Here’s a shocking statement about the behavior of the White House Press Corps at the Correspondent’s Dinner: “What I saw the other night was like a bunch of teenage girls waiting for a Bay City Rollers concert, ready to scream at their the top of their lungs.”
The content of this statement is not nearly so shocking, however, as who said it – a member of the media, one Joe Scarborough of MSNBC. That’s right, a member of the media is actually talking about media bias. And even more bewildering, he wasn’t the only one. Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”, agreed:
BRZEZINSKI: I definitely agree with you, I saw that there, Joe, and even the people running the behind the scenes trying to figure out what shots to put on the air, were like, ooh look at Michelle Obama, she looks so good. Go to him, go to him! What? [...] They were in love. It was weird.
A BBC America guest, Katty Kay, also concurred:
SCARBOROUGH: Katty, I am not faulting Barack Obama for inspiring. I'm faulting a press corps, not for being inspired, but for just, again, being in love. It was a rapturous response.KAY: It was a rapturous response – At these events there's always a decision that you make and cheer and laugh at the President. People did at Bush, too. All those reporters and press that, perhaps, didn't perhaps vote for President Bush.
SCARBOROUGH: [laughing] Perhaps!
Willie Geist, however, brought the fun to an end with an honest question. Geist, who is not particularly known for his deadpan, asked the following question on the audience demographic:
WILLIE GEIST: Is it all – this is a serious question. Is it all press in the room? Because I was watching from home, and I heard whoops and screams, the likes of which I haven't heard from adults – ever. My question is, were there children in there? Were there teenagers? I'm serious. Because I have never heard grownups screaming like that.
A quick recap, then: The White House Press corps are screaming, adolescent girls waiting outside an amphitheater for their favorite boy band – who less than six months ago, professed undying disdain for a different boy band whose songs contained much of the same lyrics.
Scarborough is, of course, one of MSNBC’s token conservatives, such as he is. But only one of his guests had any disagreement with him, and it was muted at best. The transcript of this exchange can be found below.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Very funny. I will say, though, as a conservative that has sat through probably seven of the eight Bush events, where people were snarling in the audience, this is wrong, it is wrong for us to sit and laugh with the man that we are supposed to cover, remember "The New York Times" stormed out and said they were never coming back, it was seriously, it was hero worship. What I saw the other night was like a bunch of teenage girls waiting for a Bay City Rollers concert, ready to scream at their the top of their lungs. – Seriously, I –
KATTY KAY: What I love is that you remember the Bay City Rollers.
SCARBOROUGH: I do.
PAT BUCHANAN: But he was playing on home court.
SCARBOROUGH: Yeah.
KAY: But he said that at the beginning. And you all voted for me. Except I was watching Donald Rumsfeld, he was a couple of tables over from me; he laughed at the beginning and as soon as they got to torture and criticizing Cheney, stopped. He was poker faced.
BUCHANAN: Cheney was just a one-liner, thought it was pretty funny. What did he say, how to shoot people and interrogate – how to shoot friends and –
SCARBOROUGH: I actually thought the funniest line she had, it wasn't a nice line, but about Dick Cheney, if your child has an opportunity to get in the car with a stranger or Dick Cheney, take the stranger. However, is the President, Katty, going to get in trouble for laughing at the line about Rush Limbaugh, her hoping that his kidneys fail? That certainly was over the line.
KAY: Yeah. I was watching. That moment I stood up to see whether the President was actually laughing. I had somebody's big head in front of me.
BUCHANAN: Drudge has it on there and the President initially laughs and smiles, even at the kidney thing, but then you see the face going serious, looking down. And you know what's going through this mind, oh, no. This thing is going to come back.
KAY: Right, and you can see, this is going to be Gibbs' topic today.
BUCHANAN: First one out of the box.
KAY: This is going to be Gibbs' baby.
BUCHANAN: The President wishes Rush Limbaugh is dead?
