View video here.
The point of departure was Maddow's insistence against all evidence that Obama hasn't softened his out-of-Iraq-in-16-months position.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: The exact quote here, Rachel, and again, Rachel, you are obviously the only person here that did not hear this quote from the campaign manager, quote: "we will be --
Cut to Maddow, laughing heartily.
SCARBOROUGH: -- out of Iraq at 16 months, at the most." And then [Obama] went ahead and said yes, "because I'm the Commander-in-Chief, but I will still listen" --
Back to Maddow, literally doubling over in laughter.
SCARBOROUGH: -- "to the generals when it comes to tactics." It would strike me as funny, too, if I had no response to that.
And a bit later . . .
JOE SCARBOROUGH: The exact quote here, Rachel, and again, Rachel, you are obviously the only person here that did not hear this quote from the campaign manager, quote: "we will be --
Cut to Maddow, laughing heartily.
SCARBOROUGH: -- out of Iraq at 16 months, at the most." And then [Obama] went ahead and said yes, "because I'm the Commander-in-Chief, but I will still listen" --
Back to Maddow, literally doubling over in laughter.
SCARBOROUGH: -- "to the generals when it comes to tactics." It would strike me as funny, too, if I had no response to that.
And a bit later . . .
SCARBOROUGH: Alright, show of hands, show of hands, we have to go to break, but show of hands--we did this last night we're going to do it tonight--how many agree with Rachel that Barack Obama was not saying we're going to get out of Iraq in 16 months to Charlie Gibson? Raise your hand if you agree with Rachel.
No hands go up among Tony Blankley, Michelle Bernard and Noah Oppenheim.
SCARBOROUGH: OK!
MADDOW: The next time it's one against four, me with four conservatives, I won't expect to win the next vote either.
NOAH OPPENHEIM: I'm a centrist!
SCARBOROUGH: Well, I don't know if this has anything to do with conservatives or liberals—it has to do with the English language, and it's certainly --
Maddow again dissolves in gales of laughter.
SCARBOROUGH: -- clear enough to me—you can keep laughing all you want—but here's the exact quote again as we go to break: "we will be out of Iraq in 16 months at the most," that's his campaign manager. I would say most Americans of most ideological stripes would say that's exactly what he meant in that answer.
Yet more guffaws from Maddow.
MADDOW: You're so wrong, I can't even hold it together. You're so wrong.Note:
SCARBOROUGH: You might support Obama but you've got the Clinton cackle down, Rachel. I'm proud of ya.
Maddow complained about being outnumbered 4:1 by conservatives. But Oppenheim described himself as a centrist and Bernard rarely seems to say anything controversial. Compare and contrast with the liberal-heavy Wednesday line-up, also hosted by Joe: Michelle Cottle of the New Republic, Olbermann fave Richard Wolffe of Newsweek, WaPo columnist Eugene Robinson and John Harwood of CNBC/NYT. When Maddow herself guest-hosted on Monday, the line-up was Harwood, Robinson, Bernard and Jay Carney of Time. Where was Maddow's concern for a fair-and-balanced panel then?
