Reince Gets Reamed

This was a thing of beauty.

Chris Matthews chomped down on RNC Chairman Reince Priebus' head like a crocodile this morning on Morning Joke™, calling out Mitt Romney for his birth certificate comment, which Mitt later characterized as a "joke," and the rest of the GOP and their dog whistles. Watch and be amazed.




Priebus was a deer caught in the headlights, having no clue he was about to get his ass reamed by Matthews, probably because he expected to be in friendly confines on Joe Scarborough's sorry excuse for show.

Just a few things.

Notice how Scarborough tried to come to Reince's rescue, failing miserably I might add, by throwing himself into Matthews' barrage and challenging his claims that the welfare lie and the birth certificate "joke" was not racially tinged.

And a big fuck you to Mika Brzezinski attempting to play the mommy role to two grown men when things get a little heated. And an even bigger fuck you to Tom "I'm Making Shitloads of Money with the Greatest Generation Enterprise" Brokaw for even suggesting the "both sides" meme. Give me the examples, Tom! Don't give example after example of GOP racist shenanigans, come up with nothing from the other side and then say, "but both sides do it" you fucking hack.

Regardless of these asides, it's awfully nice to see someone finally take Priebus down and call him out as the not ready for prime time douchebag that he is. Watching him stammer and sweat and meekly try to take the high road when he saw that he was backed into a corner with no way out warmed the cockles of my heart.  Yeah, that's right, I said cockles, baby!

(Cross-posted on ABLC)

What A Dick

Here's my governor (unfortunately) with full pomposity on display on Morning Joe clashing with Jonathan Capehart over the issue of gay marriage among other things. Good luck trying to stomach the 20 plus minutes of video.

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Tea Party Crazies, Scarborough Asshattery and Jon Stewart Nails It Again

I've been out of the loop for personal reasons (good personal reasons) the last two days or so and missed the finalization of the debt deal and yesterday's votes, occasionally checking an email here and a tweet there. But listening to today's morning news, you'd think absolutely nothing got done. Is no one happy with this deal? Or at least relieved that we didn't go down the default drain? Apparently not.

Democrats are angry because there are no revenue increases in this deal and only spending cuts (which in my opinion were inevitable anyway). But they got the debt ceiling raised a significant amount and don't have to deal with more GOP hostage taking bullshit until 2013. Republicans are angry that there weren't any entitlement cuts, that they didn't magically privatize Social Security or gut and voucherize Medicare or didn't throw the poor down the sewer by dismantling Medicaid, but according to that stalwart "leader" John Boehner, he got 98% of what he wanted. And yet Boehner couldn't get the Tea Party to join in. 66 "No" votes on the Republican side. So apparently no one is happy.

And yet this morning, if you were to listen to Morning Joke™'s Joe Scaroborough, you'd think it was only Democrats that were angry and were speaking in hyperbole. Scarborough was extra cranked today, on his fourth cup of Starbucks Venti Caramel Macchiasshole while sidekick Mike Brzezinski expressed her disgust for the trigger mechanism in the bill with a look that could easily be confused with her eating a few too many Activia yogurts.

The mocking tones were a new low, even for Scarborough, mimicking voices of disgruntled opponents of the passage of the deal (only on the Democratic side mind you), while Mika giggled like a wet-pantied schoolgirl at the sight of Senators Tom Coburn and John Thune appearing on their show. Then in a complete 180, Scarborough looked at the votes and expressed that the adults in the room were actually the Democrats and praised Senators Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid for their willingness to compromise.

Panelist John Heillman's jaw hit the floor and took Scarborough to task: "You can't sit there and praise McConnell and Reid for compromising without simultaneously criticizing Tea Party for not compromising," said Heillman. Joe's answer: "Yes, I can. You know why? Because I feel like it." And there in a nutshell, is Scarborough's very serious punditry.

The Republicans got 98% of what they wanted and it still wasn't good enough for the Tea Party? Both sides, Democratic and Republican, have to marginalize the emergence of these people. The Democrats need to for the danger they pose to the country, and that's not hyperbole. The rogue Tea Party members of the House pushed the country to the brink of default and the world to the edge of economic ruin when they continued to defy any deal that their own House Speaker could muster. Not until after Boehner's own plan was rewritten three times and a balanced budget amendment was added, was there enough support to pass a bill which everyone knew would die in the Senate. A purely symbolic vote that wasted a week.