SCARBOROUGH: Mika, I e-mailed Robert yesterday to ask for a response to that. I haven't gotten one yet. But I suspect he's going to have other people asking that question today, right?
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Yeah. I mean, you know, I have to agree with the group on this, just because I think, you know, giving anybody that shrill and loud on either side, that much attention, even if it's a joke and even if it's a bad joke, is just not a good idea.
DONNY DEUTSCH: Joe, to come after Obama, you know, laughing sometimes is just a very gut reaction and I think he laughed and then paused and thought better of it. So jokes even if they're in bad taste can be funny sometimes, even if they go over the line. I think we need to cut the President a break on this one.
SCARBOROUGH: What if George W. Bush had laughed at joke by a conservative comedian wishing death on Al Gore?
DEUTSCH: You’re right, but let’s get to the point – we have a President that we know the press loves. Things slide off of him just like they did Reagan. Of course, from here on in we’re going to be making these analogies, well what if Bush did that. We know these are two different men with completely different grading systems.
SCARBOROUGH: Well yeah, exactly. The bigger issue is again, you had so many – I could not go to an event where if anybody laughed, there wouldn't be people at my table or next table aghast. We are at war and yet people are laughing and oh this is horrible and this is – no, we don't need a night off and they were just – they were so, just so angered that everybody was laughing along. But again, the other night, I saw an entire audience in love with a man they were covering. And when I say in love, I mean deep abiding, obsessed-fed, love.
DEUTSCH: So great. That's the way he deflected. The first thing he came out and said, he said you all voted for me. He's so on tone that he so gets that.
BRZEZINSKI: It's also not his fault.
DEUTSCH: No.
BRZEZINSKI: It is definitely the fault of some members of the media. I definitely agree with you, I saw that there, Joe, and even the people running the behind the scenes trying to figure out what shots to put on the air, were like, ooh look at Michelle Obama, she looks so good. Go to him, go to him! What?
DEUTSCH: We fault him for that –
BRZEZINSKI: They were in love. It was weird.
[crosstalk]
BRZEZINSKI: But he doesn't make anybody feel that way.
SCARBOROUGH: Katty, I am not faulting Barack Obama for inspiring. I'm faulting a press corps, not for being inspired, but for just, again, being in love. It was a rapturous response.
KAY: It was a rapturous response – At these events there's always a decision that you make and cheer and laugh at the President. People did at Bush, too. All those reporters and press that, perhaps, didn't perhaps vote for President Bush.
SCARBOROUGH: [laughing] Perhaps!
KAY: And there may have been one or two of them. But they still laughed at him during that event. I was sitting at the table with a bunch of Brits, as I would do, and what struck us was this wouldn't happen in Britain. You wouldn't get the prime minister sitting there and being taken, made fun of, like you had the President sitting there. You couldn't do it. We wouldn't be able to laugh at our prime minister while he was sitting there in that room. That was interesting.
WILLIE GEIST: Is it all – this is a serious question. Is it all press in the room? Because I was watching from home, and I heard whoops and screams, the likes of which I haven't heard from adults ever. My question is, were there children in there? Were there teenagers? I'm serious. Because I never heard grownups screaming like that.
SCARBOROUGH: There were – it was a mix of press and Hollywood and a lot of Hollywood stars were there.
BRZEZINSKI: That's true. There you go.
SCARBOROUGH: They were very, very excited.
BRZEZINSKI: They were very excited.



















Editor at Large
Comments Policy
President Obama
May 11, 2009 - 14:39 ET by sam12663President Obama is nothing more than a lying empty suit; a Hollywood style special effects smoke and mirrors show that has shown itself to be a total fraud.
WAKE UP AMERICA! SAVE OUR CONSTITUTION!
Hey Joe......
May 11, 2009 - 14:39 ET by sam12663You may looking for a job soon if you keep reporting the TRUTH from your perch at the most over the top Obama obsessed network on air today. What do you think you're doing, showing common sense at MSNBC? Thanks for telling it like as it truly is.
