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I don't always agree with Christopher Hitchens on a number of issues, but he's right about Palin and didn't pull any punches on Morning Joe. From The HuffPo--Christopher Hitchens Slams Palin: 'A Disgraceful Opportunist And Real Moral Coward':

Christopher Hitchens followed up his long Slate column detailing the dangers of Sarah Palin's brand of populism with more harsh criticism on MSNBC's Morning Joe today.

[...]

Hitchens: Don't be too hard on her. She didn't write that piece and she probably hasn't read it. I doubt she could either read or write it. Everything she does is for effect, she's, and is always deniable. She could switch back in a minute. At the moment she thinks her tea party crowd wants to hear this kind of thing so she'll say that. She's been out to say, 'well, I don't know but I think the President ought to produce his birth certificate. I'm not saying it isn't a good question. Then later, cause she's got to go to the Gridiron dinner in Washington, and learn how to use a knife and fork and be taught by Fred Malek. She takes it back. She's a disgraceful opportunist and a real moral coward.

Ouch.

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Harry Reid appears not to be backing down in the face of fake Republican outrage over his comparison of conservatives' behavior 150 years ago to that of today. Good on him.

This, of course, has RNC chairman Michael Steele, who denounced the remarks initially, in quite a tizzy now. He went on Morning Joe this morning and slagged Reid viciously:

Steele: I still say Harry Reid is out of touch, he's clueless. And he can't help himself. I don't think he should be in the leadership, responsible role right now. I don't think if you're going into something as important as the debate on health care, that you have to reach back into one of the darkest parts of our nation's history and to belittle that time and that experience for generations of African Americans, uh, to put it in comparison to a political dispute on health care. To me, it's just plain ignorant.

But then Donny Deutsch chimed in and pointed out that, historically speaking, there's nothing at all inapt about the analogy:

Deutsch: Yeah, I'm still trying to understand why the analogies he's made are wrong. Obviously the issue here is that any great change throughout history, has the naysayers saying, 'It's not time, it's not time.' So why was that an irrelevant analogy?

Steele: I won't even dignify that with a response. This is -- next question. Next question.

Deutsch: What do you mean dignify? It's a genuine question. It's a genuine question.

Steele: I'm sorry, sir, I'm not going to sit here and say that it's an appropriate comparison to slavery.

Deutsch: He's not -- he's comparing it to dramatic change, and the naysayers to change.

Steele: OK, whatever. Whatever. Next question.

Deutsch: That's a great response. That's a very, very intelligent and brave response.

Steele: It is, as was your question.

As if this weren't enough buffoonery, Steele then had an exchange with Mike Barnicle in which Steele became upset when Barnicle asked him: "What are you people for?"

Steele: You people? Who are you people?

Barnicle: The Republicans, what are you for?

Steele: Mike, I just wanted to you define the pronoun, baby, that’s all.

Barnicle: Oh, come on.

As if Barnicle could have been asking anything else. Because Michael Steele is all about racial sensitivity, you see.

Isn't this the very kind of self-martyrdom that right-wingers always accuse liberal minorities of indulging?

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Andrea Mitchell, Pat Buchanan, the Morning Joe crew and Bloomberg's Al Hunt were fawning over Sarah Palin's visit to the Gridiron Club over the weekend. It's interesting that she went to talk to the group of people she says she despises the most. An outside observer would say that Sarah is trying to butter them up so they will report her in a much more sympathetic way. And looking at Al Hunt's literally foaming at the mouth over her indicates that her ploy is working out perfectly.

Mika: He escorted Sarah Palin to Saturday Night's Gridiron dinner.

Joe: How exciting.

Mika: That's a black tie event for the media and she was pretty good I hear.

Hunt: I did, ahhh she went into the lions den and I gotta tell you something, the lions were absolute pussy cats.

