Morning Joe

"Every other network has given all their shows to liberals. We are the balance."

So said Roger Ailes in a profile written by the Daily Beast's Howard Kurtz Sunday which also included the Fox News chairman taking a shot at MSNBC's Joe Scarborough:

What a curiously incurious Morning Joe bunch!  Joe Scarborough says Solyndra "is just not a story I have focused on" and John Heilemann similarly admits to not having "drilled down" on the matter.  Meanwhile, Harold Ford, Jr. assures us that when it comes to any potential Solyndra scandal, "there's no there, there" and that no one "has done anything illicit here at all."

A blasé Joe Scarborough grudgingly introduced "this Solyndra thing," citing those pesky "conservatives on Twitter" who keep raising it.  The show deigned to devote under two minutes to the story, with nary a mention of the facts that the main driver behind Solyndra was a major Obama fundraiser, that the Bush admin blew off funding for Solyndra after concluding their products weren't competitive and that Solyndra execs are now taking the Fifth. View the video after the jump.

Move over, Tom Friedman--there's another MSMer looking longingly at Communist China.  In an infamous column, Friedman wrote of his envy of the power of the Chinese despots to impose "critically important decisions."  He's been at it again lately

Now comes Sino-Commie-phile Katty Kay.  On Morning Joe today, the BBCer criticized the USA for not having a "40-year plan for medical innovation" like the Chinese do.  Joe Scarborough was on-point with his comeback. Video after the jump.

Mika Brzezinski gave quite a cold shoulder to author Ron Suskind Tuesday whose new book "Confidence Men" paints an unflattering picture of the Obama White House.

Doing her best Clarence Darrow, Brzezinski grilled her "Morning Joe" guest leading Joe Scarborough to smartly observe, "She didn't cross-examine Ron when he wrote books about Bush like this" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Hours after NewsBusters debunked the myth about the rich paying less taxes as a percent of income than lower earners, and minutes before the Associated Press confirmed our figures, Joe Scarborough said Tuesday, "The average millionaire-billionaire pays eighteen percent in taxes in America."

Going completely contrary to actual Internal Revenue Service data released weeks ago, the "Morning Joe" host added, "If we can get the millionaires and billionaires to even pay 25 percent, there’d be a massive, that would be a massive influx of money" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Even Chuck Todd thinks President Obama's new tax plan is a joke.

When asked on MSNBC Monday if the White House believes "tax reform in the context of the Super Committee is a realistic goal," NBC's chief White House correspondent broke out laughing followed by the entire "Morning Joe" panel (video follows with transcript and commentary):

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough on Friday said the people in the audience at Monday's Republican presidential debate were "applauding the death of a young man without health insurance" and therefore were like the John Birchers "that Bill Buckley kicked out of the conservative movement in the mid-1960s."

Unfortunately, the host of "Morning Joe" has, like so many others in the media, badly misinterpreted what occurred when Texas Congressman Ron Paul was asked what should happen to a voluntarily uninsured man who falls into a coma (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Joe Scarborough and Mike Bloomberg for president and veep? Yeah, that's the ticket—according to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, who floated the idea during his Morning Joe appearance today.  

Friedman foresaw Scarborough-Bloomberg running on a platform of Simpson-Bowles on the economy, an "investment agenda" [infrastructure spending], and getting out of Afghanistan ASAP.  "I would bet any amount of money," forecast Friedman, that such a ticket would immediately have a "significant, significant" position.  Video after the jump.

There have been some idiotic things said by liberal media members surrounding the tenth anniversary of 9/11, and "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams added to the list Monday.

Appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Williams said, "People forget the crazy pressure to put a flag on your lapel and without it you couldn’t be a patriot. You certainly couldn’t love your country" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

A skirmish broke out on Morning Joe today as PBS host Tavis Smiley claimed President George W. Bush "lied" the USA into the war in Iraq. Joe Scarborough and--surprisingly--Jon Meacham forcefully refuted Smiley's slur.