President Obama is nothing more than a lying empty suit; a Hollywood style special effects smoke and mirrors show that has shown itself to be a total fraud.
WAKE UP AMERICA! SAVE OUR CONSTITUTION!
Fans?
May 11, 2009 - 14:46 ET by JDWThey are not fans, they are 'unsane'.
JDW
DAILY WAVE
When people fear their government there is tyranny.
When government fears the people there is liberty.
wow
May 11, 2009 - 14:50 ET by katainkenthey I am a little stunned. Joe flip flops around a lot. I know he has it in him but he tends to quelch it a lot - but his was ... I am impressed.
"deep abiding, obsessed-fed, love"
___________________________________________
Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past - George Orwell - 1984
Joe likes coming across
May 11, 2009 - 21:49 ET by ThatDudeJoe likes coming across even-handed. He does flip-flop quite a bit at times, but he's a moderate conservative who readily hits both sides. In my opinion, he and Mika have truly been getting better recently. They make a good team, and despite how much I may disagree with either at any given time, they do engage in decent conversation (on the radio program at least.) That's all I want, reasoned discussion.
What's sad...
May 11, 2009 - 15:01 ET by Prester John...is that this "love" for the Leader is no different than what we saw in Communist countries, except in Communist countries the people clapping all knew it was a well choregraphed farce.
Here it's for real.
I know. Isn't that
May 11, 2009 - 19:43 ET by danebramageI know. Isn't that funny?
In the USSR, everybody pretended to love Big Brother so as not to be shot. Here we have people so f'ing foolish, they actually are in love with him.
And no, I don't mean Obama. I mean Big Brother. Obama is just a temporary stand-in for their real love.
Funny he mentioned Bay City Rollers.... That band put as much
May 11, 2009 - 15:02 ET by JTPresearch into picking the band name as the press put into picking the President. They spun a globe and it stopped on the little Michigan city on the shore of lake Huron.
S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y. HEY!
O!BA!MA!
"Live for yourself...there's no one else more worth living for.
Begging hands and bleeding hearts will only cry out for more"- Rush--Anthem
DEUTSCH: You’re right,
May 11, 2009 - 15:01 ET by rimskyDEUTSCH: You’re right, but let’s get to the point – we have a President that we know the press loves. Things slide off of him just like they did Reagan.
What? What? Get real! Obama's got a freekin' force field around him! President Reagan enjoyed nothing of the kind of fawning from the media that BHO gets.
Reagan vs. Obama
May 11, 2009 - 15:13 ET by Kat Outta the BagThey called Reagan the "Teflon President" because nothing stuck to him...hell, the MSM won't even let anything near Obama's pan to begin with!
There is no national press
May 11, 2009 - 15:14 ET by sam12663There is no national press anymore. They are basically a P.R wing of the White House at this point. You know the old saying; the bigger they are, the harder they fall. It is going to be a far fall when this administration crashes and burns; which it will.
President Obama is nothing more than a lying empty suit; a Hollywood style special effects smoke and mirrors show that has shown itself to be a total fraud.
WAKE UP AMERICA! SAVE OUR CONSTITUTION!
I saw this segment this
May 11, 2009 - 15:14 ET by bigtimerI saw this segment this morning...
Geist is my favorite, always has been, he said it all...
Danny D. makes me sick...he's hopeless.
Frankly, I didn't care one way or the other about what the others said at the end of all of this segment.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
"The content of this
May 11, 2009 - 15:22 ET by Chris Norman"The content of this statement is not nearly so shocking (my emphasis), however, as who said it – a member of the media, one Joe Scarborough of MSNBC."
With all due respect, it's not like Brian Williams, Katie Couric, or Charles Gibson said it. :)
The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.
Well no, but...
