Joe Scarborough's Softball Take on Jon Corzine: 'We Like Him'
In a softball interview with Sen. Debbie Stabenow on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough on Tuesday asked the Michigan Democrat if it was difficult for her to grill a friend and colleague, the former New Jersey Senator Jon Corzine, on the MF Global scandal. At one point, Scarborough enthused, "Senator Corzine. I like him a lot. We like him."
Co-host Mika Brzezinski started out the interview by asking Stabenow on how they would be taking on the MF Global investigation. The Michigan senator essentially rattled off the hearing's witness list.
Scarborough then interrupted, not to press Stabenow about what she was doing to get to the bottom of the scandal but to ask a "personal question":
JOE SCAROBORUGH: Senator Corzine. I like him a lot. We like him. Every time he is around this table. He seems like a -- to us he seems like a really good guy. We hate seeing this happen to him. How hard is it for you to grill a former friend or a friend and a former colleague on an issue like this? It seems to me that you got to do your job but, personally, its got to be pretty uncomfortable for you.
A transcript of the segment, which aired on December 13 at 7:38 a.m. EST, is as follows:
[7:38]
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Joining us now, Democratic senator from Michigan, Senator Debby Stabenow. Thanks very much for coming back on the show.
DEBBIE STABENOW: Absolutely, Mika. It is good to be with you.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: So today you will be taking on the MF Global situation pertaining to Jon Corzine. What is going to be happening?
DEBBIE STABENOW: Well, we have a hearing. As you know the agriculture committee oversees the futures markets commodities because they are so important to agriculture. And we have a hearing that starts at 10:00. We're gonna first hear from the customers who have lost upwards of 1.2 billion dollars because that's really our focus. We have a grain elevator operator from Michigan coming in. We’re gonna hear from farmers, business people. Then we're gonna hear from the former CEO Jon Corzine as well as the CFO and the COO. So we got the top three people from MF Global and we want to know why they don't know where the money is. And then finally I would just say we're gonna hear from the regulators and the trustee who has been put in charge of getting the money back to the customers.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Let me ask you a personal question, Debby. We served together.
DEBBIE STABENOW: Right.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: You served obviously with Jon.
DEBBIE STABENOW: Right.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Senator Corzine. I like him a lot. We like him. Every time he is around this table. He seems like a -- to us he seems like a really good guy.
DEBBIE STABENOW: Right.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: We hate seeing this happen to him. How hard is it for you to grill a former friend or a friend and a former colleague on an issue like this? It seems to me that you got to do your job but, personally, its got to be pretty uncomfortable for you.
DEBBIE STABENOW: Well, Joe, we have to do our job. I mean, the reality is for me is I've got to keep focused on who was hurt here. I mean, we've got people in Michigan that have called me that have lost money that count on the ability to hedge their risk whether it’s a co-op or a grain elevator or a farmer. I've had people from Michigan who are retired who have put money into accounts at MF Global in order to be able to do certain kinds of investments and they've lost a lot of their money. So I've got to keep -- regardless of my personal feelings -- I have to keep focused on what is most important which is the fact that we have customers who put money in accounts that were supposed to be separate from the company and now folks are saying, and it's been six weeks since the bankruptcy, they don't know where the money is. That's pretty tough.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: How much are we talking about?
DEBBIE STABENOW: Well its upwards of 1.2 billion dollars and so, you know, that's pretty tough right now and I think people on both sides of the aisle in our committee have a lot of questions about this. And we are hopeful we're gonna get some answers.
--Grant Dahl is an intern for the Media Research Center.
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Comments
Who's the victim here?! Poor Jon Corzine
Submitted by Galvanic on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 8:07pm.
JOE SCARBORUGH: "Senator Corzine. I like him a lot. We like him. Every time he is around this table. He seems like a -- to us he seems like a really good guy. We hate seeing this happen to him."
When I heard him say this, I just about punched my dashboard! Clients are out $1.2 billion, Crook Corzine has no idea where it went, and Scarborough HATES TO SEE THIS HAPPENING TO . . . CORZINE!!
Scarborough again reveals himself to be a self-absorbed Beltway dork.
It's positively criminal
Submitted by Blonde on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 9:04pm.
He doesn't know? HE DOESN'T KNOW?
W(in) T(he) F(uture) was he doing as CEO? Studiously avoiding his Balance Sheet? I mean, HELLLOOOOO!
Anyone over the level of minor Staff Accountant analyzes this stuff, on a weekly basis, with comparative data, year over year, month over month, and sometimes week over week.
His "I don't know" is about the stupidest thing I've ever heard. The Feds need to slap the cuffs on this man. Now.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
Book 'em Danno
Submitted by Franksam on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 9:23pm.
He's a flight risk, but he might prefer to cop a plea and then have Obama pardon him (see Marc Rich) .Once he helped O and Joe (Biden) out with all that financial mess they inherited, it would only be right to help Corzine out. And he could then fill in for Joe Star****er when he needed a break in the morning. They already like him.
Excellent point, Franksam
Submitted by Blonde on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 9:35pm.
Actually, I could see your pardon scenario.
I truly can't believe he testified before Congress with an "I don't know". Criminey....I could take a look at their balance sheets for the last two years and tell you EXACTLY where the money started disappearing. And I'm not a forensic accountant. But I do know how to read a balance sheet, and subsidiary ledgers.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
Hey Stabenow,
Submitted by Kansasgirl on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 8:08pm.