Scarborough unwittingly provoked the incident when, commenting on yesterday's 9-11 observances, he called for a Kumbaya moment in which Americans would put aside politics and thank presidents Bush and Obama for keeping the country safe.  That set Smiley off: "the reality is that one of those guys lied to the American people"--and the fight was on. View video after the jump.

On Friday, another Morning Joe host went out on a limb and confidently predicted the political demise of Rick Perry. Discussing the Republican presidential candidate's positions on Social Security, Mika Brzezinski proclaimed, "Then, Mitt Romney has this thing in the bag. I mean, are you kidding me?"

Brzezinski's comments came just nine days after Joe Scarborough declared, "Of course, [Rick Perry] can't get elected in the general election. He can't."

By all accounts, President Obama has been far more hawkish than anyone anywhere in the world could have possibly imagined.

Despite this, "New Yorker" magazine editor David Remnick told the crew at MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Friday that the current Administration is responsible for the lack of anti-American displays in Arab Spring uprisings (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Talking to MSNBC host Joe Scarborough on Thursday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry fretted over a handful of congressional Republicans declining to attend President Obama's upcoming jobs speech to a joint session of Congress: "At least three Republicans are not going to be in the audience....is this disrespectful to the office of the president, Joe?"

Scarborough responded: "I don't know if it's disrespectful. I don't think it's very smart....Americans want to see these two sides working together. Now, that may not excite the base, but that's exactly where middle America is."

Days before the tenth anniversary of 9/11, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough released an antiwar song featuring powerful images of that horrible attack on our nation along with a message to bring our soldiers home from our current incursions.

The music video "Reason To Believe" was aired on Thursday's "Morning Joe," and I caught up with the host by phone shortly after the show's conclusion (video follows with highlights along with commentary from Scarborough and me):

Is there no double-standard depths to which the liberal media won't sink when it comes to provocative political speech? No—judging by the pitiful performance of two MSMers on today's Morning Joe in defending James "Take 'Em Out" Hoffa.  

Newsweek editor Tina Brown brayed that we must not "sanitize" political speech or take the "juice" out of it--all the while condemning Michele Bachmann and Glenn Beck for some of their remarks.  And the preposterous Mike Barnicle somehow defended Hoffa on the basis of the "context" of his remarks. Say what?  Hoffa was introducing the President of the United States!  And don't miss Barnicle logic-defyingly defending the double-standard when it comes to Sarah Palin on the basis that everyone knows the MSM will attack her. Video after the jump.

MSNBC's "Morning Joe" spent a good deal of time Tuesday discussing Teamsters president James Hoffa Jr.'s disgraceful Labor Day comments about the Tea Party and his political rivals.

After playing a clip of Hoffa's remarks as well as President Obama calling for civility months ago, Scarborough pointed out, "There seems to be a rule here which is don’t say really mean things that coarsen the debate, could encourage violence, unless you’re a Democrat...If you support [Obama], you can say, 'We’re going to take people out'" (video follows with partial transcript and commentary):

Looks like Joe Scarborough aims to single-handedly winnow the Republican presidential field.  A few weeks ago, the Morning Joe host dismissed Michele Bachmann as "a joke."  Today—not for the first time, as NB's Scott Whitlock documented—Scarborough proclaimed that there is "no way" Rick Perry could beat Barack Obama.

Scarborough, imagining an anti-Perry ad, surmised that Perry's statements on Social Security, the selection of US Senators and secession would come back to haunt him. View video after the jump.

For the second time in as many days, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough took issue with a Washington Post Obama-apologist for blaming all that ails the nation on the Republican Party.

What made Friday's "Morning Joe" more delicious was the Post's Eugene Robinson was present this time, and after predictably defending the current White House resident while pointing fingers at the GOP was marvelously asked by the host, "Isn't there also though a larger context that the United States citizens may have just elected a president that was not ready to run the most complex economy in the world?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Remember "What's The Matter With Kansas?"  That was liberal native Kansan Thomas Frank's extended kvetch over the refusal of average Jayhawkers to engage in class warfare by supporting soak-the-rich policies.