May 11, 2009 - 15:55 ET by Mike SargentYou're kinda missing the point - AN MSNBC HOST SAID THIS! *big grin* We're getting to them, ladies and fellas...
Mike,But - but - but -
May 11, 2009 - 17:00 ET by Chris NormanMike,
But - but - but - Joe Scarborough, as the lone semi - quasi - part-time - conservative on MSNBC usually can be counted on to say something that we can agree with every few days or weeks or so.
The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.
Chris...that's how I feel
May 11, 2009 - 17:02 ET by bigtimerChris...that's how I feel too.
Tomorrow is always another story with him.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
bt, I guess Mike is more
May 11, 2009 - 17:09 ET by Chris Normanbt,
I guess Mike is more appreciative of small favors than we are. :)
The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.
LOL Chris... Well, you
May 11, 2009 - 17:36 ET by bigtimerLOL Chris...
Well, you can't help it...Joe works for msnbc...I got sick of him long ago...so what if he throws a few bread-crumbs out there now and then
Mike, please don't get me wrong...I appreciate your work here, it's just that I've been following Joe since 94 and he is one big phony disappointment in my view-finder...as far as I am concerned, we need less of his type, he'll be back at bashing conservatives in no time.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
Perhaps...
May 12, 2009 - 08:31 ET by Mike Sargent...I overstated it a shade. But when you watch the liberal media like I do ALL DAY...I don't know, I just felt all tingly when someone said something that actually made sense *smirk*
That's right, I said it. The fact that Scarborough said something correct sent a thrill up my leg. Somebody call Chris Matthews, see if he can share his anti-tingle cream...
Wow....Bob Beckel is really
May 11, 2009 - 15:19 ET by bigtimerWow....Bob Beckel is really tearing into Wanda right now on Sean's radio show....and I mean I have never, ever heard him talk this way, he is minces no words whatsoever...
Just wanted to add this here since it is related....
I also heard earlier Sean mention NBs about this subject.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
Did They Discuss His Personal Life?
May 11, 2009 - 15:41 ET by JDWHe is an alcoholic. No doubt he realizes the pain of personal attacks.
JDW
DAILY WAVE
When people fear their government there is tyranny.
When government fears the people there is liberty.
JDW... That is the exact
May 11, 2009 - 16:32 ET by bigtimerJDW... That is the exact point Bob was making with his anger for this...he was saying how dare this be said to people who, day by day fight their addictions and succeed etc...look, I've been listening to Beckel forever...I have never heard such words and anger coming from this man...I can't state it enough. I wished I had a way to get the audio for it...others may be able to later...
He said if he was there and a man was saying this he would have punched him in the mouth, he would have stood up and walked out if he had been there...no way for me to post all he said...he was furious.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
I am obivously out of touch
May 11, 2009 - 15:31 ET by kdizzydazeIsn't it typical at these events to lambaste the president and the reporters to some extent? Aren't the speakers at the event supposed to have a little fun at the expense of the President?
All I have gathered from this event is some not so funny actress/comedienne bashing anyone in the past administration. And apparently not even one decent joke directed to Obama. This was more like a bunch of court jesters out there trying to make Obambi laugh as if it was some sort of idiotic game show "make the Prez laugh"
Lame bunch of wussbags the dems are - but then again, considering the lack of character on that side of the aisle, this is not too difficult to understand, I guess. When you have thin skin, you need to control the message coming in and going out.
God made man, but he used a monkey to do it -- DEVO
Scarborough is supposed to
May 11, 2009 - 17:01 ET by ConservativeRexScarborough is supposed to treat this as some sort of scoop?
He's part of the problem. He know's where his bread is buttered, I don't trust him for a second. Big deal, the media's in love the bamster. Who believes anything the media reports anyway? Someone posted earlier that all the media amounts to is the PR wing of uhbamas administration, and that is an undeniable fact.
And they are spinning the economy like a top for who - who else
May 11, 2009 - 17:04 ET by lareeI want to know what does the MSM hope to accomplish it's own demises?
