October 4, 2020

"Yet upon learning that the fascist, Kremlin-controlled, Nazi-like dictator had become ill, Maddow launched a one-woman crusade demanding that her fellow liberals pray earnestly for his recovery."

"She first posted an extremely effusive tweet: 'God bless the president and the first lady. If you pray, please pray for their speedy and complete recovery…' Presumably in response to widespread liberal confusion and criticisms — wait, you spent four years telling us he’s a fascist racist Nazi-like despot and now you insist that we pray for his health? — Maddow devoted a segment on her show in which, with great passion and emotion, she urged her viewers to react to Trump’s COVID diagnosis with the same compassion and through the same prism as if a friend who smokes cigarettes learned she had lung cancer.... There are a few potential explanations that may account for this extremely unusual and confounding behavior of praying for, rather than against, the well-being of a fascist dictator. Perhaps Democratic leaders are simply pretending to be hoping for Trump’s well-being for political purposes while secretly hoping that he suffers and dies. Or perhaps national Democratic politicians have ascended to a state of spiritual elevation rarely seen in modern political history, in which they are capable of praying for even those they most dislike, including ones they believe are imposing fascism on their nation? Or perhaps, maybe more likely, Democratic leaders do not really believe the things they have spent four years saying about Trump...."

Writes Glenn Greenwald in "Why Are Democrats Praying for the Speedy Recovery of a 'Fascist Dictator'?/People typically rejoice over, not lament, the death of someone they genuinely believe is a fascist dictator'" (The Intercept).

79 comments:

Nick said...

As self-righteous as these Lefties are, you'd think they'd remember that bit about "praying for your enemies."

Skeptical Voter said...

Or perhaps Democrat leades and thought leaders like Ms. Snark A Dark Maddow realized that the initial reaction of many Democrats (and I can also tell you the "writers" that put their drivel in the Los Angeles Times each day) that this was a good thing and the Bad Orange Man had it coming because he was careless or stupid or a liar or all three things, was not going to be well received by at least half the country.

So now it's time to scramble back and be nice---after planting their feet smack in the middle of a San Francisco sidewalk meadow muffin. That stuff sticks and stinks. Rachel is trying to "shake it off'.

Michael K said...

She seems to have made an effort to convince Dims not to act crazy.

As expected, it failed.

Mary Beth said...

Trump has given her the best ratings ever. How could she not wish for his health?

The Gipper Lives said...

Maybe Jesus touched her heart.

He does that.

Drago said...

If you thought the democraticals/LLR-lefties were angry before, just wait until you see them go berserk when Trump refuses to die and walks out of the hospital and back onto the campaign trail at a hundred miles an hour.......complete with ChiCom flu immunity!

Something tells me our CIA/FBI/Secret Service are going to have to go with Plan C to stop Trump.

wildswan said...

Biden's persona requires that he behave decently and the people around him don't want to be to dissonant. The rigid left that would run the show under a Dem President doesn't care about decency and human feeling but they apparently realize that they won't win this election by showing that they don't care such things.

Big Mike said...

It’s all fake, and everybody knows it. Liberals hate Trump with a blind passion, and they are only making a show of pulling for Trump’s recovery otherwise normal people anywhere near the political center will despise them.

gilbar said...

Perhaps Democratic leaders are simply pretending to be hoping for Trump’s well-being for political purposes while secretly hoping that he suffers and dies.

this seems pretty darn likely, no matter what else is true (see below)

Or perhaps, maybe more likely, Democratic leaders do not really believe the things they have spent four years saying about Trump...."

Now, how the heck could THAT BE?
President Trump is The First Republican, EVER; that has been called a fascist Nazi be Demos
isn't he? i mean, it's NOT just a GOTO thing for them, is it?
They Wouldn't be SAYING it if they didn't MEAN it . . . Would they?

DavidUW said...

I very much doubt that Maddow or others in her circle believe that prayer does anything.

So it's an obviously empty gesture intended to detract from their ghoulishness.

Tom T. said...

Greenwald has a couple of blind spots (most notably as to Iran), but he's fearless and true to his principles in a way that puts the "principled conservatism" of the NeverTrump movement to shame.

