Sure, Mika Brzezinski is a big Fauxchohantas fan who'd love to see Senator 1/32nd take on Hillary Clinton. But regardless of her motivation, credit Mika for courageously critiquing Hillary.
In a segment on today's Morning Joe about Hillary's "dead broke" blunder, Brzezinski scolded Hillary defenders Jeremy Peters [NYT], the egregious Thomas Roberts, Eugene Robinson and Joe Scarborough. Mika accused them of being "afraid" of the Clintons, of tiptoeing around them, and of holding their fire in hopes of being granted an interview with Hillary. View the startling video after the jump.
Mark Halperin was the only panelist to back Brzezinski. The rest were a slush of sycophantic suck-ups. Kudos to Mika for speaking truth to the Clinton power.
Note: I normally find the NYT's Jeremy Peters surprisingly even-handed, which made his comments today that much more galling. He sought to distinguish Hillary's "dead broke" from Romney's offering a big bet. Why? Because "I don't think you'll hear those same types of arguments used against the Clintons." Talk about your self-fulfilling prophecy! The MSM accepts at face value the notion that when Dems claim to be for the middle-class or poor, they truly are. In fact, their policies have been a disaster for the very people they claim to want to help--witness the incredibly weak recovery, the record number of people out of work, the record number of people on food stamps, etc.
. . .
JEREMY PETERS: Are these comments a little tone deaf? Perhaps. But it's very hard to connect them politically to her policies. Obviously as you were alluding to, the Clintons are known for their economic populism. This is very different from, say, Mitt Romney asking to -- making a $10,000 bet during a debate, right? Because his business interests became a much bigger issue in the campaign because you could link them to policies that Democrats said hurt working class people. I don't think you'll hear those same types of arguments used against the Clintons.
. . .
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: It's not just a little tone deaf. I don't think it gets a pass. Everybody stop. Everybody stop giving passes hoping you're going get some sort of interview. Stop. All of you. It is not good. Okay? Seriously. These are
-- these people when you were watching them leave the White House, it was being reported over the video of the inauguration how much they would make during speeches. And for her to do a book and to have a section on this saying we were did dead broke, it was hard. Let me just tell you, that shows just how contrived the book is. Because that is a huge mistake. And you would think everything else is planned out so perfectly, it does enough to say nothing, but say something --
THOMAS ROBERTS: Isn't that a way to explain away the money they have been able to make because people want to chastise them for living the American dream, and going out there --
BRZEZINSKI: No!
MARK HALPERIN: If a Republican who was getting money from Goldman Sachs and with corporate ties was the Republican front-runner --
BRZEZINSKI: -- We would eviscerate that Republican --
HALPERIN: They would be eviscerated. To me what this is about, if she decides to run, she becomes President of the United States unless she stops herself. And the level of tone deafness of I think not just these comments, but some of the other things in the book, to me, it's a huge --
BRZEZINSKI: If I were a middle-class American having trouble paying my mortgage and wondering how my kid is going handle the student debt --
ROBERTS: She's not your candidate.
BRZEZINSKI: I would not be excited about this candidate.
ROBERTS: So the guy from Home Springs [sic], Arkansas, Bill Clinton, you wouldn't still find him relatable?
BRZEZINSKI: You guys get over it. By the way: Bill Clinton--he's not running.
ROBERTS: They're a couple. They have a relationship.
PETERS: She's certainly not the first wealthy American to run for president, too. Let's not forget that. It's not like the public doesn't have a history of electing people who are extremely wealthy.
BRZEZINSKI: Jeremy, we're not judging wealthy Americans, OK, but when Mitt Romney had an elevator inside his second house, we he went on for hours about it.
EUGENE ROBINSON: A car elevator.
BRZEZINSKI: A car elevator, you're right. And for Hillary Clinton to talk about being dead broke upon leaving eight years of the White House when it was all but obvious that they would be making hundreds of millions of dollars.
PETERS: But they were dead broke; they were $12 million in debt.
BRZEZINSKI: And it was hard. Should we move on?
JOE SCARBOROUGH: This dead horse has officially been beaten.
BRZEZINSKI: Why am I the only one who knows the truth here? You all are afraid.
SCARBOROUGH: I mean, Mika, you can put the stick away. You've been hitting this horse now for what, for 19 minutes?
BRZEZINSKI: Joe, if we're going to talk about Hillary Clinton, let's have an honest conversation.
SCARBOROUGH: I think we just did.
BRZEZINSKI: I think we, Halperin and I, just did. Everyone tiptoes around them.
