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The Spectacle Blog
You have to wonder.
What in the world has turned smiling Morning Joe Scarborough into Snarling Joe?
What is it with so-called conservatives who profess to be big on civility… then launch an absolutely over-the-top, snarling and not least of all decidedly anti-Reagan attack on a conservative political figure of the day? Did I mention silly as well?
Case in current point: MSNBC’s host of Morning Joe fame.
It seems Joe is not a Sarah Palin fan.
OK. Fine. There are all manner of potential GOP presidential types out there, all with records and distinct personalities. We are, post-2010, already entering the run-up to the 2012 GOP nomination struggle. To be a fan of one or not a fan of another is par for the course. If in fact Governor Palin runs for president she is willingly putting herself out there with all the rest to suffer the inevitable slings and arrows.
What amazes are the high-intensity, snarly attacks that come her way, like this most recent one from Scarborough. Made with not the slightest sense of irony from somebody taking a prominent role in a campaign called No Labels — which is designed to promote…wait for it…civility.
Ahhhh civility. Scarborough-style. In which the ex-Florida Republican Congressman and professed centrist attacks Palin’s personal life, mothering skills, professional abilities, and politics. All the while making up out of whole cloth a presumed personal attack by Palin on — are you ready? — Ronald Reagan and the Bushes.
Having seen these Palin statements, one has to wonder: what’s in Morning Joe’s Morning Joe that produces such an incredibly nutty analysis?
Sarah Palin mocks Ronald Reagan? Hello? Earth to Joe.
Palin most assuredly did not use her recent appearance on Sean Hannity’s show to, as Scarborough foamingly insists, dismiss Reagan as “an actor.” Clearly, as any sentient person watching could see, Palin was relating the modern, 21st-century TV reality show in which she stars (to huge ratings) to Reagan’s acting experience. Palin, like Reagan, is proud of her show — as Reagan was with his work both in film and television. Scarborough can’t seem to hide his contempt for Palin’s show (or is it her success?) and tries to twist her remark into, incredibly, an attack of some sort on Reagan.
Not to put too fine a point on this, but aside from the snarling nature of this decidedly uncivil attack the point Scarborough is stretching for — that Palin is just like some left-wing Reagan critic — is nuts.
Then he goes after her for her response to a tart-tongued take-down from the 85-year-old and life-time tart-tongued Barbara Bush. The former First Lady, well liked still, told Larry King on CNN that she wished Palin would stay in Alaska. Mrs. Bush is beloved by millions today for a lifetime of such remarks — as when she also tartly once said of her husband’s 1984 vice-presidential opponent, Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro, that Ferraro reminded her of a word “that rhymed with rich.”
Palin, like Ferraro, quickly fired back at Mrs. Bush, although certainly respectfully. She did indeed refer to the Bushes as “bluebloods” — saying as well that she loved them but pointedly making the observation as to where Mrs. Bush’s criticism appeared to be coming from perspective-wise. This observation sent Scarborough off into a tizzy defending George H.W. Bush’s war record, a legendary record of heroism that no one, particularly Palin, has ever attacked.
But Scarborough’s response is telling. He is apparently clueless that in terms of the famed 1980 Reagan-Bush showdown, a fight which in many respects is still taking place today, he has signed up with the anti-Reaganites.
The criticism of then Ambassador George H.W. Bush in the 1980 primary season in which he took on Ronald Reagan was precisely the attack Palin surfaced with Mrs. Bush the other day. To wit: Ambassador Bush was not a Reagan-style conservative but rather an old-fashioned Establishment or Country Club Republican. Ronald Reagan himself repeatedly made the point. “A political party is not a fraternal order,” Reagan said. It isn’t about who was born where or when or to whom. It wasn’t about country clubs or Establishments. A political party “is something where people are bound together by a shared philosophy.”
Bush, who famously called Reaganomics “voodoo economics,” later proved the salience of Reagan’s point when he broke his own pledge not to raise taxes and nominated the decidedly non-conservative David Souter to the Supreme Court. After getting elected in 1988 as Reagan’s heir, he promptly got himself defeated in 1992 by abandoning conservative principles in search of some felt-Establishment GOP need to “compromise” and “work together” with rabidly partisan Democrats in Congress. Having violated principle in search of civility, the Bush presidency imploded. Governor Palin’s mini-tangle with Mrs. Bush is merely an echo of that episode and the lines that were drawn by Reagan and Bush at the time.