False Spring?
http://dai-strategicconservativealliance.blogspot.com/2009/05/if-you-are-like-most-bo-philanthropists.html
I thought the joke was
May 11, 2009 - 17:07 ET by myron243if your kid has a choice of getting in a car with a stranger or Ted Kennedy....
myron - touche ;-)
May 11, 2009 - 17:34 ET by Cape ConservativeThis comment comes from a proud Tea Party attendee, otherwise known as a RWRE!! It is no dishonor to be in a minority in the cause of liberty and virtue ~ Sam Adams
Correspondents Dinner a Microcosm of what's been going on...
May 11, 2009 - 17:29 ET by krendler...since January 2008. The entire presidential campaign along with what followed.
Clinton and McCain never stood a chance.
Mika: "ooh look at Michelle Obama, she looks so good. Go to him, go to him! What? [...] They were in love. It was weird. "
Uhhhh, precisely, Mika. Precisely.
This dinner/"roast", along with Chris Matthews seminal and unintentionally honest "It's my job" comment tell you everything you need to know about the state of today's media. These idiots are nothing but Unabashed Obama cheerleaders. They're as close to being journalists as Howie Mandel. Embarrassing to watch.
Gotta go. Journalist Roland Martin is hosting a panel discussion on some program called "No Bias. No Bull" on CNN.
Good for Joe!
May 11, 2009 - 17:41 ET by gmaniac1This and the one where he slammed Olberdork was pretty good! Though he does work for the enema, I mean, enemy.
The media has to wrap a diaper around Baby Boy Obama because he would go into a nervous breakdown if he faced what Reagan dealt with.
When the people fear the government it's called tyranny, when the government fears the people it's called liberty!
Once
May 11, 2009 - 20:11 ET by tonyrich300How come you people never post comments of Morning Joe scolding the Republican party?
What do you care
May 11, 2009 - 20:22 ET by bigtimerWhat do you care tony?
Plenty of us know it, hence the posts/responses above.
Please go back to your MM play-ground...do us all a favor.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
Hey now...
May 12, 2009 - 08:32 ET by Mike Sargent...whaddaya mean, "you people?"
You don't read so well do you my friend!
May 12, 2009 - 14:57 ET by gmaniac1As usual, another lefty knee jerk reaction with not much substance.
When the people fear the government it's called tyranny, when the government fears the people it's called liberty!
More
May 11, 2009 - 22:36 ET by RowaneMore like a bunch of frigging groupies.
RINO Joe is probably more
May 12, 2009 - 04:43 ET by RR GOPRINO Joe is probably more upset with the undignified fawning of the Prez than the lack of any good reason for said fawning.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 61% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory (yep...approval for Congress now at 39%...do you believe that!?).
Joe Scarborough is as "Conservative" as Colin Powell, David Frum
May 12, 2009 - 16:30 ET by Rush Fanand John McCain. He pimps for MSNBC!
Scarborough has been much more respectful to Barack Obama than he was to President Bush. Less we forget, it was "conservative Republican" Scarborough who titled one of his shows "IS BUSH AN ‘IDIOT’?" MSNBC's banner throughout that show highlighted those words.
NewsBusters Tim Graham wrote a piece titled: Reflections on Joe Scarborough and Idiot-Bush Segments on MSNBC that reflects my viewpoint as well.
If I haven't been clear enough in this post then let me spell it out clearer: I can't stand this two-faced guy!
-------------------------------------------------------------
"I’m quite sure from this Salon interview that Scarborough would not find it was a journalistic high point if Fox hosted a segment titled on screen "IS SCARBOROUGH AN ‘IDIOT’"? You don’t have to be a "Republican loyalist" to see that turnabout wouldn’t feel like fair play." ~ NewsBusters Tim Graham
Maybe Scarborough Killed his assistant
May 27, 2009 - 05:47 ET by iviewitWho Is MSNBC Anchor Joe Scarborough?