Bunkypotatohead said...

She's politically aware enough to know that praying for the death of our president won't go over so well with much of the electorate.
This is like a reverse civility bullshit statement.

Temujin said...

The other possibility is that they don't want another Wellstone funeral moment so close to the election. They've got this won. They can taste it. To jump on a sick man's grave- so to speak- would show their real heart. And Lord knows, they cannot do that until after January 20.

Maddow is using her secret code to tell her audience to just...tamper it down, hold it down. Don't show any real feelings or emotions here. Just play it cool. We're almost home. Democrats use politeness and being nice as a secret code. Sometimes they are confused by their own useage.

AllenS said...

Why would Rachel Maddow want to pray for Trump? She's really believes in that karma shit.

Sally327 said...

I think the prayers and good wishes from the left, instead of expressing the schadenfreude which they actually feel, are intended to avoid inflaming Trump supporters. It's the lesson learned from the Paul Wellstone funeral.

Yancey Ward said...

Occam's Razor suggests Maddow is simply insincere since that is her normal response to everything. Indeed, it is also likely she doesn't really believe all the bullshit Russian collusion stories, but parrots them because her audience has an average IQ of 90 and laps it up like flies do shit.

J. Farmer said...

Greenwald himself has been tarred as a "Putin stooge" because he was skeptical of Russiagate from the beginning. He's also associated with the "Bernie bros" and gets flak for criticizing the DNC from the left.

JAORE said...

Because some of the left have glimpsed the horror of ordinary citizens when the lefty mask slips.

iowan2 said...

Maddow hasn't got this much attention since she broke the devastating Trump tax scandal.

It's calculating, not confusing

walter said...

Her show needs the villain!

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Yes, Trump is such a fascist, that he even lets Jim Acosta roam free, let alone John Roberts and Chris Wallace. He's such a fascist, that when the Wuhan flu hit, he told the states to exercise their police and public health powers to fight the virus, rather than expand the Federal government's powers. He's such a fascist, that he cooperated completely with the Russian Hoax investigation and let it run to completion.

Yes, he does speak kindly to Russian dictator Putin and CCP chairman Xi, but he uses his presidential powers to impose tariffs, encourage oil and gas production and kill Russian mercenaries in Syria and Salemani in Iraq. That is in keeping with Teddy Roosevelt's dictum: "Speak softly but carry a big stick." Also, Machiavelli's "Never do an enemy a small hurt."

stephen cooper said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sebastian said...

"Why Are Democrats Praying for the Speedy Recovery of a 'Fascist Dictator'?"

Because they want the votes of nice women who frown on meanness toward the sick.

Since they care about power above all, they occasionally have to pretend to care about women's feelz.

Expat(ish) said...

Sorry, I’ve lost the thread.

Which alternative universe are we in?

-XC

Howard said...

I pray for the successful application of the libtard atheistic science drugs. Someone has to save the idiot from his own self.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Exaclty.
Rachel spent a lot of chi com money telling us Trump is a Russian Spy.

LilyBart said...

These people have allowed themselves to become deranged.

tim maguire said...

Or Maddow believes prayer is bunk and telling her followers to pray is basically an inside joke. Or maybe she just has a bit of human decency after all.

Chennaul said...

Well if Trump died in office he would reach JFK levels of worship...from the other direction.

Michael K said...

Blogger Howard said...
I pray for the successful application of the libtard atheistic science drugs


More delusions from the left. Science has no religion, especially not the atheistic one.

Michael K said...

I see no suspicion that this column might be satire. I would not rule it out.

stephen cooper said...

My best two guesses are Rachel M. said something nice because she knows it is good to be nice, or because she thought it was tactically a good decision.

In either case, I am happy she said it. I hope the second case is incorrect, but even if it is, I would rather live in a world where the Rachel Maddows of this world try and seem non-evil than live in a world where they don't bother.

Wouldn't you too?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Or maybe the left are realizing they went too far?
nah.

walter said...

Howard failed to insert a fitness reference.
We should pray on him.
I mean..who you gonna believe? Dr. Risch or Inga designed mask wearin' Howie?