Group laughing and howling: Ahhhh, hahahaha

Hunt: They wanted to have their picture taken with her. They wanted to have her autograph and it was just say I thought we, being the Grid Iron Club did as well as ever. Our two speakers were Sarah Palin representing the republicans and barney Frank representing the Democrats. Can you think of a better pair than that? They both were quite good.

I'm sure they were, Al. Did you get a snapshot with her? She should have charged 20 bucks for a Polaroid and would have made a killing from these journos. The media were just such pussycats to Palin even though she's making her living off of blaming them for every mistake she's made or problem she's created for herself. She's a lion I tell you. And you wonder why America is so ill-informed...

Here's some coverage from US News:

"Who would have guessed I'd be palling around with this group?" she asked, and surely there are Sarah fans wondering why she was there going vogue, instead of rogue. Well, a gal's gotta make her millions, and the media helps sell books. Besides, being anti-everything can wear a person down. "The view is so much better from inside the bus than under it," she noted.

The only mousse was for dessert (rim shot, maestro please), but Palin did some field-dressing of her egotistical audience. It was fun to be among the capital's "leading journalists and intellectuals," she said. "Or as I like to call it, a death panel."

She noted that the journalists may have missed out on the policy prescriptions in her memoir, Going Rogue, when focusing instead, as they are apt to do, on how many times she mentioned their names. What a group of heavy thinkers, Palin said: "You read a book in its entirety—from the first page of the index to the last."

She'll keep reaching her hand out to the media; they will take it and then she'll bite it firmly and painfully. And then they will stick out their other hand and ask for more...

Palin's book tour had the media also fawning over her, which has helped her with a small bump upward in a CNN poll. Now only 46% of people have an unfavorable opinion of her while 46% approve her.

That's a small jump after the media gave her the Anna Nicole Smith coverage. She's had the best coverage she will ever get. And what's up with the hat?

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This is an instant classic. Scarborough asks Howard Dean what he thinks of David Broder's attack on Harry Reid.

See, Broder wrote a column that was, of course, harshly critical of the healthcare bills. (Wars? Go faster! Health care! Wait a minute there, young 'uns!)

Harry Reid (D-Nev.) replied that the Senate shouldn't "focus on a man who has been retired for many years and writes a column once in a while."

Dean launched into a spirited defense of Reid and dismissed Broder, calling him "sanctimonious." He compared the classic "inside the Beltway columnist" to a gossip columnist.

PBS's Martin Savidge, clearly a Very Serious Person, was so upset, he was practically sputtering, and retorted that Broder "a very serious writer." Dean said the Beltway was incestuous and talking to the same so-called "experts" all the time was like writing a gossip column.

Savidge responded indignantly, "We call it good journalism." Yep, just like it was good journalism when Broder was riding Obama for not taking a running leap into the Afghan war.

Classic Villager think. Take a look, it's a textbook example.

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From Morning Joe, Nov. 24, 2009, Joe Scarborough and Mark Halperin think Obama's poll numbers have dropped because he's too polarizing. Of course by "polarizing" they mean pretending that he's governed from the left, which he hasn't. They go on to compare him to Palin and say he's only playing to his base like she is. What's up is down and down is up...and round and round we go with these two. Obama's numbers are down because he's ignoring his base and not following through on his campaign promises, not because he’s run too far to the left.

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h/t Bob Cesca:

Joe Scarborough thinks the $3 trillion Iraq war that was accompanied by tax cuts didn't balloon the deficit more than the current healthcare bill. You know, the healthcare bill that's entirely paid for -- and will actually reduce the deficit.

Guest Joe Conason made the mistake of pointing this out, stirring Scarborough into one of his little freakouts. Of course he denied supporting the combination of wars and tax cuts, which, if you watched any cable news during that time, is total horseshit.

Nothing like pointing out a few facts to make Scarborough's head explode. I don't know how Conason manages to suffer through being a guest on that show.