Joe Scarborough, as evidenced by his participation in a so-called “centrist” group that proudly proclaims its guiding philosophy in its name — “No Labels” — and chest-beats about its search for “civility” is, in 1980 terms, a Bushie and not a Reaganite. .
That’s his choice.
But the only one who needs to “man up” here (as Scarborough snapped of the GOP in terms of Palin’s potential candidacy) — is Scarborough. Quite obviously he opposes the Reagan view — now the Palin view — that the Republican Party “is not a fraternal order.” He just appears not to have the courage to say so.
Instead, he snarls in a distinctly non-civil (and also non-Reagan) fashion that Sarah Palin is not a member of his non-Reaganite fraternity. In contrast, Reagan was constant is his classy ability to set philosophical markers while being ever the gentleman throughout.
But give Scarborough credit. He is accusing Palin among other things of believing , with Reagan, that the GOP is not a “fraternal order.”
And he’s right.
View all comments (44) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Jeffrey Lord
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/12/02/civility-scarborough-style
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Eric Cartman| 12.2.10 @ 11:53AM
It was just this morning while walking through the media room when I thought I heard my dog pass gas. I was about to reprimand him with a "Blue! You're gross!" when I noticed that our toddler accidentally turned the channel to Morning Joe. Alas it was Mr. Scarborough giving his opinion on something. Poor Blue, almost took the brunt of the punishment fora Scarborough thought.
Occam's Tool| 12.2.10 @ 1:49PM
And his co-host is even more of a dimwit---she shares political views with her dad, who was Jimmy Carter's NSA---and therefore one of the worst in history.
Susie Q| 12.2.10 @ 11:59AM
Joe has to tow the MSDNC line to keep himself viable as a TV personality. He has no principles. He is currently playing the role of Maverick although Goose would suit him better.
albert constantine jr.| 12.2.10 @ 12:55PM
Though Mr. Scarborough can no longer cry out "Great Balls of Fire" with credibility.
William R| 12.2.10 @ 12:54PM
Good for Joe Scarborough! I don't think Joe considers himself a centrist. I think he's dismayed at the rise of the NeoConservatives and how they've hijacked the Republican party. These days Walter Mondale's former speech writer Charles Krauthammer is considered a conservative because he's been a strong proponent of endless war in the Middle East. It is truly amazing at what the GOP has become since 2000. Big government at home and a militaristic foreign policy. A sure recipe for disaster. Palin represents this new foreign policy and Scarborough has made no bones about his disgust with it.
Simon Templar| 12.2.10 @ 2:01PM
I would suggest you read a book. Start with Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism. Your comment is riddled with falsehoods and inaccuracies starting with this fictitious concept of a neoconservative. There is no such thing...it's a clever straw man concept created by the Left. Big government and militaristic policy has been a key cornerstone of the Democratic Party for over the last century and not particular to Conservatives or Republicans. The country was hijacked by progressive elites at the turn of the last century that took over both partys. The punch and judy show is now over. The elite of this country has moved to the left..and continues to do so while the flyover country still clings to its religion and guns (and ideas about limited government and fiscal restraint as well) as the elites put it. Whats truly amazing is so many people like yourself are so out of touch with reality and the true history of the past century that they spin yarns like the one above.
Don Miller| 12.2.10 @ 3:13PM
Loved your swat-down onMr. R. I have never particularly liked Scarborough, and have never understood what his politics were. Something else I don't understand is why the libs hate Ms Palin so much. It would seem they are deathly afraid of her.
Simon Templar| 12.2.10 @ 4:17PM
Don, they hate her because she does not bend one bit to the Left nor to the Progressive Republican establishment. Its not her per se but her ideas and values that they find so repugnant and threatening. The real threat, moreover, is the way she resonates with a sizable part of the country...they have not seen this kind of personal appeal that seems to have the ability to rekindle in people values such as american exceptionalism, limited government, fiscal restraint, national sovereignty, traditional family values, and self government...ideas long ago given up by a large portion of the Progressive elite in this country. The elite find these values as outmoded, archaic, unrealistic, and innappropriate to a post modern society..as throwback concepts from an agrarian society of the 18th century. The Left find her values in direct conflict with their world view and agenda. This kind of reaction has happened before... actually several times in the 20th century...Goldwater got the same, Reagan was treated in almost the same manner during his political carreer. The faces change but its the same game.