And the Republicans need to take care of Tea Party rogues for the danger they pose to the demise of their own party. If 80 members of the Republican party can hold up all legislation (only 13 bills have been passed in Congress since January) what does that say for the strength of "real" Republicans? At this pace, they'll become 21st Century Whigs.

Meanwhile, Jon Stewart nails it once again.

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Horrible June Jobs Numbers

Unemployment ticked up another notch to 9.2% as the June jobs numbers came out today. Only a net of 18,000 jobs on the plus side after a private sector increase of 57,000 jobs. The numbers are being dragged down month after month with a hemorrhaging of public sector jobs. Federal, state and local jobs have decreased by 238,000 in the last eight months alone.

President Obama is making a statement in the Rose Garden today at about 10:35am.

I heard the breaking news on the jobs numbers on Morning Joe and believe it or not, a fascinating conversation took place immediately thereafter; a conversation that probably wouldn't have happened had Joe Scarborough actually been at the table. It took place mainly between Ezra Klein and CNBC's Simon Hobbs, who appeared visibly flustered and frustrated at the political gridlock in Congress. Hobbs was specifically asking, with an ideological opposition, "What can the President do?!"

Finally, someone was seeing the big picture and not just automatically blaming the Obama administration, as Mike Barnicle had initially done before backing off a bit when the adults in the room took over. Video to follow.

UPDATE: Of course, Morning Joe and MSNBC being what it is, have decided to leave the most substantive, straightforward, non-partisan discussion the Morning Joe pundits have ever had off their site. If anyone can find the video of the discussion between Ezra Klein and Simon Hobbs from the final hour of the July 8th broadcast, please leave a link in the comments section. Thanks.

This Is Madness

When even Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan (PAT BUCHANAN!) gang up on Newt Gingrich, you know there's a problem.

Through The Looking Glass

Have I gone absolutely insane? All but twelve Republicans voted against health care for 9/11 responders and all the intrepid Joe Scarborough and Clueless Mika can do is show disdain toward Anthony Weiner for the anger he displayed on the House floor.

Give me a break.

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Can We Please Give Him A Show?

Lawrence O'Donnell shows once again why he needs a show. He is beholden to no one as he spars with Joe "Cheney Apologist" Scarborough over Cheney's comment that President Obama is "dithering" in Afghanistan, as if his administration didn't dither for the last eight fucking years.

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ADDING... Scarborough: "Okay, Lawrence... go sell your appliances." WHAT A FUCKING DOUCHE!

Scarborough Weighs In On Beck

I think it may be that Glenn Beck has jumped the shark with this Katie Couric interview. He rails on Barack Obama for months, incites an astroturf tea party with his 9/12 Project when he was initially in favor of the $700 billion Bush bailout, and now says that John McCain would have been worse for the country because he's a "weird progressive like Theodore Roosevelt"?!

Wow, that's some special kind of crazy there.

Adding... What's up with Mika at the very beginning of the clip? She mumbles that perhaps they shouldn't air the Beck/Couric tape and then rolls her eyes just before they start. Is she a Beck fan too?

But It's Not About Racism (The Jimmy Carter Edition) - UPDATED

This past Tuesday, former President Jimmy Carter, an old white Southern man who would probably know racism when he sees it, commented that the Joe "YOU LIE!" Wilson outburst, as well as the teabagger 9/12 demonstrations, was based in part on racial politics.

"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African-American," Carter told NBC News. "I live in the South, and I've seen the South come a long way, and I've seen the rest of the country that shares the South's attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African-Americans."

"That racism inclination still exists, and I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of belief among many white people -- not just in the South but around the country -- that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply," Carter said.

No sooner had he made that comment, the attack dogs were on the cable chatter stations to debate whether Carter was right in his assessment. Matt Lauer interviewed Michael Eric Dyson and Frank Luntz (Frank FUCKING Luntz!) as if there were equal sides to this debate. Conspicuously absent from the piece was any video or images of the racists signs being carried at the 9/12 protests. Dyson was also on Morning Joke™ where MENSA member Maria "Why Isn't 45 Year Old Anthony Weiner On Medicare If It's So Good?" Bartiromo tried to dismiss racism on the grounds that President Obama once enjoyed a 70% approval rating. Dyson astutely breaks down the arguments, but of course on the Morning Joke™ set, it falls of deaf ears.

