Not sayin' Rahm wrote it, but . . .
In a strange departure from Morning Joe's typical spontaneity, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski issued what was clearly a scripted, teleprompted, manifesto this morning. The statement purported to be non-partisan condemnation of "angry voices" and a call, citing a WWII poster, to "keep calm and carry on." But even a cursory analysis reveals that the manifesto's message suits Dem themes to a 'T', and carries clear echoes of a recent partisan speech by Pres. Obama at a political event.
The manifesto amounted to a condemnation of the "angry voices" and the "political extremists" who, claimed Scarborough, "are dominating the airwaves and dominating the national debate." But at this juncture in American political history, the anger is understandably more present on the right. The Dems, after all, control both houses of Congress and the White House, and have used their power to promote a big-government agenda on everything from health care to trillion dollar spending schemes to higher taxes. You're darn right we're angry! In instructing us to calm down, Joe and Mika are really seeking to sap the vitality from the political movement that threatens to sweep Dems from office.
Scarborough approvingly cited recent comments by NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg that "anger is not a government strategy . . . It's not a way to govern." But Bloomberg was in turn echoing comments by PBO at a recent political fundraiser . . .
CNN reported PBO's words in an article entitled "Obama: GOP relying on fear, frustration instead of offering new ideas," and quoted him as saying:
"In a political campaign, the easiest thing the other side can do is ride that anger all the way to Election Day . . . people are hurting and they are understandably frustrated. A lot of them are scared and a lot of them are angry. That dynamic makes it easier to run on a slogan of "cast the bums out . . . but it's not a vision for the future."
Let's recapitulate: Obama says anger bad, not a vision for the future. Scarborough says anger bad, not a way to govern.
I'm sure the folks at the White House and the DNC will be delighted by Morning Joe's manifesto. They couldn't have said it better themselves.