I'm waiting to hear the questions the Democrat Party wants answered.
We like him
Submitted by Vonu on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 8:18pm.
when he steals other people's money. When he's after our money, not so much.
O'bama hearts the tax man.
Submitted by upcountrywater on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 8:27pm.
The latest video from the RNC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Quag9dp1Nn4
(Yea Blonde the rich text is sloooow)
My first exposure to gov. jon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNRy8DPAmec
You Didn't Build That.
Corslime
Submitted by djwolf12 on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 9:04pm.
Obama brags about being the 1st president to spend over One Billion dollars campaigning for reelection. MF Global has a shortfall of 1.2 Billion dollars and Corzine says....."Whoops! Sorry folks, I don't know where that money is". HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
I wonder if he hated seeing
Submitted by the struggler on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 8:44pm.
I wonder if he hated seeing Scooter Libby get railroaded.
I live in NJ and dispise Corzine....and this was deliberate..
Submitted by Paarl on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 8:47pm.
he is a thief.....and I have heard it said about Corzine from people who were a member of the Beacon Hill Club in summit NJ with him:
"To know Jon Corzine is to dislike Jon Corzine"
'Nuff said.....
just think about this MF GLOBAL set up....
One Dem, Corzine, siphoned off a cool 1.2 Billion for illicit bank accounts everywhere....A second Democrat, Soros, was given the opportunity to buy several billion dollars worth of sovereign debt from MF Global at a considerable discount.....and he will eventually make several hundred million dollars...
so on a failure/looting/ of a Wall Street investment banks...the dems made money coming and going...
nice work if you can get it !!!
Paarl of Rhodesia
I am from NJ too, Paarl
Submitted by djwolf12 on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 8:57pm.
Notice how Morning Shmoe refers to him as SENATOR CORZINE, not FAILED EX-GOLDMAN SACHS CHAIRMAN AND FAILED 1-TERM GOVERNOR (D-NJ). This is one of the many reasons why I think Shmoe is a fraud. If he cannot call out this crook, then he has absolutely no balls.
Yes, you like him. That's the problem.
Submitted by mustango on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 9:06pm.
This is not really so much a Joe Scarborough problem. This is a political class problem. Political people just like each other too damn much. It's a very normal thing to make friends, to be sure, but the problem comes when friendships interfere with doing the job the people ask you to do.
Lucky for Corzine he has that all-important "D" after his name
Submitted by Dave. on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 9:13pm.
...else he would be on his way to the federal slammer.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Joe's comments and....
Submitted by Optionyout on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 9:16pm.
How the heck can he say that. How about "he seemed nice but now he's a thief!!!" Feel bad about grilling a billion dollar thief? How stupid is Joe?
And why is Corzine watching around on the street? Shouldn't he be in jail without bail until the money is found? How do we know it's not in one of his many offshore or Swiss accounts? If I stole all my clients money I'm sure I'd be behind bars.
Joe
Submitted by NewLife56 on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 9:34pm.
Joe who?
The only time anyone knows about him is when sites like this puts his name on. His show rarely gets over 200,000 so why even show his name?
Sounds Like...
Submitted by stratman on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 9:37pm.
Morning Joke made some money off the thief Corzine.
We hate seeing this happen to him..?
Submitted by greggy on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 10:11pm.
Like he was some innocent bystander, without responsibility for this tragedy/fiasco?
Plus, Corzine has been known for years as a real a-hole..if Morning Joke didn't know that, it was because they willfully didn't want to know it.
Sometimes I think Scarborough is just about beyond redemption. Of course, when you call yourself a conservative, and work for a dogmatic liberal/socialist propaganda cesspool like MESSNBC, you aren't showing a very strong sense of integrity. When you feel sorry for Jon Corzine instead of his many victims, that's just sick.
Sorry
Submitted by KornKing on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 10:56pm.
I always get to the wrong spot thinking I can get in on a serious discussion comparing Mika's breast size and her IQ
Without any specific data
Submitted by 26CX on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 11:36pm.
I think it's safe to say the former exceeds the latter...
I can imagine the NIH grant application now....
Submitted by drsamherman on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 11:44pm.
...and you can bet some male graduate student dreams of doing a study on breast size and IQ every waking moment he's not at some laboratory instrument or in front of a computer.
If I were still a resident, I might try to persuade a residency program faculty member to submit an application just for kicks!
Okay, ladies, I am in touch with my inner pig.
AND
Submitted by KornKing on Wed, 12/14/2011 - 11:48pm.
Would you not be glad all the stimulus bullshit went through
Felt global warming on her plane ride...
Submitted by P. Aaron on Thu, 12/15/2011 - 9:32am.
...that's what Stabenow said in a Detroit News interview.
http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2009/10/01/stabenow-blames-a...
Joe, Joe, Joe - save your
Submitted by amyshulk on Thu, 12/15/2011 - 10:49am.
Joe, Joe, Joe - save your "He/she's good people" for REAL friends dummy!!!
Ronald Reagan
1.2 billion divided by
Submitted by jimtrees on Thu, 12/15/2011 - 1:55pm.
All of Corzines buddies, and a couple million for the dear leader. Only roses for Mika.