While the media was obsessed with Chandra Levy, another congressional staffer was found dead in then-representative and current MSNBC talk-show host Joe Scarborough's office. Unlike Gary Condit, Scarborough got a free ride from the press.
Report by Denis Wright
In the morning of July 20, 2001, the body of Lori Klausutis, who had worked as an aide to Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough for approximately two years, was found in Scarborough's Fort Walton Beach, Florida, office.
There were no witnesses to Klausutis's death.
According to Anna Dobbins, a producer at WEAR-TV, Joe was on the phone with the local ABC affiliate in Pensacola within three hours of the discovery of the body, and before the family was notified, to say that "a young woman had died in his office and that she had a complicated medical history, specifically surrounding 'stroke and epilepsy.'"
The congressman and his advisor, Mick Serrano, made similar calls to two other local media outlets within hours of the body's discovery.
According to Dobbins and others, about a week later, after the Klausutis family wrote an excoriating letter to a local paper, Serrano called back to ask that they stop reporting the "complicated health history."
Joe, they were now correctly told, had spoken in error.
Klausutis-a marathon runner, 28 years old and happily married-had been in great shape. Her "complicated health" began only on the night that she died, and its "history" surfaced primarily because of Joe's misinformation.
The nebulous circumstances surrounding Klausutis's death were further compounded during her body's postmortem exam. Michael Berkland, the medical examiner assigned to perform the autopsy, quickly released a statement to the press indicating that there were no signs of trauma to the body or any indication of foul play. Later, however, he admitted the body had "a scratch and a bruise."
Berkland, it must be noted, has a less than professional record. He was fired from his position as medical examiner in Missouri for making false statements and eventually lost the right to practice medicine in that state (see sidebar). Still, Berkland concluded in the final autopsy report that Klausutis's heart had failed. Moreover, by failing to officially close the investigation, long after they had ceased to interview witnesses, the police prevented the public from learning any facts about Klausutis's death.
Only when the autopsy report was released (and that occurred only because the editor in chief of the Northwest Florida Daily News Ralph Routon's editorial demanded its issuance) did those willing to exercise their rights under Florida's Sunshine Law learn the extent of Lori's injuries.
The autopsy report revealed that Lori had suffered two skull fractures and an additional wound. A 71/4-inch crack all but spanned the top of her head, from right temple to left.
As a likely consequence of that blow, blood poured in from a steadily pumping heart to form a fist-sized hematoma at the left temple. There were separate 11/2-inch eggshell fractures, essentially pulverizing the bone, deep inside the skull behind the right ear. The back of her head was bashed, and her lungs were filled with bloody foam, suggesting that she took a relatively long time to die.
In the final autopsy report, Berkland wrote off all those devastating injuries to heart failure. According to Berkland, Klausutis had fainted from a weak heart and hit her head on the desk, an unlikely scenario considering the massive damage to the victim's skull.
Showing an incredible lack of professionalism, the local press swallowed this story whole, even the seeming contradiction about a failing heart having been capable of pumping more than a half cup of blood to form the hematoma. Medical science suggests that, if Klausutis's heart was so weak that it failed to pump enough blood to her brain to maintain consciousness, that same heart would not pump enough blood to form the hematoma.
With Berkland's confusing-and medically improbable-scenario securely within the official case file, the case was closed. No more questions. No more answers.
Democratic Congressman Gary Condit wasn't so lucky. Chandra Levy was last seen April 30, 2001, less than three months before Klausutis's death. Thousands of stories appeared all over the world about Condit's missing intern. When facts were in short supply, the media unashamedly engaged in rampant speculation. For instance, constantly searching for a new angle to the story, Fox News even interviewed a psychic to learn what happened to Levy.
Condit became the most sought-after interview subject since Monica Lewinsky. Connie Chung beat out Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Dan Rather and others for the much-coveted "get," and on August 23, 2001, a little more than a month after Klausutis's death, ABC's Prime Time Live aired the highly anticipated interview/event.
