We could have fun with this, guys and gals. Seriously? Anyone can post an article there?

  65. 65.

    aimai

    Have people forgotten that it is an even older insult to call all women “cows?” Has nothing to do with weight, has mostly to do with the idea that they are stupid, that they have owners, that they move in herds. “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free” was a common refrain quite a long time ago. Cows are easily “cowed” or frightened. The “Mad-Cow” part of the insult is just a riff on the cow part.

    But that being said that’s what makes this different from an ordinary play on name insult like “deminimus” instead of demint. Its a generic insult lobbed at all women and it implicates all women. I can’t think of any insult to figures like O’Reilly or McCain or whoever other than “old man shakes fist at clouds” that basically lumps him in with his entire demographic and insults both at the same time.

    In other words: this is clearly another attempt by Fox News and the GOP to reach out to women voters! They love being called cows and bitches. I’m surprised they didn’t go one farther and call her a bull dyke, just to round the entire insult off in style.

  67. 67.

    The Red Pen

    @Thomas F:

    Please provide documentation for the claim of “the most prominent newscaster in the country.”

    Sigh. Hold on.
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    OK, I asked some people and they all agreed.
    [Detailed survey results]
    * Yeah, sure… you know we were having a meeting until you barged in?
    * Um, what? (Counted as a yes)
    * She’s on MSNBC, right? (Counted as a yes)
    * I luuuuuurve Rachel Maddow. (enough data collected)

  68. 68.

    Argon

    Been hearing that one for years. It’s as funny now as it was the four-thousandth time someone told it. Count on Fox for being late to the party and getting it wrong… It’s ‘Mad cow’ or ‘Madcow’. And she’s heard it all her life.

  69. 69.

    Randy P

    @aimai: I was going to mention that “dyke” insults are pointless since she actually IS lesbian. So you’ve eliminated half their source of wit. What’s left but “cow”?

    And I think I actually did read a “bull dyke” reference early in her TV career… a fond one, in an article written for a lesbian audience.

  70. 70.

    Librarian

    @KG: The actual equivalent would be if CNN or the NYT called conservatives names, not some liberal blog. In other words, an equivalent that does not exist.

  71. 71.

    Full Metal Wingnut

    Just realized that I’ve been mixing up Dennis Miller and Billy Crystal for a while now. Chrystal’s still sane, right?

  72. 72.

    Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God

    @ThresherK:

    But it’s not that Rachel’s overweight, it’s that she’s a woman, and in their playbook, the worst thing you can call a woman is fat.

    Possibly.

    According to the Internets, both Maddow and FLOTUS are 5’11”. So I wonder if it’s some weird kind of ‘reverse-heightism’ where “woman too tall” is considered somehow morally equivalent to “woman too fat”.

    GOP women, you see, are supposed to be short and hot. Like 5’4″ Sarah Palin (who I still think was selected by McCain partially because she didn’t tower over him like Mitt or the other 2008ers would have). Any woman over 5’9″ must obviously be a secret Man-Liberal in disguise.

    I’m probably putting way too much thought into this. Just that I can usually parse the crazed outputs of the Republican mind, and here I can’t.

  75. 75.

    Tonybrown74

    @hep kitty:

    Keep in mind that Fox’s idea of comedic brilliance is Dennis Miller.

    And don’t forget the Half-Hour News Hour …

    Insert laugh track here …

  76. 76.

    Capri

    @KG: I can’t remember CNN or MSNBC using those terms. What’s different is that this came from a professional “news” outlet.

  77. 77.

    Donut

    @KG:

    I’ll grant you’ve made a good point, but we are middling bloggers and blog commenters here…FOX is supposed to be, in their minds, anyway, a legit news organization.

    It is not an unreasonable expectation that they at the very least should treat their media equal (better) with a wee bit more respect. Is it? Shouldn’t they be held to a higher standard than fucking Balloon Juice, ABL, and/or assorted peanut gallery denizens?

  78. 78.

    Wolfdaughter

    @KG:

    eh, is it any different than calling McCain “Walnuts” or DeMint “DeMinimus”?

    KG has a point, folks. The only difference I can think of is that we in Blogistan don’t have our silly “nicknames” posted all over one of the best-known news stations.

    OTOH, I’ve decided that I’m going to refer to poor old McCain as “McCain’t”. Hey, I’m an Arizonan, or as we are known in California, a Zonie. I’m entitled.

    BTW, I do give McCain props for voting in favor of the UN disability resolution. Doesn’t mean that I’ll vote for him should he survive the next couple of years and run again.

  81. 81.

    lol

    Most right-wing humor basically boils down to the punchline of “It’s funny because they’re a [insert slur here].”

    DeMinimus and Walnuts at least have some turn of phrase in them. Moochelle and Maddcow are more in the vein of Fartbama.

  82. 82.

    Guy James

    I have spent a lot of time with both Chris Hayes and Rachel and find them to be two of the most intelligent people I’ve ever known. I’m in awe of their intellectial prowess. And Rachel probably weighs 110lbs soaking wet. Only a fool would engage either of them in a political argument.

Comments are closed.