Nick| 12.2.10 @ 4:23PM
Mr. Miller,
I hope you don't mind if I interject my own theory as to why Mrs. Palin is so hated: It has eveything to do with her son, Trig.
Many liberals have killed their Down Syndrome children, i.e. through abortion, when they found out their unborn child (fetus in Latin) were afflicted, after pre-natal tests.
Or, they know someone who has.
Everytime they see Trig, they are visually, and viscerally, reminded of the gruesome choice they made.
This constant reminder angers them. And this leads to extreme hatred everytime they see her. It is commonly known as Palin Derangement Syndrome.
This also goes for so-called "consevatives." Makes me wonder if Joe-blow Scarborough, Peggy 'Bundy' Noonan, or Kathleen 'spitzer' Parker have made this same murderous choice?
Liberals also kill their unborn babies for other minor abnormalities like cleft palates, cystic hydroma, cystic fibrosis, and duodenal atresia.
Frisbee| 12.9.10 @ 3:17PM
Bingo, Nick. I was thinking the same thing. It's the "fiscal-only conservatives" who can't stand social conservatism. The social-less conservatives are utilitarians with balance sheets. Their calculus demands that they destroy the "useless eaters". The left does not stand in their way, only the social conservatives are in their way.
Sean| 12.2.10 @ 4:22PM
Where exactly do you think the neocons came from? Big government and militaristic policy was a main staple under Bush who happened to be a Republican. And don't give me war on terror bs when our borders are wide open.
simon templar| 12.2.10 @ 4:43PM
Sean, the term neocon is an invention of the American Left..it is a straw man concept invented to distract from the big government, militaristic fascist tendencies, histories, and policies of the democratic party and the American Progressive movement. Please read, Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg. Bush is not a conservative in the likes of a Goldwater or Reagan conservative but rather a progressive who is a member of the Republican party. Please do not confuse the conservative belief in a strong military with militarism, big government, and foreign adventurism.
Sean| 12.2.10 @ 5:02PM
Simon, I used the term Republican and not conservative because I never have believed that Bush was a conservative. no matter where the term "neocon" came from, the neocons themselves were a product of the left. Their intellectual founders were former Troskyites.
William R| 12.2.10 @ 6:27PM
You're a blithering idiot.
"Viewed in this way, one can say that the historical task and political purpose of neoconservatism would seem to be this: to convert the Republican party, and American conservatism in general, against their respective wills, into a new kind of conservative politics suitable to governing a modern democracy."
http://www.weeklystandard.com/.....0tzmlw.asp
Nolaninrod | 12.9.10 @ 3:44PM
Anybody who could write a speech for Walter Mondale and have any audience members non-comatose at the end of it is, indeed, somebody to be feared.
William R| 12.2.10 @ 12:58PM
Reagan’s wisdom on the Middle East: Leave!!
http://orangepunch.ocregister......leave/619/
Occam's Tool| 12.2.10 @ 1:52PM
Funny, Reagan didn't follow that advice on Israel...besides, his war was different. If you really think that if we abandoned the Middle East that terrorists would leave us alone, you're a compleat idiot on human nature, as is Ron Paul.
Sean| 12.2.10 @ 4:29PM
You mean the Ron Paul that was right about the economy and everything else during the last election?
You want to stop terrorism? Start by getting serious about it and throw out muslim immigrants and "students," and secure our borders. Who exactly are the main funders of terrorism? Why its our good friends the Saudis.
Want to fight a war? Do it the right way and then get out. The American people do not have the stomach anymore for conducting a war the right way.
William R| 12.2.10 @ 6:13PM
" Perhaps we didn’t appreciate fully enough the depth of the hatred and the complexity of the problems that made the Middle East such a jungle. Perhaps the idea of a suicide car bomber committing mass murder to gain instant entry to Paradise was so foreign to our own values and consciousness that it did not create in us the concern for the marines’ safety that it should have.
In the weeks immediately after the bombing, I believe the last thing that we should do was turn tail and leave. Yet the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics forced us to rethink our policy there. If there would be some rethinking of policy before our men die, we would be a lot better off. If that policy had changed towards more of a neutral position and neutrality, those 241 marines would be alive today."
Reagan had it right!!
William R| 12.2.10 @ 1:17PM
Peggy Noonan on Palin
The point is not "He was a great man and you are a nincompoop,"
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....on_LEADTop
Grzmlyk| 12.2.10 @ 2:37PM
Anytime a "conservative" chooses to boost his bona fides by quoting the execrable and overwrought Peggy Noonan, he is giving away his game.
