So, as you heard if you follow Melissa on Twitter, she's keeping her voice very low this morning. Mostly, because we here on the #nerdland staff are begging her to.
Shortly after yesterday's show, there were signs that Melissa's head cold began stealing her voice, reducing it to little more than a whisper. In the hopes of preventing one of our guests, "The Cycle" co-host Steve Kornacki, from becoming "MHP" impromptu guest host Steve Kornacki, we've asked her to save her voice for the show. Despite the whispers, the beat indeed goes on. (Ahem.)
Topics Melissa will broach today through her (perhaps) amplified mike today include one of the third rails of American politics: affirmative action. We'll have a bonus edition of This Week in Voter Suppression!™, Ohio edition -- and take a look at the first-generation Americans running this fall to serve America in Congress and elsewhere. Melissa also has a preview of this week's vice-presidential debate in store.
In addition to potential substitute host Kornacki, our guests include:
- Debo Adegbile, acting president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
- Chloe Angyal, an editor at Feministing -- and contributor to The Atlantic, Jezebel, The Guardian, among others.
- Sayu Bhojwani, founding director of the New American Leaders Project.
- Grace Meng, Democratic candidate for Congress from New York.
- Christopher Smitherman, Cincinnati councilman and head of the Cincinnati NAACP.
- Robert Traynham, MSNBC contributor and former communications director for Rick Santorum.
- Kenji Yoshino, NYU law professor.
As always, folks -- be sure to interact with us during the show here in the comments of this post, on Facebook, and on Twitter, using the hashtag #nerdland. We look forward to having you join us at 10am ET on msnbc!
Leave a Comment:
Melissa, we need your voice but right now your voice needs you! Rest and chicken soup in T minus 15 minutes! Thank you for your work!
Better yet, stop talking all together. We look forward to hearing your commentary for years to come. Trying to talk through your cold is the wrong approach. Is your ENT on board with you doing today's show? I don't think so.
Good show, despite your voice handicap. I especially like your Footnote. Aggressiveness is not necessarily strength. In reference to the commentary as to Obama's performance at last Wednesday's debate. If it was a football game, Romney scored a touchdown. If it was a prize fight, Romney knocked Obama out. If it was a baseball game, Romney hit a home run. Since it was none of those things, Obama won on content and the decorum he needed to present as the leader of the free world. Strength and truthfullness.
Melissa, About time somebody told the US public that the office of the President has been deliberately cornered for weakness in the Constitution. I am not certain you went far enough. Why should the President prepare the $$ budget? Does not the Constitution imply this is the responsibility of the House? Since the Korean "Conflict" several Presidents have moved our troops abroad without a Declaration of War but instead via budget approval of the Congress. Seems that Congress has given up on its responsibilities.
Melissa I get very early to wtach you and Chris Hayes. You both keep it real about the facts. With republican lies, the facts get lost. Thank you for your show, you and Chris rock my world on the weekends. You heard, and the Whispers are jamming this song, girl. I'm scared of you*:)!!
I believe this country has lost all perspective of the word "strength". It takes strength to NOT react in a blind rage when someone is blatantly lying to your face; it takes NO strength and is amoral to bully your way thru a debate, break the agreed-to-rules, and lie about everything including who you really are----totally disappointed with the misplaced rage and disappointment toward the Prez, and not with the lying, bullying, loud 5-string puppet whom the media is praising. You seem to have "gotten the word" from your management heads, "Romneys lies are Okay, Obama's quiet truths are out!" NOT FOR ME!
Why hasn't anyone asked Romney or Ryan why their party is so keen on weighting the scales of voting justice instead of trusting in their own product enough for an HONEST choice at the polls? The Etch-a-Sketch empty-suited Romney is a 5-stringed puppet; Grover Norquist even said so, (ref: 10/13/11-Morning Joe) He said a body with just enough digits on one hand to sign the bills the Repubs place in front of him is all they care about! If you take the time to google this and listen, you will realize why all the clowns were on the debate stage during the Primary debates, the one most likely to have his strings pulled is what we now have as a challenger to our President.
No single subject is of importance to our world: Our future of freedoms to vote, to elect our local officials, to admit our new immigrants and let them flourish, to let women rise to the top, not put their heads on a table and virtually assault them with a probe; to clean up the precious environment and NOT do more harm like with the Keystone pipeline, putting more emphasis on renewable energy; to provide health coverage not only to the wealthy who can afford to go to the ER but to my children and yours, as well as to all our Seniors and all the unknown faceless strangers who also hurt. Yes, how about using a humane method to clear the debt, not by ripping the net out from Romney's self-described and dismissed 47% incl. Veterans, but by using Pres. Clinton's approach--taxing the wealthy more, using sensible balances for cutting back, building up a positive balance and not going into another useless war? Dont we all know that the Republicans have been marching lock step through the past 4 years to destroy this country's economy in order to destroy one man--who doesn't LOOK like them, who didn't have a royal white family steeped in politics but instead has brains, polish, poise, humor, humanity, and true love for his country?
Hope you feel better SOON. Loved your response to Will yesterday. He's such a twurp. Twirp? Well, you get the drift.