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Man did Joe Scarborough drink himself a heavy dose of Cheney Kool-Aid before this Monday's show. After hearing Liz toss out the idea of her daddy running in 2012 on Fox News Sunday the day before, Scarborough argues that Cheney running would be a wonderful idea and that no one could take him on in a debate. Jonathan Alter points out that the Bush administration was not exactly popular with the American public but that doesn't seem to phase Scarborough one bit. He wants Cheney out there fear mongering for the GOP and says at much at the end of the clip.

Rough transcript:

Scarborough: By the way I'm glad she did that because I have been pressing, by the way the buttons for like a couple of months-Cheney 2012.

Brzezinski: (laughter)

Scarborough: What's so funny?

Brzezinski: Ah...just the thought...makes me a little tired. That's all I'm going to say.

Scarborough: Tired in a way like you're going to be so excited and you can almost sense the confetti falling in your hair? I know you're excited about it too.

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Oh isn't this lovely? More Villager group think from the cast of Morning Joe. After Scarborough doing his some water-carrying for Dick Cheney and ranting about Obama delaying his decision on troop levels in Afghanistan, Scarborough and Mark Halperin both agree on one thing. Obama just needs to kiss more Republican ass to be taken seriously—because we know in the world of the Scarborough’s and Halperin’s out there, only Republicans have any credibility on national security.

Halperin: Imagine two scenarios—he announces it standing there by himself, or with Democrats (gasp!) when he makes this decision, or imagine him standing there with John McCain, or other prominent Republicans on national security. It paints such a different picture if he’s with the Republicans.

Yeah, that’s just what he need Halperin. Obama and Mr. Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran standing hand in hand announcing his Afghanistan policy. News flash to Halperin—McCain lost the election. And Obama needs to be listening to his base, not McCain.

And they wonder why we don't take them seriously as journalists.

Damn! Joe Scarborough blocked me on Twitter! I guess he gets tired of people pointing out his mistakes and outright fabrications. Feel free to tweet with me and add C&L too!

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Clair McCaskill appeared on Morning Joe today to talk about the health care bill that just passed the House and what's next for the Senate. When asked to respond to Rachel Maddow’s comments on Meet the Press that the Stupak amendment is a poison pill that will lose a lot of support for Democrats by women if the amendment is not taken out in conference, Clair McCaskill said this.

McCaskill: Well, I am not sure that it is. Obviously, I have been a pro-choice candidate my entire political career, and obviously there is controversy always surrounding this issue. but we are talking about whether or not people that get public money can buy an insurance policy that has any coverage for abortion. And that is not the majority of America. The majority of America is not going to be getting subsidies from the government. The vast majority of America are going to continue to get their insurance at the workplace just like they do now.

And so, I am not sure that this is going to be enough to kill the bill, and frankly, once again, this is an example of having to govern with moderates. We can't just turn our back on the fact that the reason we are in majority, is because states like Indiana, and Arkansas, and Louisiana, and Missouri, and North Carolina, and Virginia sent Democrats to the Senate.

Since when does “moderate” have to mean anti-choice? Here’s McCaskill’s contact information if you’re as unhappy about this as I am.

Apparently some House progressives aren't going to stand for this as well as Sam Stein reports at the Huffington Post:

If, indeed, the Stupak language makes it into the Senate bill, it would be a major blow to pro-choice advocates. It would also seemingly ensure that the restrictions on abortion access would survive conference committee with the House and end up in the final piece of legislation. If that is the case it sets up a major showdown, once again, in the people's chamber. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), for one, has insisted she and 40 additional colleagues will oppose any final bill that includes the Stupak amendment.

"There's going to be a firestorm here," DeGette told The Washington Post. "Women are going to realize that a Democratic-controlled House has passed legislation that would prohibit women paying for abortions with their own funds. . . . We're not going to let this into law."

Update: Well what do you know. Looks like Sen. McCaskill may be having a change of heart from this morning.

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Looks like someone's trying to out teabag "going rogue" Sarah. Tim Pawlenty's obviously planning on running in 2012 and has decided his best course of action is to throw in with the conservative wing of the party. From The Hill--Pawlenty takes on Snowe:

Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) warned Olympia Snowe today that she's risking her position in the GOP by considering a vote for healthcare reform.

