Final Chapter of Scarborough Pole-Gate

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough contacted NewsBusters a few moments ago with the relevant transcript from his June 1 "Morning Joe" program, lamenting in an e-mail that our "follow up blog on Newsbusters... actually omits fact that there was a long discussion started by female athlete re pole exercising. Transcript shows whole thing taken wildly out of context."

Here's the transcript, as forwarded by Scarborough to us after receiving same from Christopher Licht, executive producer of "Scarborough Country":

June 1, 6:25 a.m.

Scarborough: "Hey Tracy"

Tracy Burgess: "Yes, Mr. Scarborough."

Scarborough: "What did you say before we came back on? That you work the what?"

Burgess: "I am taking vertical pole. I am studying vertical pole."

Scarborough: "Vertical pole?"

Burgess: "Right."

Scarborough: "What is that?"

Burgess: "It's a pole and you exercise on it."

McCord: "It's pole dancing, Joe."

Scarborough: "Okay, that's what I wanted to know."

McCord: "Tracy is becoming a pole dancer."

Scarborough: "I am just a cave-man lawyer, I don't know your strange ways up here in New York City. So you are one of these people.."

Burgess: "One of these people..."

Scarborough: "Who exercises and stays fit by working the pole."

Burgess: "Yes, yes, I do. Cause you are lifting your entire body weight and so, you're inverting yourself and you are putting yourself in moves that require all sorts of muscles that you usually don't work and it's good."

McCord: "Actually, Ms. Burgess is a fine athlete. - a tri-athlete who competes all the time in these various events and she has simply added to her repertoire."

Burgess: "Thank you, Mr. McCord"

Scarborough: "So pole dancing, what you're basically telling me, builds your core."

Burgess: "It does. It builds your core, it builds your arms, your legs, your thighs."

McCord: "Look it [burgess flexes biceps]."

Scarborough: "Oh my god, look at those arms."

McCord: "Oh, she's got guns, come on. Good lord, she's fit."

Scarborough: "I'm impressed."

Burgess: "And, I learned how to do a 'reverse superman.'"

Scarborough: "You want to show us that right now?"

Burgess: "Um, no. If you had a pole, I would."

Scarborough: "Well, thank you so much Tracy. I'm not gonna take a bite on that."

McCord: "Course, we're not pole driven."

Scarborough: "Some of us are. Craig Crawford"

Crawford: "Hey, I saw that on Oprah."

Scarborough: "Did you really?"

Crawford: "Yeah, they had pole dancing as exercise. That Teri, what's her name from Desperate Housewives is into that."

McCord: "It's become a big deal, actually."

Crawford: "And she did a whole exhibition of it - it was quite something."

Scarborough: "Housewives across America taking to the pole... for health and fitness. Hey, have you seen Fred Thompson's wife?"

Crawford: "Oh yeah..."

Scarborough: "You think she works the pole?"

Crawford: laughter "That what Hollywood careers will do for you, I guess."

Scarborough: "What do you mean?"

Crawford: "You get wives like that."

Scarborough: "I mean, look at that guy...god bless him, I love his voice and I mean, he ain't Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

Crawford: "I'd like to see him get back in politics because I think he's a lousy actor. I always thought he was a better politician than actor, but that was true of Reagan"