The whole point of these most recent morning interviews was to discredit Carter's valuation, just as they attacked him for his Palestine book. They try refuting Carter's argument with no facts or images to bolster their non-racial argument from the teabaggers in DC. They discredit him and thereby try to show that race has little or nothing to do with the 9/12 marchers in Washington on Saturday who were soooo angry at the government "spending its tax dollars" that they showed up bearing signs with Obama dressed as a witch doctor with a bone through his nose, or telling him to go back to Kenya and take his "arrogent" wife with him (Arrogant... perhaps they meant "uppity"?) or calling him a "Muslim Marxist" as though no freedom of religion existed in this country, let alone probably not knowing the definition of Marxism. To them it's just another thing to repeat that they heard from "their hero, Glenn Beck."

Anyone who refuses to believe that race is not only an issue, but the main issue for the upswell in opposition is purposely ignoring what is plainly visible; the deep seated feeling that they really are racist but can't admit it. Where were these protesters when former President Bush bailed out financial institutions with $700 billion? President Obama continues the Bush policy and all of a sudden it's socialism? But you bring a sign like this to your protest?



I'd like to know how many 9/12 teabaggers "protesting the government spending" are A) Democrats and B) voted for Obama? I have more respect for David Duke than some I do for some of these teabaggers or Glenn Beck. At least Duke admits to being a racist and is proud of it.

UPDATE (9/17/09, 6:45am): Keith Olbermann takes on the race issue and backs it up with examples.

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30 Seconds of Morning Joe in 5 Easy Steps

Step One: Turn on TV and tune in to MSNBC.

Step Two: Wait for Joe Scarborough to say something stupid (it doesn't take long).

Step Three: Hear Scarborough say, in reaction to Rep. Joe "You Lie!" Wilson (R-SC), "It was stupid, but he's apologized for it... strange that he would apologize to Rahm... Maybe he should have apologized to Axelrod or Valerie Jarrett."

Step Four: Yell at the TV machine, "How about apologizing to the PRESIDENT, instead of writing a weaselly note like a fucking third grader, you DOUCHEBAG!" Your household pet might scurry away in the process as mine did.

Step Five: Turn off TV before you burst a blood vessel.

Nothing like a little Morning Joke™ to get your blood flowing in the morning.

Anthony Weiner ROCKS!

Doesn't Joe Scarborough get tired of being wrong? Well, I suppose if you think you're right, then you are. Every few weeks Scarborough gets eviscerated on his own show. This time It's Rep. Anthony Weiner's turn.

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How very white of Joe to state that he's not there to answer Rep. Weiner's question (6:16) when he gets all flustered and there is dead silence for about 5 seconds (about the 5:18 mark) to the question, "What are [insurance companies'] value? What do they bring to the deal?" and then gets all upset when Weiner is making a point and says he won't let him answer a question (7:20). What a douchebag.

As far as Weiner is concerned, if I weren't shopping for a house in another state, I'd be looking to move a couple of miles to be in his district. More Anthony Weiners is what the spineless Democratic Party needs.

Adding... I'm waiting for the video of the return of Weiner "after the news break" but it's not on the MSNBC website yet. I wonder if they'll put it up (provided he actually did come back)?

UPDATE (3:10pm): FDL has the remaining portion of the interview (starting at the 5:50 mark).

Joe Scarborough still disagrees which is his right, but can't get around spinning it by saying, "You made me speechless because you so clearly came here and stated your position, which is, and it took me a couple of minutes to figure it out, you want the federal government to take over. You want want insurance companies, not doctors, but the funding mechanism, the pay mechanism..." Weiner interrupts, "Correct. Whose going to take your money and give it to doctors?"

The "Joe the Plumberization" of Sgt. James Crowley

I don't ever recall any police officer in any situation that has caused controversy such as the Gates incident giving a statement to the press and answering questions. And so begins the "Joe the Plumberization" of Sgt. James Crowley. I'm going to go out on a very strong limb and expect Sgt. Crowley to be glorified by the right.

