MSNBC’s Morning Joe sidekick Mika Brzezinski is getting desperate for ObamaCare to succeed, to the point of threatening to jump off of, well, something. On Tuesday’s show, she exploded at the GOP for not falling in line behind the health care law. “[E]very step of the way – every step of the way – the Republicans have tried to undermine this from top to bottom and if anything they probably were part of the problem," she huffed.
Recurring Morning Joe contributor Jon Meacham agreed with Brzezinski’s sentiment. He vented his own exasperation in a forceful way: “That's absolutely true, which makes it even more important to make the damn thing work.” [Video below the break. MP3 audio here.]
Brzezinski expressed her desire to make the darn thing work as well: “That's right. Oh, good Lord do I want that to happen.” It was almost as if Brzezinski and Meacham were feeding off of each other’s desperation.
A few minutes later, Brzezinski upped the stakes of her despair. Referring to the administration’s fast-approaching deadline for fixing healthcare.gov, she proclaimed, “And they have said they have a deadline and it will work. And if it doesn’t, I’m going to throw myself off – I mean, it just has...”
Uh-oh. We’d better put Mika on suicide watch. She was so distressed, she couldn’t even finish those sentences. We don’t know what she plans to throw herself off of. Just know, Mika, that Morning Joe wouldn’t be the same without your left-wing advocacy.
Below is a transcript of the segments:
6:09
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Well, and I think there's still time. There definitely is still time to put this in the rearview mirror. It's ugly to watch it at this point. The White House, though, is pushing back against the negative health care stories by laying partial blame on local and state officials. On the White House blog, the administration points out that as many as 5.4 million Americans could gain access to Medicaid under ObamaCare but are being denied by elected state officials who refuse to expand the program. Researchers at the Urban Institute also estimate that as many as 144,000 veterans below the poverty line are among those being denied.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: I had two people raise their arms like this -- both of you guys –
BRZEZINSKI: But you know what, the Republicans are doing the same thing. I mean, you can watch every glitch there and go like that. [raises arm] And you know, the website didn't work. We got it.
SCARBOROUGH: You know what, local officials, though, did a horrible job during Katrina. But at the end of the day, George W. Bush still appropriately bore the responsibility for the failure.
BRZEZINSKI: Sure. I don't think anyone’s not taking responsibility.
SCARBOROUGH: Well, the White House is trying to not take responsibility here
BRZEZINSKI: No, they’re just pointing out that everyone’s making it difficult. It’s not just their own botched rollout, which they take responsibility for, but every step of the way – every step of the way – the Republicans have tried to undermine this from top to bottom and if anything they probably were part of the problem.
JON MEACHAM: That's absolutely true, which makes it even more important to make the damn thing work.
BRZEZINSKI: That's right. Oh, good Lord do I want that to happen.
***
6:16
BRZEZINSKI: Isn't there the concern that if you wait six months that the party that's been trying to undermine this every step of the way will dig their fingernails back in?
MEACHAM: I think that’s –
BRZEZINSKI: And they have said they have a deadline and it will work. And if it doesn’t, I’m going to throw myself off – I mean, it just has –
HAROLD FORD: They have two weeks.
BRZEZINSKI: Two weeks from now.
