Has the liberal media ever met a Democrat it couldn't characterize as a centrist? Take Barack Obama. He had the most liberal voting record in the Senate. But that didn't stop Politico, for example, from in 2008 publishing "Obama’s steady centrism."
That same kind of false advertising was on display on today's Morning Joe regarding Pete Buttigieg. The panel was gaga over Buttigieg's town hall performance of last night on Fox News, leading Joe Scarborough to declare:
"This guy is going to play an important role in the mainstreaming of the Democratic Party for many years to come. And believe you me, that is exactly what he does, regardless of ideology, Mayor Pete mainstreams [the] Democratic Party."
Wait a second: mainstream "regardless of ideology?" Yup—that is exactly what Morning Joe did: it totally disregarded Buttigieg's policy positions. Not one of his agenda items was mentioned. Because to consider them would be to admit that the only "mainstream" Buttigieg's in is that of the left-wing of the Democratic party. Among Mayor Pete's positions:
- Abolish the Electoral College
- Pack the Supreme Court with liberals
- No government limitations on abortion at any time
- Citizenship for illegal immigrants
- Support for Ocasio-Cortez's lunatic Green New Deal
Note: Scarborough also hilariously tried to associate himself with Buttigieg's comment that he doesn't care about Trump's tweets. Joe said that people ask how he and Mika "do it" regarding Trump's "bleeding badly from a facelift, Psycho Joe" tweets. Claimed Scarborough: "we don't care." Sure. Right. That's why you just mentioned it again. And it's fair to surmise that those tweets were important factors in converting Morning Joe into a non-stop stream of Trump-hate. Joe even contradicted himself, admitting that in contrast with Buttigieg, he and Mika do get angry at Trump "from time to time." Correct -- if 24/7 qualifies as a "time."
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
5/20/19
6:01 am EDTPETE BUTTIGIEG: If it’s hard to figure out what’s going on right now, it’s because we are living on one of those bland pages in between chapters in American history. And what comes next could be ugly, or could be amazing. And I believe running for office is an act of hope and so is voting and volunteering for somebody. I hope you’ll join me in making sure that that next era is better than any we’ve had so far.
[ Cheers and applause ]CHRIS WALLACE: Thank you, Mayor. And thank you — wow, a standing ovation!
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: There you go. That is Mayor Pete getting a standing ovation on Fox News, a forum Elizabeth Warren wants nothing to do with.
. . .
JOE SCARBOROUGH: I’ve seen the future of the Democratic Party, and it’s Mayor Pete. It may not be in 2020, perhaps it’s in 2024 or beyond, but this guy is going to play an important role in the mainstreaming, the mainstreaming of the Democratic Party for many years to come. And believe you me, that is exactly what he does, regardless of ideology, Mayor Pete mainstreams a Democratic Party.
. . .
WALLACE: How would you handle the tweets and the insults and all that.BUTTIGIEG: The tweets are, I don’t care! We need to make sure that we're changing the channel from this show that he’s created. Because what matters, and I get it: it’s mesmerizing, it's hard for anyone to look away. Me too. It is the nature of grotesque things that you can’t look away.
. . .
SCARBOROUGH: You know, Mika, that reminds me of when Donald Trump wrote about "bleeding badly from a facelift" or calls me Psycho Joe. And people say: how do you do it, Joe? And we're like: well, because, we don’t care. And that's thing. You have to have that sort of mindset. You've got to see it as sort of a carnival, sort of a side show. And Mayor Pete does. A lot of other candidates: I'm so upset and enraged. And he doesn't even go there. And Mike Barnicle, in those two answers he responded in the most powerful way any candidate can respond to Donald Trump, not by fear, not by comparing him to Hitler, not by being angry, which we do from time to time, but by laughing at him . . . Hey David [Ignatius], you seen a few presidential candidates. I wonder whether we're, Mika and I, are being a bit excessive in our praise of Mayor Pete, but I’ve seen a lot of candidates, I think this guy, I almost called him kid, because he’s like 20 years younger than me. I think this [puts on older, tough-guy voice] — I think this kid is special! I do think there’s something about this guy that separates him from the thousands of politicians that you and I have seen over the past few decades.