Hugh Walter said...

I think people want him to live so he can go to jail on January 21st!

Nancy said...

Reminds me of toddlers: I hate you Mommy! But don't really want Mommy to die.

mockturtle said...

It was a fine gesture on her part in stark contrast to so much of the liberal MSM and I will no longer refer to her as Rachel MadCow.

walter said...

mock,
I suspect she is cowing you.

Bunkypotatohead said...

Stand down and stand by, fellow mad cows...we can dance on his grave after the election is over.

The Godfather said...

A lot of folks "on the Right" have been complaining for some time about the lack of civility "on the Left", and yet here we have a certified Leftist civily expressing concern for the President's health, and most "Rightist" commenters here won't stand for it! We should say (I say): Thank you, Ms. Maddow for your kind words.

Lyle said...

Got to love Glenn Greenwald. He loves sticking it to Democrats who like to say or think Trump is Nazi megalomaniac.

MD Greene said...

These fools wouldn't know a "fascist dictator" if he sent them off to a concentration camp.

They seem unaware of the separation of powers enumerated in the U.S. Constitution or the point of public elections or the guarantees to citizens in the Bill of Rights or even the reasoning behind the Declaration of Independence.

It's fun to blow smoke when you're talking among friends. But to do so on public forums embarrasses you if you are a total ignoramus.

Fascist dictator, indeed.

walter said...

Godfather,
My apologies if thinking this particular host is motivated by calculation offends you.
Let's revisit a month from now.

Fernandinande said...

I pray for the successful application of the libtard atheistic science drugs.

I've been vaccinated against karma.

Original Mike said...

"and most "Rightist" commenters here won't stand for it! We should say (I say): Thank you, Ms. Maddow for your kind words."

It's not sincere. But even if it were, it's way too fucking late.

rcocean said...

Greenwald is being deliberately obtuse here. Maddow is smart enough to realize that the Left's nasty "I hope he dies" comments HURT THE LEFT. Its also interesting that Greenwald - with a typical left-wing mindset - thinks that merely being a decent person and NOT acting like an asshole means you're a dishonest fake liberal.

Maddow has certainly lied about trump, and accused him of all kinds of nasty things, but I don't think it follows she hopes he dies. After all, she and all the Leftists are 100 percent certain Trump will lose and vacate the WH in January.

JaimeRoberto said...

Maybe it's the political version of Pascal's Wager.

Readering said...

I'm with Michael Che--I
wish him a long recovery.

Gunner said...

Unlike the McClellan Project grifters, Trump never threatened Maddow’s money and livelihood.

Dr Weevil said...

Hugh Walter (8:38pm) seems to want to see Trump "go to jail on January 21st!" Of course, that can only happen if Biden wins and turns out to be an actual Fascist, the kind who throws his enemies in jail without trial. Anyone in favor of that has definite Fascist tendencies.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I’ve known a lot of scientists. None was atheist much less libtard. One was an agnostic but she was the most skeptical about “Climate science” since she’d studied cloud formAtion. There is no consensus on how or why certain clouds form, which has always informed my decision about scientific certainty. Bill Bryson’s big boom of science was another.

Yancey Ward said...

"A lot of folks "on the Right" have been complaining for some time about the lack of civility "on the Left", and yet here we have a certified Leftist civily expressing concern for the President's health, and most "Rightist" commenters here won't stand for it! We should say (I say): Thank you, Ms. Maddow for your kind words."

The problem is we remember all her other words before today's, Godfather. I don't give benefits of the doubt easily in this case.

LA_Bob said...

While Yancey Ward may be right, Occam's Razor also suggests most of the rancor we experience today in public affairs isn't all that personal. Most of these people know each other, sometimes quite well.

Remember that Trump invited the Clintons (yes, both of them, Bill and "Crooked" Hillary) to his Inauguration Day breakfast in 2017, and when they walked in he acknowledged them from his table and said, "I have a lot of respect for those people."

Most of the "hate" we see among politicians and the press is probably just a pose for the "base".

Jamie said...

here we have a certified Leftist civily expressing concern for the President's health, and most "Rightist" commenters here won't stand for it!

