When former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge’s book first came out, there was a lot of vigorous overselling of the tome as a smoking gun in the politicization of terror alerts. While Ridge’s book seems to indicate he had concerns that efforts to raise the alert level might have been political, it is hardly proof of that. However, Ridge appeared on last night’s “Rachel Maddow Show,” and promptly tried to walk back even that suspicion.

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When a high-ranking government official meets an establishment journalist, the ensuing fawning at the feet of power can sometimes be too much to bear. Last weekend, Chris Wallace was compared to a “teenage girl interviewing the Jonas Brothers” for his lack of incision in a televised segment with former Vice President Dick Cheney. And then there’s Rachel Maddow, who on last night’s episode of her MSNBC show was the most well-prepared “teenage girl” on TV, calmly dismantling every argument put forth by former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge.