Ever since the Ray Rice elevator video went public, Morning Joe has been in a state of sustained moral outrage over the NFL's mishandling of the issue of domestic violence. All well and good. But things turned testy this morning when a New York Times reporter turned the tables on Joe and Mika. When Mika Brzezinski suggested that sponsors should boycott the NFL, Alan Schwarz asked if Joe and Mika should march into the office of the NBC Chairman and demand that the network stop supporting the NFL by broadcasting its Sunday night games. Note that NBC is paying the NFL $800 million for rights to this season's Sunday night games, surely more than any single sponsor.
After first jokingly suggesting that the camera on Schwarz be turned off, Scarborough got seriously snippy. When Schwarz didn't hear Scarborough say "right" in agreement with something the reporter said, Scarborough sarcastically responded "I said right. It means I'm agreeing with you. You don't have to be so defensive. You can just relax." Scarborough continued taking shots at Schwarz after the reporter left the air.
I'd say Schwarz was making a fair point. He wasn't seriously calling for NBC to end its Sunday night NFL broadcasts. Schwarz was simply suggesting that there are few with completely clean hands here. From the TV outlets who have rebroadcast the elevator video thousands of times, to the advocacy groups that have gotten valuable exposure and fundraising opportunities, to the sports reporters given the chance to fulfill their dreams of opining on issues beyond the field, many have benefitted in a variety of ways from the scandal.
Note that Scarborough smeared Schwarz by misquoting him after he left the air. Scarborough twice suggested that Schwarz said "come on, man," as if the reporter were dismissing the seriousness of the domestic violence issue. Schwarz said no such thing.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: So I guess, Alan, what is the missing component here? You got team owners, they're responsible. You got the NFL, they're responsible. And then what about sponsors?
ALAN SCHWARZ: Well, I mean sponsors are going to make their decisions based on the same calculus that the NFL does.
BRZEZINSKI: Money.
SCHWARZ: Well, sure. But then again, the building we're sitting in right now, I mean should we all march up into [NBC Chairman] Ted Harbert's office and say we're not going to participate in any broadcasting associated with NBC because NBC broadcasts Sunday night football? I mean, you know, the transitive property of protest has its limits and I think we need to certainly expect the NFL to present better explanations for why it does things the way they do, but in terms of the sponsors and demanding something of the sponsors, if we do that we must demand the same from ourselves I think.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Ouch. TJ, could you have Ted Harbert turn off his camera? Come on. First of all, though --
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Happy to do that.
SCARBOROUGH: We can march out en masse.
BRZEZINSKI: I don't pay millions of dollars to promote the game. .
SCHWARZ: But then should NBC not benefit the NFL and should say we're not going to broadcast the game next Sunday.
BRZEZINSKI: Maybe. Maybe. But I'm asking you about sponsors.
. . .
SCHWARZ: I think that the sponsors act the same way that the NFL does. I'm not saying it's correct. But they believe that this will blow over just like Michael Vick's dogfighting ring, just like Ray Lewis when there were grave concerns about what happened that night.
SCARBOROUGH: Right.
SCHWARZ: Excuse me?
SCARBOROUGH: I said right. It means I'm agreeing with you. You don't have to be so defensive. You can just relax.
SCHWARZ: I didn't hear you.
SCARBOROUGH: I said right.
. . .
[After Schwarz leaves segment]
SCARBOROUGH: Mika you bring up a great point. You have a racist creep [Donald Sterling] making a cell phone call saying racist things.
BRZEZINSKI: Horrible things.
SCARBOROUGH: The entire world stops. Players turn their jerseys inside out. Sponsors say they are going to leave. The whole world just stops because of words that are said. Offensive words.
BRZEZINSKI: A woman getting assaulted.
SCARBOROUGH: And now, you compare that to women getting beaten up and knocked out inside of elevators. Pregnant women getting battered and abused. Women getting beaten up, thrown on a couch with guns, tossed into a shower, choked, threatened and everybody hey, hey, you know what? You know what, Alan goes 'Come on, man.' Alan with the New York Times, "Come on, man. Why don't you guys just stop showing it too." We could have just as easily said why doesn't The New York Times stop profiting off the NFL too. Maybe The New York Times -- Jeremy Peters of The New York Times, Jeremy, let me ask you, why does The New York Times hate America?