Oh dear. This is really one of those posts where reading the whole thing is important. On both sides, frankly, because the Godfather isn't wrong that some commenters on the Right here have missed the point.

But Godfather, you've missed it much worse. The point is that Greenwald is calling out the American mainstream Left for its indiscriminate Nazi-mongering. If they really believed all the calumnies they level at Trump, there'd be no excuse for wishing him well under any circumstances. So they don't really believe them.

That's all.

On the other side of the question - earlier this week, my Left-leaning daughter scoffed at my husband's and my musings about which country might be best to move to, in order to escape the coming ideological purge. (We are not normally people who employ such language. We think the purge probably won't involve lining people up against the wall... but we do wonder whether it will involve making wrong-thinking people's lives awfully unpleasant.) The manner of her scoffing: "Oh, come on, Mom. You and Dad could totally pass as Democrats."

She didn't even hear what she had said.

Flat Tire said...

That was hilarious. Why I read Greenwald. What Temujin said.

Joe Smith said...

Greenwald is an honest liberal...not many left these days...

gadfly said...

The steroid Trump received — dexamethasone — was the next appropriate step in the protocol for COVID based on Trump’s depleted oxygen levels, which means the antibody cocktail wasn’t working as quickly or as well as needed.

Dexamethasone would have been dispensed because Trump’s oxygen level fell substantially; when asked, Conley said his level had not fallen into the low 80s — a level which would be cyanotic. This means Trump’s oxygen level probably did fall to 85% and likely needed oxygen and the steroid to prevent cyanosis [inadequate oxygenation of the blood].

In patients hospitalized with Covid-19, the use of dexamethasone resulted in lower 28-day mortality among those who were receiving either invasive mechanical ventilation or oxygen alone at randomization but not among those receiving no respiratory support.

But Trump is NOT receiving respiratory support consistently based on yesterday’s photos and proof-of-life video, this evening’s his stunt ride as well as the sketchy information his physicians have given. The steroid would not be as beneficial to him as it would be to patients on ventilators.

Trump’s physicians have already shot their COVID arsenal. If Trump has additional difficulty breathing he’ll likely be put under anesthesia into an induced coma and intubated. If he gets to that point he won’t have a choice about it because his low oxygen level could cause a cascade of organ failures — a crash.

It’s likely Trump’s being monitored for cardiac symptoms given the use of ultrasound and the frequency with which COVID causes myocarditis. We can’t rule out the possibility Trump had cardiac symptoms when he went on an unscheduled visit to Walter Reed last November which may mean he’s at greater risk of myocarditis.

And it’s likely Trump’s got some degree of COVID brain [Google it] as well, which the steroid will make worse — he’ll have cloudy thinking but with mania. A number of doctors from different fields have expressed concerns about dexamethasone’s affect on Trump’s capacity given the possibility of mania, delirium/confusion while under its influence.

We don’t even know yet if Trump has been free of fever without antipyretic medication. I’m not a doctor, but none of this suggests to me that Trump will be ready to be released from Walter Reed tomorrow, joy ride or not.


Reality TV presidency won't work out for him this time and we can only hope that his security staff along for the ride with N95 masks will have attained adequate protection from the virus.

Big Mike said...

Thank you, Ms. Maddow for your kind words.

@Godfather, so you think Maddow meant her comment sincerely, and not as part of a raw political calculation? My take is that she’s insane, but that’s different from thinking she’s stupid.

Humperdink said...

Maddow's comment reminds of the lefties take on the riots. They were all for them until they read the polls. That's why Maddow did a 180 from the "hope he dies" crowd.

tim maguire said...

Every lefty I know who has said something in front of me first says all the right things about not wanting Trump to get too sick and to recover soon, but then they let slip that what they’d really like is for Trump to get just sick enough to realize that the lefties were right all along and Trump needs to change his ways. As always, they are looking for the angle, the partisan advantage.

DEEBEE said...

The only conclusion one can draw is that Putin loves Glenn or has a higher purpose for him. Otherwise a fascist dictator would have offed him by now.

Kevin said...

Or perhaps, maybe more likely, Democratic leaders do not really believe the things they have spent four years saying about Trump...."

