Karen Finney should go back to smearing her body with chocolate and calling it art.
So sorry -- that was Karen Finley. Still, considering what former DNC flack Karen Finney said on the Rachel Maddow show Friday night, the confusion is understandable. (video after page break)
Maddow and Finney were sharing feigned outrage over Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's support for legislation mandating ultrasounds before abortions (as recommended, inconveniently enough, by Planned Parenthood) --
MADDOW: I know as the Democrats' communications director you'd never call anybody Gov. Vaginal Probe, but I wonder (laughs) ...
FINNEY: I never would, honestly Rachel, I never would have thought that we would be in a position to actually call someone Gov. Vaginal Pro-, Transvaginal Probe. I mean, did you ever think you would be having this conversation on your show?!
MADDOW: Never. Never in my life. Never, not just in my show, never in my world! Like really, never! But I've been training myself to say these things. I'm still all red, but, I, gah!
A Bay Area native out of the closet for 20 years who splits her time between digs in Manhattan and the Berkshires, left "all red" by this -- pul-leeze. Maddow's schtick as MSNBC's Victorian Gent is getting tiresome.
MADDOW: Do you think that Gov. McDonnell's prospects for being the vice presidential nominee are totally scuttled by this? Or do you think that actually this in some weird way in this year of Republican politics, this might not be that bad?
FINNEY: You know, it's hard to tell based on the line of action that Republicans have chosen to take. I mean, if you, think about the level of activity that we've had over the last several months and weeks. I mean, essentially the Republican Party has now aligned itself with the Vatican. And you have 98 percent of Catholic women, you know, use contraception. So the Vatican can't even convince its own women in America of their policies and the Republican Party thinks that's the place to go?!
At this point, Finney is so jazzed on indignation that she descends into incoherence bordering on the clownish --
FINNEY: I mean, and I think they're also not paying attention to the fact that women have very much been awakened over the last several months. Again, look at these Republican legislatures and these sort of anti-women bills, you know, having to prove that you were raped in order to, you know, use Medicare, Medicaid, to have an abortion. I mean, some of the, you know, redefining rape, letting women die. I mean, the level of conversation we've been having. And then, contraception!
How clever -- excoriating "the level of conversation we've been having" -- while provided an unhinged example of it, even by MSNBC standards.