"She's somebody who has gotten into the middle of the healthcare debate in a way that makes Republicans mad," Pawlenty said on Morning Joe. "They make accept that, but they're not going to accept her deviating on many other things."

Asked whether he was glad Snowe was a Republican, Pawlenty hedged.

"There is a process in her state that is broad based that endorses her, and the Republicans in that state say 'we want her to be our candidate,'" Pawlenty said.

Pressed on the issue, Pawlenty made clear he wouldn't offer a definitive answer.

PAWLENTY: "I think Olympia Snowe is somebody who is more liberal than most Republicans would like but she is better than having a Democrat represent me."

SCARBOROUGH: "Is that a yes? I think that's a yes."

PAWLENTY: Well look, the people of Maine have an open process, they selected her. It's different [than Scozzafava]."

Olympia Snowe responded to Pawlenty's criticism...via The Politico:

"I've been a lifelong Republican -- I haven't changed, I don't know what the problem is -- I really don't," said Snowe, speaking to POLITICO at the Capitol. "I know Gov. Pawlenty to be a thoughtful person and i know if he could have rephrased it or re characterized it he would."

But Snowe, who is pro-abortion rights, took serious issue with Pawlenty's underlying argument that some members of the GOP's fast shrinking left flank, including one-time NY-23 candidate Dede Scozzafava, are so far out of the party's anti-abortion, anti-gay rights mainstream they are a "joke."

"All I know is that I've been a life-long Republican, I [spent] 16 years toiling in the minority in the House of Representatives and [was part of] the effort to get us the majority in 1994 -- now were in the minority and I'm still here," she added, with a laugh.

"So, i don't know -- I think they could probably borrow more from me in that sense, in terms of being in touch with your constituents..."

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Morgan Weiland at Media Matters summed up this segment nicely--Memo to the media: This has been a great week for health reform:

Discussing health care reform today on Morning Joe, co-host Joe Scarborough and NBC White House correspondent Chuck Todd agreed that "[t]his week has been a mess for the Democrats." Todd added that "it does seem like they decided to take two steps back after they took one step forward because now they got a trillion dollar bill in the House, which is about $150 billion more than they said, than the President said that he wanted, and now they've got to have this back and forth and figure out how to get six to 10 moderate Democrats and Olympia Snowe on board."

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree that the past week was "a mess for the Democrats." Speaker Pelosi reported out a full House bill, the American Affordable Health Choices Act (H.R. 3962), that achieves a number of key fiscal goals that only this summer many in the media were insisting were out of reach. The Congressional Budget Office found that the bill reduces the deficit by $104 billion over the next decade, and continues to chip away at it in the subsequent decade. Plus it comes in under the magic $900 billion number for the net cost of coverage expansion over 10 years -- a cost that is, in CBO's words, "more than offset." And these achievements are doubly important because they satisfy President Obama's must-have requirement that reform "[w]on't add a dime to the deficit."

If anything, all of this adds up to a big step forward -- arguably a bigger one than has ever taken to achieve comprehensive health care reform in this country.

Not in the Villagers on Morning Joe's world though. In their view it's just terrible that the Democrats are breaking with the White House and their obsession with bipartisanship and catering to Olympia Snowe and her love of the trigger. They're more worried about advancing the meme that the Democrats are in disarray and everything is smelling like roses for the Republicans.

Of course we’re not going to get any sort of substantive debate about what’s actually in these bills and what those changes might mean to the American public. No, we get horse race coverage and meaningless talking points churned out as Chuck Todd whines about being criticized for the way they're covering the issue.

They also never talk about what it would mean if Harry Reid forces an actual filibuster--if he would make any of these Senators who are opposed to the bill have to stand up and debate until they dropped. Later in the segment Sheldon Whitehouse was asked if this could still be dragging along as it got close to the holiday break and would Harry Reid consider keeping all of them there instead of going home. He said this could very well go into the holidays or even the beginning of next year.

