“Morning Joe”..A show I love to hate

 

I have put up with the blowhard self proclaimed libertarian/ republican Joe Scarborough because of the show's guests. In the past two years, he has turned his sidekick, Mika Brzezinski, into a Scarborough lite. She seems to parrot his beliefs now. They both admire another blowhard, New Jersey's governor Chris Christie because he is a frequent guest and his aggressive stance on spending cuts. Joe's style has rubbed off on Mike Barnicle and another member of the show, easygoing, Willie Geist. I understand that his conservative guest will not return, if they are treated with disrespect and not allowed to get their message out, but he needs to show the left the same respect.

I thought this morning's guest; Andrew Ross Sorkin (author of” Too Big to Fail”) was going to be given the opportunity to talk about needed tax reform. Joe Scarborough didn’t waste any time marginalizing Mr. Sorkin by ridiculing his apparel. The panel all laughed because Andrew Ross Sorkin was wearing an expensive Cashmere suit jacket. Joe Scarborough used his opening by saying that the democrats are never going to win on the tax cut for the top 2% issue. He said that raising taxes was a losing issue for the democrats. He brought up the Fritz Mondale’s quote of “Ronald Reagan won't tell you he will raise your taxes, but I will.” I'm paraphrasing but you get the picture. Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski disregarded the polls that stated most American’s believed the top 2% should not get a tax cut. Mr. Sorkin tried to make the point that in order to get our financial house in order, taxes will need to be raised but his message was drowned out.

To his credit, Joe Scarborough, will call out over –the- top comments made by members of the Republican Party, but he tries to qualify it as something both parties do. He refuses to believe that there is no moral equivalence because right wing crazy talk dominates an occasional immoderate quote from the left. He thinks liberal columnist Frank Rich of the New York Times rivals the controversial, race baiting, Rush Limbaugh. Joe Scarborough attended the recent “No labels” summit in New York thinking that his views are right down the middle, where American lies. Joe Scarborough fancies himself a foreign policy expert because supposedly he still has friends in the CIA. He knows things the little people don’t.

The show hasn't resorted to shouting matches yet, (except for a couple of occasions) they continued to have knowledgeable guest from both sides of the aisle, but, unless Joe Scarborough takes a new approach as a commentator to ask the tough questions and comment on the answers, he will always be second in the ratings to “Fox and Friends,” a show he should be dominating. It's all right to have a little silly but at that time of the morning, some people want to be informed.