On the Sunday edition of MSNBC’s AM Joy, apologists for California Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters and incivility were out in full force. The Root’s Jason Johnson and The Beat DC’s Tiffany Cross both lent support to calls to harass Trump officials.
Waters has been condemned by both fellow California Democrat Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for her now infamous remarks in which she said: “If you see anybody from that cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd. And you push back on them. And you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere.”
Such language did not perturb Cross, who said that what was most “disturbing about this entire thing is it took Democrats 2.5 seconds to go from the #trustblackwomen to shushing Maxine Waters, which was very disappointing.” The fact that Democratic leadership took steps to rein in incivility was apparently a mistake.
Cross continued: “I just shuddered because I thought, you clearly did not consult any senior black woman on your staff about this statement.” Schumer and Pelosi were rattled by the danger posed by such rhetoric, not only for the country but also Democratic chances at the polls. However, Cross was convinced that had their staff been more diverse they would be backing Waters.
Cross felt the media were not filling their role and have been “all too happy to fall into this trap of making this false equivalency, where was this outrage when you had Joe Wilson shouting 'you lie' at President Barack Obama? It’s kind of ridiculous.” Speaking of false equivalency, Joe Wilson received quite a backlash for his actions in 2009. He was formally rebuked by the House, apologized for the outburst, and was even accused of racism for his actions by none other than Jimmy Carter.
And while Wilson was actually admonished, Cross argued that the gloves have to come off and that “the Democrats have to be comfortable in making people uncomfortable.” To her, that even means “shouting them down when they're clearly wrong in championing this kind of rhetoric and racism and system of supremacy.” Maxine Waters would be proud.
Johnson, for his part, found no merit in any arguments about civility.
He asked dismissively, “This whole civility debate is ridiculous to me, Joy. I mean, it's like Drake said, nice for what? Why do Democrats have to be nice to Republicans?” Everything, apparently, is on the table because “Republicans have said women who want abortions should be punished and African-Americans need to be beaten up and what the cops do is always fine and families can be separated.” And while Johnson teetered on the verge of outright fearmongering, no one called him on his outrageous attack on Republican positions.
On MSNBC, any attack on Republicans is justified, no matter the dire consequences it will have for civil society and discourse.
The full transcript is below, simply click expand:
AM Joy
7/2/18
11:07:53- 11:10:26 [2mins 33secs]
TIFFANY CROSS: But I have to tell you, Joy, for me, what was most disturbing about this entire thing is it took Democrats 2.5 seconds to go from the hashtag “trust black women” to shushing Maxine Waters. Which was very disappointing. When Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer came out with their statements, I just shuddered because I thought, you clearly did not consult any senior black woman on your staff about this statement and how disappointing is that. Also, I think when you look at the rhetoric coming from the Right and to your point about how the media is all too happy to fall into this trap of making this false equivalency, where was this outrage when you had Joe Wilson shouting “you lie” at President Barack Obama. It’s kind of ridiculous. And, I think when you look at some of the reaction from the Democrats and it's just, you know, kind of weak, and I think the Democrats have to be comfortable in making people uncomfortable...All the American people have is their voice and their vote. They need to be using both all the time. The reason why they're falling for the false equivalencies is they don't want these people out at voting booths, they don’t want people using their voice, they don’t want another alternative to their alternative fact, shouting them down when they're clearly wrong in championing this kind of rhetoric and racism and system of supremacy.
JASON JOHNSON: Right. And here's the problem. This whole civility debate is ridiculous to me, Joy. I mean, it's like Drake said, nice for what? Why do Democrats have to be nice to Republicans? Republicans have said women who want abortions should be punished and African-Americans need to be beaten up and what the cops do is always fine and families can be separated. This is an attempt to tone police people who are being attacked and oppressed.
