Rachel Maddow stands up against facial hair tyranny and stands up for The Chuck's goatee

You know, there's a rush us Chuckolytes get when Rachel Maddow throws us some crossover love as she works The Chuck's goatee into the opening schtick of Countdown's Oddball segment.

Viva Chuck Todd shout out from Rachel Maddow

So let's just say right now that given the chance we'd drop everything and happily be Rachel Maddow's scantily clad house boy or girl forever. This woman is funny, classy, brilliant and also happened to know who the hell we were when we rushed the stage she was on in The Big Tent.

This is how it went down: She was moderating a discussion with the CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt on the Internet and Politics. It was a packed house but we were ready with our video camera and Viva Chuck Todd schwag. When the discussion ended, desperate techies with their resumes waving rushed Schmidt and those of us with a borderline dysfunctional adoration complex for Rachel shouted for her attention like 11 year-old Jonas Brothers fangirls. Being that Paul, our editor-in-chief is 6'5" and 220lbs the other geeks didn't stand a chance. He reached over the masses, handing Rachel a Chuckolyte pin, to which in all the chaos she said, "what's this?" That's when Paul held up his trusty yellow Viva Chuck Todd messenger bag and Rachel immediately recognized us. Now this is where we get all misty. Rachel squealed with glee and hugged Paul. After we brought Paul back to consciousness, we told her how popular her e-cards had become and she laughed mentioning that she'd received a bunch. We asked her if she'd say hi to all the Viva Chuck Todd fans and of course she obliged. You may be able to make it out in the video, but if not, after she said "hi" to all of you, Paul threw out the question "guess who owns 'Viva Rachel Maddow'?" Rachel looked down at us with a bit of a mischievous smile and a wink saying "I know, I know". Then...she was gone.

And we can't end this post without wishing Rachel with all sincerity, best wishes on the debut of her new MSNBC show, Monday, September 8 at 9pm EST. In celebration of that hallowed event, VivaRachelMaddow.com will officially launch on the same day. It will have all the flava you've come to know and love with Viva Chuck Todd along with some new surprises - bookmark it now.

Rachel Maddow gets her own show on MSNBC

The crew over here at the Viva Chuck Todd offices can't but help feel proud that someone we've been a big fan of for a while finally got her shot.

It was announced today that starting September 8th, Rachel Maddow will debut her own show at 9:00pm est/6:00pm pst replacing Verdict with Dan Abrams.

MSNBC network president, Phil Griffin said it best, "This just completes our prime-time lineup. Our lineup makes sense now." Griffin went on to dispel the assumptions by some that Rachel's show would have a significant left-leaning bias, "We’re hiring Rachel because she’s a smart person. Rachel goes far beyond politics. She’s an expert on military affairs. She was a Rhodes scholar."

We challenge Roger Ailes to get behind a microphone and laud the academic credentials of his prime-time lineup.

Can we pick'em or what?RADAR names TV's Most Powerful Pundits

Radar magazine is a favorite employee lounge read over here at the Viva Chuck Todd offices, so we were very pleased to see that they were giving it up for not only (#1) The Chuck, but (#3) Rachel Maddow and (#4) Scarborough as well. Whatever the hell Mike Huckabee and Gore 2000 saboteur Donna Brasile were doing on the same list we'll never know. But it was nice to see that a mainstream publication with a hilarious mean streak sees the pundit world the same way we do over here at VCT.

On the flipside of who's not hot, it was slightly sad to see Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews on the list, but you could definitely understand where Radar writer, Nick Curran was coming from. Olbermann could do nicely to finally lay-off the tired and borderline batsh*t crazy O'Reilly schtick and sweet jeezus, we too cannot wait for Matthews to start his Major Kong missile ride of a Pennsylvania senate run in 2010.

NEW from Cerebral Itch and Viva Chuck Todd:Rachel Maddow e-cards

It's been a little quiet on The Chuck front, so we thought it was a perfect time to roll out one of our new spin-off products that we're pretty proud of: Viva Rachel Maddow e-cards.

Just like The Chuck's e-cards, they're free, sassy and look great on the iPhone. If you love Rachel as much as we do, start sending out the cards declaring your appreciation for the Wonder Woman to The Chuck's Superman (yeah, we know that was a tad over the top).

The Dream Team for blisteringly intelligent left-leaning political junkies

This shot was taken from Tuesday night's Countdown with Keith Olbermann. The program was guest-hosted by Air America Radio talk show host, Rachel Maddow; who is seen in the picture above conversing with The Chuck.

Drink it in people. This is our Dream Team.