Al Roker opened the door and it will never be shut. Roker shared in his book and on a television interview that he had pooped his pants while visiting the White House. This was a side effect of his gastric bypass surgery. On Morning Joe today Joe Scarborough was talking about the Miss America pagent and said that one of the contestants had used “butt glue”. He then said that perhaps Al Roker should buy some butt glue to prohibit future butt accidents. So is this just a cheap shot or is this to be expected?
Things got heated on the set of Morning Joe when Mika, the perennial woman on the set seemingly called her boss, Joe Scarborough a chauvinist. They were discussing the lack of diversity in President Obama’s cabinet, and the conversation took a turn, and Joe got agitated at the thought that his co-host had called him the dreaded c-word. The next segment was devoid of the show’s namesake and when we did see him again Mika was offering an apology for the comments that the show’s host perceived to be insulting. It is truly interesting that Joe can say anything and everything about anybody but, if you say something about him an apology is necessary for the show to go on. Joe might not be a chauvinist, but he is the boss and Mika needs to remember you don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
Morning Joe devoted a half an hour to discussion of the Trayvon Martin case. This story both grieves and outrages me. Joe Scarborough on Trayvon Martin:
If anybody watching this show — either live or on the Internet — doesn’t believe that if an African-American shot a 17-year-old white boy walking through a neighborhood carrying ice tea and Skittles…if they do not believe that an arraignment would be scheduled by the next morning for the African-American shooter and that the white boy’s family would be called immediately…that an office would actually drive to the white boy’s home and sit down with the parents on the couch and console them because they have lost a 17-year-old son. If you don’t believe that this case and the handling of this case by the people in Florida has nothing to do with race, you are living in a fantasy world.”
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Morning Joe facilitated a lively exchange this morning between Gov. Chris Christie and openly gay Washington Post editorial writer, Jonathan Capehart. Christie recently vetoed a gay marriage bill and said the gay marriage issue should be decided by the voters not the legislature. However, he did say he supports civil unions. Capehart challenged him and said that he views gay rights as civil rights. Even when Joe Scarborough brought up imagery of the deep south with the water hoses, Bull Connor, church bombings Capehart stood by his contention that gay rights was akin to civil rights. Christie said that he has the same position as President Obama, but he is criticized, but the president is celebrated. Capehart countered by saying the president’s position is “evolving”. Is this a word game or does Christie have a point? Read the link and watch the clip, and tell me what you think.
On Morning Joe today Mika Brzezinski dismissed the Rick Perry camp story. She did not feel it was worthy of discussion. Joe Scarborough felt that if a candidate had a camp named Niggerhead that the candidate should not be a candidate. He viewed it as news and as offensive. I have found reactions to this story to be very curious. People either think it is insulting, or they say the name indicates the rough terrain, or other people have said the word is commonly used so why in this context is it offensive. So this morning to see Brzezinski just dismiss it as nothing was a little unsettling to me. I am not one that looks under rocks for things to be offended about, but this name was written on a rock and I find it offensive.
Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzenzinki anchor the show Morning Joe. Joe tends to dominate the discussion and he has been known to cut his co-anchor off in mid sentence. I always thought if the show bears your name you are the star, and the star gets the shine. I never looked at it as an act of sexism but some are seeing it as such. Read the link and tell me what you think. http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/12/17/morning-joe-and-eliot-spitzer-know-how-to-keep-women-quiet/?a_dgi=aolshare_email
Last week Sarah Palin made some disparaging remarks about fellow Republicans. She diminished the legacy of Ronald Reagan by saying he made movies like “Bedtime with Bonzo”. Whereas, this was factually correct this was way before he truly carved out his professional political resume. She also refered to the first President Bush and his family as “bluebloods.” This reference was made after Barbara Bush advised the former governor to stay in Alaska. Most Republicans are afraid of Palin and fear that any criticsm of her will alienate her base, but finally someone had the nerve to stand up and called her out. MSNBC Joe Scarborough wrote an excellent piece for Politico this morning. Tell me what you think. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45687.html
I read a very interesting article today on the Politico website. It was written by Joe Scarborough, the host of MSNBC Morning Joe. I watch his show almost every morning. Sometimes I agree with him, but I often don’,t but I like the fact that he shows respect for people that oppose his views. Sometimes the discussions do get heated, but they rarely get vicious. This article points out in spite of our differences we all can still love our country. It’s an interesting perspective in light of last week’s midterm election: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/44503.html
It’s been almost 20 years since the Clarence Thomas hearings. Why didn’t Ginny Thomas just let sleeping dogs lie. I remember watching the hearings and I was convinced that Anita Hill was telling the truth, but I also remember being embarrassed as she shared the details of her story, and I thought why would she subject herself to this scrutiny if this were not the truth. People still feel very passionate about the hearings. On Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough said Thomas was unfairly victimized on “unfounded allegations” but whether you believe Hill or not one can not dismiss her testimony as unfounded. Some have said that Thomas was treated this way because he was a conservative, but I don’t buy that explanation. The reality is most sexual harassment is not done in the open where everyone can see it. It is generally done one on one and the two people involved are really the only two who actually know what transpired. So almost twenty years later and people are still bitterly divided, but why is this wound being re-opened and who made us revisit this incident? Ginny Thomas brought this issue back to the national conversation. She made a call on a Saturday at 7:30AM. So she really did not want to talk to Hill she wanted to leave a message, but what was her expectation? She had to know there would be no apology because Hill is comfortable with her own truth. Perhaps Thomas is trying to rewrite history and clear the stain from her husband’s legacy, but did she really believe Hill was ready to kiss and makeup? It was inappropriate for her to even approach Hill. What happened involved her husband and Hill and she should not have attempted to stir in it. She has made us start a new conversation about a painful period and just like 1991 some will believe him and some will believe her. We will never know what really happened and frankly we would have been happy not to have to discuss this incident again.
