Shorter Joe Scarborough from this Wednesday's Morning Joe: the beatings will continue until morale improves, or how dare you point out facts about how Republicans treat unions because you're going to hurt their tender feelings, and then they'll have
September 6, 2012

Shorter Joe Scarborough from this Wednesday's Morning Joe: the beatings will continue until morale improves, or how dare you point out facts about how Republicans treat unions because you're going to hurt their tender feelings, and then they'll have to hurt you some more.

Scarborough really is just a snide, mean S.O.B. because there's no way in hell he's stupid enough not to realize that what he's asking here is, as Harry Reid might put it, a clown question bro. To their credit the Teamsters' James Hoffa and the AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka were way too polite to Scarborough or for that matter, any of the rest of them on the panel that morning, in response to their ridiculous questions. After poking both of them about the Democrats' extremely stupid decision to hold their convention in an anti-union state, which it's too late to change now, here's how Scarborough started things out:

SCARBOROUGH: What can unions do? What can Republicans do to start moving towards the time where the support is a bit more diversified? [...]

HOFFA: Well the problem in the Republican party, they veered to the right. I mean did you see their platform? National right to work. This was the most shrill convention last week against unions, you know, pounding their chest on how they beat up workers, you know, how they did this and how they took away collective bargaining rights. They thought that was a positive.

It was so negative that it... all it does is turn people off. This party is not reaching out. They can't reach out, especially when they're talking about national right to work, getting rid of project labor agreements. They're just going far and far to the right. They're like the John Birch Society, like in 1964. They're just going off the edge. And you know...

SCARBOROUGH: I will tell you what. I asked you how the two sides can come together. Boy, that kind of talk really helps a lot. I feel like embracing you right now.

HOFFA: You've gotta' reach out babe and nobody's reaching out. There's nobody there and that's the problem and if you hear what they're talking about in their themes, it's just unbelievably, right-wing, anti-labor.

Which put an end to Scarborough's feigned indignation, but led to such inane questions as Tom Brokaw asking them why any of the white guys in their unions vote for Republicans; Mike Barnicle asking why Republican politicians beating up on unions makes them popular. Followed by Al Hunt asking them why they're not supportive of Romney because he claims he'll be tougher on trade with China.

If any of these men were actually reporters and not overpaid pundits, they would not need to be asking the union leaders these questions. If they want to know how Republicans can get away with pulling the wool over workers' eyes to get them to vote against their own economic interests, all they've got to do is go take a look in the mirror. The media has been happy to help Republicans trash and demonize unions for a long, long time now, and they're going to sit there and pretend they're not fully aware of what attitudes and what policies have led to their decline.

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