All one needs to do is watch the video of his interview and his snarky answer to his reaction of President Obama's comments to know where he stands. "I didn't vote for him." Followed up with a smirk. Gee, what a surprise. I'm shocked! Shocked, I say!

But that wasn't the question, Sgt. Crowley. The question was what did you think of the President's comments. Crowley immediately realized what his snarky response might have sounded like and walked it back with "I support the President of the United States 110% but I think he's way off base wading into a local issue without knowing all the facts as he himself stated before he made that comment."

Although I tend to agree that it wasn't the best thing for President Obama to say, the fact that he prefaced his answer with acknowledging he wasn't sure of all the facts and that Skip Gates is a friend and therefore has a bias is something that the media is failing to mention more frequently as the story escalates. At least Sgt. Crowley knew as much to recognize that pretense.

Racism? Who knows?

Whether race played a role in this is anyone's guess. The only one who truly knows that is Sgt. Crowley. But one wonders if a belligerent, grouchy, elitist, caucasian Harvard professor would have been handcuffed and arrested in his own house after facts revealed that he broke in because he was keyless after a long trip returning from China.

Is Sgt. Crowley a racist? I don't know. He doesn't believe he is. Did race have something to do with the outcome of the situation? Quite possibly. As Eugene Robinson states through an interrupting Mika Brzezinski, "I believe that Sgt. Crowley's actions were at least in part motivated by racial bias. That does not mean that I believe Sgt. Crowley is a racist... I don't think of myself as a racist, but I'm certainly capable of acting in ways that are inappropriate that are animated by racial bias and I should be called on that."

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Fact Grenades

I've never experienced shell shock, but besides the pain, I can only imagine it's something like what Steven Spielberg depicted in Saving Private Ryan*. If I remember correctly, this happens twice to Tom Hanks during the movie; once towards the beginning of the movie during the beach invasion and once towards the end. An explosion takes place nearby, the shock wave causing temporary deafness, disorientation and confusion.

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski felt that shell shock today when Chuck Todd tossed a fact grenade into the MSNBC Morning Joe set. Bringing up the Supreme Court reversal on the Ricci case and how it would play with the Sotomayor nomination, Todd stated the obvious which had been pretty much ignored by the mainstream media: the fact that the conservative judges on the bench overturned the decision which had been based on legal precedent and created a new rule to overturn the decision. Some would call that "judicial activism" or "legislating from the bench." The very thing conservatives were accusing Sotomayor of doing when she ruled on legal precedent. Funny, that.

Watch the carnage as Joe's & Mika's heads explode with the realization that the "activist" judges we actually face are the conservative ones on the Supreme Court of the United States.

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Boom! goes the dynamite! The stunned silence from Joe and Mika after Todd makes his point is priceless. Mika even calls Todd "adorable" - who the fuck knows what that's supposed to mean. And Joe Scarborough, caught with his pants down, proclaims that he'll just let it go because he didn't know if it would take him half hour or an hour to debate Todd's analysis. Hint: If it takes you 30 to 60 minutes to rebut someone's statement, you're probably wrong and just making shit up. Nice try, Joe.

The post traumatic stress disorder from Todd's fact grenade is probably going to reveal itself in a disjointed rant or two in tomorrow's telecast from the gang at Morning Joke™.

* 4:58 mark.

What Did Joe Scarborough Say About The Holocaust Museum Shooting?

From what I hear, not very much. I didn't watch the show today, but I understand that it was mentioned as a passing news item once. Maybe Scarborough didn't say much because of this (1:03 mark):



Laugh, clown. Laugh.

Adding... If I'm wrong about the Morning Joe coverage of the shooting, please let me know. Regardless, Scarborough is still a douchebag.

My 30 Seconds of Morning Joke™

Thought I'd get the blood flowing and watch 30 seconds of Doucheborough. It worked.

Of course, the first thing I see is a split screen of Doucheborough and Doris Kearns Goodwin debating Joe's book (BOOK PLUG!) and after they broke, Mika wanted to make a clarification regarding something they misreported (big surprise there), and Joe was his typically douchey self.

Mika: I wanna do a little clarification on my news report on the money going to Palau. We just got an e-mail from the White House saying that we're misreporting it...