Levy and Klausutis were both young females who worked for U.S. representatives. Scarborough's aide, while never missing, also died under mysterious circumstances. Both stories broke-or would have broken-within three months of each other and before the events of 9/11 finally forced the media to get over the Condit story (at least temporarily).
Given these similarities, how was it that the media never even questioned why Scarborough was not a suspect in Klausutis's death?
The mainstream press, by our count, published only a few dozen stories about the case of the dead staffer, almost all of which appeared in outlets in the northwest Florida area. Cable news completely ignored the story. The alternative press, too, has been all but silent on the Klausutis situation.
The "liberal media" that spent the greater part of summer 2001 destroying the career and reputation of former Congressman Gary Condit (D-California) over his affair with his then-missing intern Chandra Levy had absolutely nothing to say about the young woman who worked for Scarborough and died in his office.
While so-called journalists chased down every rumor about Condit, they would simply hang up on or dismiss any caller who dared to mention the death in Joe's office.
Furthermore, instead of receiving the Condit treatment-nonstop Larry King specials with titles such as "Death in a Congressman's Office"-Joe was offered his own television show.
Unexpectedly, Scarborough announced his retirement from representing Florida's First Congressional District in May 2001-just six months after his reelection-and signed a three-year contract with cable news channel MSNBC to host Scarborough Country, replacing their then-highest-rated prime-time show, Donahue. Not only did he escape media scrutiny altogether, but he was also given a slot in their ranks.
Scarborough has since made a name for himself for his thoroughly brutal attacks on anyone who disagrees with him or George W. Bush. Danny Glover, Michael Moore, Susan Sarandon and Janeane Garofalo have all been the targets of Joe's ire.
According to The New Yorker's TV reviewer Nancy Franklin, Scarborough "swings his little club with about as much discrimination as Bamm-Bamm, the diaper-clad pugilist on The Flintstones." But "Regular Joe"-as he likes to be called-has an uncommonly thin skin. Scarborough has frequently complained about his tarnished reputation and lambastes anyone who questions the disparity of coverage received by the Condit and Scarborough cases.
"It's not really the media so much as it is sort of this political class of people who just go around causing trouble all the time," Joe said in an interview published in the Pensacola News Journal in September 2001, just days before he left office. "For instance, it is spread all over the Internet right now that my staff member [Lori Klausutis], who died tragically a month ago, was killed by me. I could list a thousand conspiracy theories against me: that I rig elections; that I have a drug-running outfit with the CIA; that I'm a murderer; that I have 15 illegitimate children."
In reality, there's been scant coverage of even the most fundamental aspects of the Klausutis case.
One is left to wonder why our media was so quick to jump on every single tid-bit of gossip and innuendo about Gary Condit but refused to report of Lori Klausutis's death, on the equally intriguing and tragic story. Surely if Gary Condit had called the media to issue false statements about Chandra Levy's nonexistent health problems, the public would have heard about it nonstop. In Joe's case, the revelation was never mentioned.
Regardless, Regular Joe is now a regular TV star, living the high life in New York a thousand miles away from memories of a dead staffer.
Joe himself wrote the following in one of the many self-serving columns for the Independent Florida Sun, his now-defunct newspaper: "There is an old saying that warns that if you allow people to assume the worst, they will. So be it."
Indeed. On May 29, 2003, Scarborough appeared on Don Imus's radio show. While complimenting Scarborough on his sense of humor, Imus said, "Don't be afraid to be funny, because you are funny. I asked you why you aren't in Congress. You said that you had sex with the intern, and then you had to kill her." Scarborough laughed and replied, "Yeah, well, what are you gonna do?"
* * *
Denis Wright is an artist, writer and activist whose work has appeared in Online Journal and American Politics Journal. He is currently researching irregularities and political fraud surrounding touch-screen voting technology. Chris George and R.S. Miller contributed to this report.