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Rachel Maddow makes “The View” more enjoyable

Once again, Rachel Maddow has managed to charm even the most insatiable of cast of characters. For me, watching The View is like signing up to watch a screaming match, with Whoopi Goldberg shouting, Joy Behar throwing up her arms, Elisabeth Hasselbeck squealing about “morals” and Barbara Walters flustered, trying to get control of everyone.

Fortunately, Maddow’s Thursday morning appearance on the show allowed me to watch without cringing (for a few minutes, at least.)

In her brief appearance on Thursday’s The View, she discussed much of what we devout Maddow-addicts already know: her coming out, meeting girlfriend Susan Mikula and her thoughts on America’s current economic crisis.

She referred to meeting Mikula – she was initially hired to do yard work for her current girlfriend – like a scene from “Gay Desperate Housewives,” which prompted laughs from the crowd and View hosts.

Since the ladies were so keen on discussing her gayness, they asked if she looked like a tomboy growing up:

I had long blond hair, but even as a little girl with long blond hair, I looked like one of the Hanson boys.

In a funny and slightly awkward moment, Walters pointed to Goldberg and said, “She’s about to come out of the closet today.”

“Please, that door’s been open for years,” Goldberg said, prompting me to think “Huh?” OK, no speculation about Whoopi’s sexuality. She’s straight – right?

Super conservative Hasselbeck even seemed charmed by Maddow, telling her, “You do an exceptional job. I think it’s important to recognize people who do a great job on both sides of issues.”

Walters cut the make-up and lesbian talk short to discuss what Maddow knows best: politics. Despite her sometimes being critical of President Obama, she showed support, saying he was a good man to handle our (big) problems:

I think that we are in a pickle as a country. I think that the economic crisis is so much bigger than any of us can grasp. And I think that we need somebody with big ideas who’s willing to take big action … I think the budget’s a good budget, I think the stimulus plan is a good stimulus plan, I think we need to think big.

At the end of the segment, Maddow even gave Hasselbeck a nice pat on the shoulder, proving once more that by being incredibly smart, down to earth and personable, you can prevent controversial topics from becoming shouting matches.

As for The View, I can’t bring myself to watch it under any other circumstances, but Maddow can get me to do all sorts of things I wouldn’t normally do.

Enough innuendos. Watch it yourself here:

Update: Variety has an interesting new article about Rachel titled “Maddow’s unique style sparks ratings.”

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