The same mindset was on display on Morning Joe today. The Huffington Post's Sam Stein asserted that the failure of many less-than-rich Americans to support tax increases on the rich amounts to voting "against their own self interest." View video after the jump . . . including the amusing moment when Stein sulks about getting interrrupted by Scarborough.

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough on Thursday pressed Dick Cheney over his new book, wondering "what changed Dick Cheney from the man who was seen by everybody as the moderate voice of Republicanism in Washington D.C. to a man who seemed to morph overnight into Darth Vader?"

Of course, when Cheney was a Congressman (from 1979 through 1988), he earned a perfect 100 score from the American Conservative Union three times and was at 90 or above another three years. The former Vice President appeared on Morning Joe to promote his new book and even offer some surprise appreciation for comments by Chris Matthews and MSNBC analyst Mike Barnicle.

I sure hope Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne as well as other unapologetic Obama-loving media members were watching MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Thursday.

After Mika Brzezinski read a snippet of Dionne's "Obama's Paradox Problem" wherein he basically blamed all that ails the nation on GOP obstruction, Joe Scarborough accurately noted, "the President owned – OWNED! – Washington, D.C., in 2009 and 2010" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough shifted into psychic mode on Wednesday, flat-out declaring, "Of course, [Rick Perry] can't get elected in the general election. He can't." The Morning Joe host derided the GOP presidential candidate, even predicting what states Perry would lose and by how much.

Scarborough totally dismissed the Texas governor's chances, ripping, "He can get elected in the Republican primary, but he can't get elected in the general election. The ex-Congressman turned cable host was very specific: "...He can't carry Ohio. He can't carry Pennsylvania."

[See video below. MP3 audio here.]

Tina Brown seems to be very conflicted about her opinion of Dick Cheney.

After telling the "Morning Joe" panel the former Vice President is a "wrecking ball" who "seems to be totally in denial still about Iraq," the Daily Beast-Newsweek editor said moments later, "He's been validated by Obama" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

The liberal media are predictably gushing over Colin Powell's supposed rebuke of Dick Cheney on Sunday's "Face the Nation."

Bucking the trend was Joe Scarborough Monday who on the MSNBC program bearing his name said Powell going on "Face the Nation" to defend himself proved Cheney right about heads exploding over his new book (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Pat Buchanan regularly serves as Morning Joe's lone conservative in the show's self-described 10:1 ratio sea of lib to conservative guests.  But Buchanan this morning demonstrated that he is anything but a Republican partisan.  

Sounding more like Barney Frank after a bad night's sleep, Buchanan blasted President George W. Bush, claiming 43 "broke the Republican party and frankly he broke the United States as a superpower."  View the video after the jump.

Andrea Mitchell had a delicious Al Gore "Look for the Union Label" moment on Wednesday's "Morning Joe."

In a discussion about famed Tennessee Volunteers women's basketball coach Pat Summitt's Alzheimer's revelation, Mitchell told the panel, "Title IX, you know, was so important as I was growing up" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Want incisive news analysis and perspicacious probing of the people and events of the day? Then Mike Barnicle is your man—not.

On today's Morning Joe, reacting to Jon Huntsman's criticism of Republicans who reputedly reject science, the former Boston Globe columnist inanely asked former RNC Chairman Michael Steele: "what percentage of Republican delegates who go to the convention do you figure are total nutcases?" Video after the jump.

All joking aside about "if Obama has lost [fill in the blank], he has lost America", there was a stunning display today of a formerly ardent supporter condemning in the most fundamental terms President Obama's failure of leadership.


On Morning Joe, leftist Columbia Prof. Jeffrey Sachs absolutely scalded the president.  Declared Sachs: the stimulus failed.  Three years in, Obama has no plan,  and is providing "no leadership." Ouch. View video after the jump.

With each passing day it is becoming clearer and clearer the brainiacs at MSNBC replaced one blithering idiot in their 6PM time slot with another blithering idiot.

On Wednesday's "Morning Joe," Al Sharpton actually accused well-known isolationist Pat Buchanan of having supported the Iraq war (video follows with transcript and commentary):