Which is the worse reality?

That they really did think he was “literally Hitler”?

Or that they never believed it for a second?

Matt Sablan said...

Trump dying would be terrible for her rantings. I mean ratings.

Todd said...

"Yet upon learning that the fascist, Kremlin-controlled, Nazi-like dictator had become ill, Maddow launched a one-woman crusade demanding that her fellow liberals pray earnestly for his recovery." so writes Glenn Greenwald

In other news, when pressed as to what specifically has Trump done to demonstrate that he is indeed "the fascist, Kremlin-controlled, Nazi-like dictator" that the left claims, crickets...

If he actually was "the fascist, Kremlin-controlled, Nazi-like dictator" half the left would have been "disappeared" by now and those left would be very afraid to say any of this. THAT is why you know they are full of shit. Those that actually DO live under "fascist, Kremlin-controlled, Nazi-like dictators" CAN'T say anything about it!

Fernandinande said...

I’ve known a lot of scientists. None was atheist much less libtard.

About 40% of all scientists are atheists (not agnostic) and > 70% of NAS members are atheists (not agnostic), so your sampling was quite faulty.

LilyBart said...


I'm probably just cynical, but I have trouble believing that Maddow is praying earnestly for Trump's recovery. I find myself wondering what's her 'angle' in this?

Fernandinande said...

...and most scientists are Democrats, I hate to say.

Anonymous said...

I think it's likely she's a Christian, or religious. And if she's an atheist, she's a very smart one.

One way you can pray for your enemies is by asking the Lord to send their demons away. Lord, send those demons away from Stalin. If the prayer works, Stalin is less demonic. And this prayer has the added bonus of keeping you from being hateful yourself.

It's always helpful to remember that awful people are still people. Adolf Hitler was a baby at one point in his life, a vulnerable baby without sin. We fight against the evil that people do, but when we fight evil, it's a spiritual fight against Satan.

Michael K said...

gadfly illustrates his bad faith as well as ignorance. Why write about things like cyanosis that you know nothing about ? I stopped reading your rant at that point.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Temujin said...
The other possibility is that they don't want another Wellstone funeral moment so close to the election.

Too late. They did that at the RBG funeral

Bilwick said...

Lefties advocate Mussolini's "Everything for the State, nothing against the State, nothing outside the State," and yet see themselves as being opposed to fascism. As dopey as their economics.

effinayright said...

Fernandinande said...
...and most scientists are Democrats, I hate to say.
*************

NOW they are, given that they are wedded to the state for their grants and positions, very much the way "single moms" rely on Uncle Sugar for their welfare and other benefits.

effinayright said...

When Trump wins, I won't advocate that those infected with TDS be rounded up and put against a wall.

I would settle for setting up a bunch of chambers like the ones used in "Logan's Run".

Martin said...

This just confirms, as if confirmation were needed, that they all lie all the time.

They lie about Trump being a Hitler, knowing full well that if he were, they wouldn't be free to say so on their big megaphones. And despite devoting all their effort to malign him for 4+ years, in order to be rid of him, when he gets sick they pretend to careecause some quick poling or focus broups tell them that wishing him dead will be a net loser in teh upcoming election.

They are consistent in wanting power and pursuing it by whatever means they think will advance them in that pursuit.

SensibleCitizen said...

Greenwald makes a good point. I respect the press more if they'd be consistent.

mikee said...

Of all the comments here, Mary Beth and Matt Sablan found the answer. Maddow's ratings dropped to almost nothing after impeachment failed. Trump is the only reason she has been on the air as long as she has. She can't wish for the death of the goose that lays her golden eggs.

ccscientist said...

If he is controlled by Putin, Putin sure has an uncooperative "puppet". If he is a fascist dictator, he is the worst in history. Whenever a court has stymied one of his actions, he has obeyed the court. Not very dictatorial. He has appointed tons of federal judges who hew to the constitution (not to Trump). It makes no sense their rage.

Bilwick said...

"Liberal" State-fellators calling others "fascists". . .classic projection.

Bilwick said...

"Liberal" State-fellators calling others "fascists". . .classic projection.