I wonder how that would play out? Tell them if they want to filibuster the bill, they're welcome to do it all week Christmas week, and let's carry it into New Years week for good measure. If Reid would grow a spine and actually do that I think I'd consider it a holiday gift, not that it's going to happen. It seems Reid and the media are more than content to pretend that Reid's silent filibuster is the norm. What does anyone think would have happened to the Civil Rights Act of 1957 if we'd had a Harry Reid around back then to deal with the likes of Strom Thurmond?

I'll gladly reserve judgement as I would expect everyone will as well on whether we should be clamoring for that or not after we see what makes it to the floor for a final vote. If they go back to either opt-in or Snowe's trigger I don't see how that's a step towards reforming the current system. The other compromises are bad enough already away from single-payer, which is what we should have.

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Morning Joe Oct. 22, 2009- Joe Scarborough and Lawrence O'Donnell get into it over Cheney's remarks that President Obama is "dithering" in Afghanistan and on the WMD argument for invading Iraq.

Joe Scarborough defends Cheney's remarks and is still carrying water for the Bush administration on the WMD lies. Lawrence O'Donnell calls him out for it and Scarborough resorts to personal attacks and calls O'Donnell "crazy" and says that he has "a back pile of appliances" that he's "trying to sell in the five boroughs". It got pretty heated before the segment finally ended with Scarborough getting one last dig in on O'Donnell at the very end telling him to "go sell" his "appliances".

Scarborough was out in California where it was about 4:30 in the morning. Anyone else think he stayed up too late the night before this airing?

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Michael Moore had a few things to say about the Dow rallying past 10,000 today on the set of Morning Joe. First on how well the markets are doing.

Moore: Oh! It’s so incredible. Yes. Fifteen million people out of work.

Scarborough: Isn’t this a perfect example for you? Isn’t this a great example of what you’re trying to say? How there’s a disconnect between what’s going on on Wall Street, 10,000, and Main Street, 10% unemployment?

Moore: Oh, it’s not a disconnect. It’s connected very well. It’s connected just the way our economic system is set up. It’s set up so that the pyramid scheme that we call capitalism—it’s become a pyramid scheme now—the very few at the top get away like bandits making billions and billions of dollars. And everybody else in the lower parts of the pyramid are told to work really hard and maybe some day they can come up and be on top of the pyramid too. Well guess what? There’s only a few people that can sit on top of the pyramid and it’s just so revolting and so immoral when we live in a country—the wealthiest country on earth—fifteen million people unemployed. One in every eight homes right now is in foreclosure or delinquency. And they’re celebrating on Wall Street? And they’re paying each other bonuses?

Surprisingly Moore gets some agreement from Joe and Mike on the disparity of wealth in the United States. Maria Bartiromo however disagrees with Moore’s view of the news on Wall Street. Shocker right? The Wall Street flack tries to come to their defense.

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(h/t Think Progress for the video)

Tuesday morning on Morning Joe, CNBC host Donny Deutsch had a few choice words to describe Rush Limbaugh, including "megalomaniac" and a "scary, distasteful human being." He didn't stop there, though. He had another word in mind and let's just say, it wasn't pretty:

Then, a few minutes later, Scarborough and Deutsch discussed Limbaugh's potential part-ownership an NFL team and the comments that led to his departure from ESPN. During the conversation, the audio cut out while Deutsch was talking and Scarborough said, semi-laughing, "...bleeped that out again. Why did you have to do that? Why?" Donny later explained, "I called Rush Limbaugh a feminine hygiene product that starts with a D and sounds like my last name. It was bleeped you can't say that on TV." At the end of the program Mika Brzezinski claimed, "I learned that you can't do a show with Donny without him saying something perverted." Read on...

John Amato has forbidden me from using the "D word" to describe the likes of Limbaugh and Beck for years -- all for the better, no doubt. Should Deutsch have used the word on air? Probably not. Was he right? We report, you decide...