Douche: Really?!

Mika: ...and that there are conversations going on about past help and support that the United States has given the country and that there are conversations going on about future help, but no discussions about a detainee exchange of money. No linkage.

Douche: Oh, so there's no quid... pro.. quo. Thank you, White House. (douchey laugh)

Mika: No, this is the State Department.

Douche: Oh, thank you State Department.

Mika: I think what we ought to do is look into it more and have more tomorrow.

Douche: We're going to. (Douchey sarcasm) I feel badly for suggesting that there might be any linkage there.

What a dick.

Jon Stewart Getting Under Scarborough's Skin

Joe Scarborough loves to talk about civil discourse except when it is inconvenient for him:

[He] claims to be all about civil discourse -- not resorting to hyperbole or personal attacks. Except, of course, when he does it. All the time. This morning, for example, Joe thinks Jon Stewart is angry because he's short.

Maybe Jon Stewart should invite Scarborough on the Daily Show to "plug his book" and they can hash it all out. Of course, Scarborough would never do it because he's a fucking coward and will be afraid to be shown for the phony that he is, just like Jim Cramer was schooled.

What Does Joe Scarborough Stand For?

Here's Scarborough on Hardball last night. He can't seem to reconcile his own contradictory position while touting his book on being a self described libertarian.

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Joe's finally making some sense. You can't claim you're for smaller government and then want a nationwide ban on abortion and gay marriage. But when asked what side of the fence he's on, he says it doesn't matter what he thinks.

On one hand he is a pro-life and anti-gay marriage advocate but on the other hand, he thinks those are states rights issues and that it doesn't matter what he thinks personally. But it DOES matter because he has a vote. He doesn't seem to clue in on that fact. His vote counts. Especially when he was in office.

When Matthews presses him on it, he refuses to answer directly, jumping back and forth between states rights and federalism. The funny part is that he espouses some commom sense things regarding conservatism (small "c") but can't reconcile himself between the ideology of conservatism and political conservatism.

And by now, you'd think he would learn just to let the Stewart stuff roll off his back because Jon isn't going to let it go. But he can't because Scarborough reveals himself to be a short-fused, thin-skinned whiner whenever he gets into situations like this. Taking the high road is easier said than done.

(H/T Bob Cesca)

Jon Stewart Eats Joe Scarborough's Head

Not much to say on this one. Morning Joe sold out. Starbucks is now a sponsor. Jon Stewart calls Joe out on his ass-kissing of Starbucks CEO and product placement. Joe Scarborough claims it was sarcasm... even though THEY ARE sponsored by Starbucks and THEY ARE placing product all over the set. Jon Stewart eats Joe for a snack.

Enjoy.





If you have a problem with this, you can write in to Starbucks and complain regarding their Corproate social responsibility efforts. Some are suggesting to boycott Starbucks and let them know why. I'll write in to say that their choice of sponsorship is suspect, but sorry, Carl can't gives up the Starbucks. If I boycotted every product because some asshole plugged it, I'd starve.

(H/T Bob Cesca)

Ed Schultz on Morning Joe

Is it me, or did Ed Schultz just kick ass on Morning Joe? I think Scarborough had his nose bloodied and Mika was fanning herself to avoid the vapors. This is probably the last time Schultz will be on the show. Joe Scarborough didn't sign up to get his pee-pee slapped on Gitmo, Pelosi, the CIA and national security.

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This Is Why Joe Scarborough Sucks

Despite facts, despite history, he knows more than anyone in the room, will proudly announce it and nothing you say, even when the facts fall on your side of the argument, can change the mind of a man who is all-knowing. What a sad, sad fool.

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Waterboarding works because Scarborough says so. Case closed.

Joe Scarborough Is An Idiot

Within the course of one Morning Joke™ broadcast, Joe Scarborough equates the Obama/Chavez handshake from Chavez just being misunderstood and maybe we should have been "more respectful of Stalin" and "some terrorists across the globe" would see the smile and handshake as "a sign of weakness" in the early hours of the broadcast, to backing off his initial statement so much, he got to this point by the end of the show: "...none of us here think it was a problem that he shook hands with the president of Venezuela, and I'm glad he smiled."

What a joke.



(H/T Media Matters)