Noonan is a classic Beltway elistist who went weak at the knees at the very mention of Obama's name when he first descended from the heavens. What I learned from Noonan is that, apparently, there is no statute of limitations on having school girl crushes.
The Noonans and the Scarboroughs are the problem ; it's not the conservatives who are ruining the GOP, nor is it the chimeric neocons.
It's the many erstwhile reliable conservatives getting a whiff of the petit fours served at Sally Qunn's townhouse cocktail parties and going wobbly.
Margie| 12.2.10 @ 3:54PM
William R. is an anti-Israel nut who cannot stand anyone who is not of like mind.
He is also blinded by his hatred and that is why he cannot stand Sarah, who is pro-Israel and for a strong military.
William R| 12.2.10 @ 6:23PM
The skank returns.
Margie| 12.2.10 @ 7:55PM
Heh.. case in point.
William R| 12.2.10 @ 6:18PM
"The Noonans and the Scarboroughs are the problem ; it's not the conservatives who are ruining the GOP, nor is it the chimeric neocons."
No they're not. Just pointing out the obvious. Palin comes across as an empty skirt. The foreign policy of Bush Cheney and the NeoCons has been a disaster for the United States. And you didn't see one Republican running this year campaigning on widening the war in the Middle East to include Iran and Syria. Obama is President today because Bush listened to the NeoCons instead of Colin Powell.
Nolanimrod | 12.9.10 @ 3:56PM
Colin Powell, speaking during the "Rodney King" riots, said he could understand their frustration (quoting from memory) "because it is practically impossible for a black man to make something of himself in this country."
THAT Colin Powell?
PeggyR| 12.2.10 @ 7:20PM
Poor old Peggy Noonan is just another RINO who voted for Comrade Obozo and is now having buyer's remorse. This histrionic boob has lost any credibility she might have had, back in the day.
simon templar| 12.2.10 @ 1:40PM
A few words about Morning Joe ...Joe is a lapdog for the establishment Progressive Republican elite group that the Bush family and many others belong to..he is not a ruler but a willing worker bee..you see them everyday... He works as a mouthpiece for the group pretending to be conservative when it suits the situation... but like many establishment Republicans and elite school graduates they really do not believe in conservative principles. They believe in sharing power, being good sports, remaining at the top, going with the flow of history as they see it. They secretly view the average conservative American with his/her outmoded ideas of limited government, fiscal restraint, and american exceptionalism(coming from the traditional views of those well meaning but old white men founders) as in need of a gentle prodding and progressive education. Palin is not only a symbol of this old, outmoded conservatism but she embodies these values. She is a viable threat that must be confronted and quickly dismissed. They see the inevitable and necessary decline of the US and a steady and civil evolution to a new world order where nationalism and american exceptionalism is dead whereby it creates the opening for greater global cooperation among elites, global business, global government, less inequities, and their version of democracy all over the world. This is not about compromise but more about capitulation, social evolution, control, and co-optation. When did the conservative values, beliefs, and objectives of our founding fathers become extremist, purist, far right, fringe, outmoded, irrevelant?
Don Miller| 12.2.10 @ 3:19PM
Huh? Are you a progressive elitist?
Simon Templar| 12.2.10 @ 3:56PM
No! I am describing the mentality and thinking of the Morning Joes and the progressive Republican establishment elite who pretend to be conservative and hate Palin. My apologies if that did not seem clear.
WilliamR| 12.2.10 @ 6:20PM
There's nothing elitist about Scarborough .
Nick| 12.2.10 @ 2:48PM
Scarborough is a paid whore for msnbc.
Every morning he asks Phil Griffin how far to spread his legs.
Oldefarte| 12.2.10 @ 3:17PM
IMO, the Scarborough tweet was an indication of two points:[1] he works for MSNBC and was attempting to score brownie points and [2] he is apparently infatuated with his female co-host [to what extreme only the two of them possibly know] and her DADDY, and to whom he was also attempting to score brownie points. His lashing out at Palin was incredibly stupid because Palin did not initiate the war of words, Bush did [by opining that Palin should STAY IN ALASKA]. Palin's proper retort in labeling the Bushes as BLUEBLOODS accurately described their Yankee/Maine/historically wealthy status. HW was a Rockafeller Republican until Reagan saved his political career by naming him his VP [for regional/philosophical political ticket diversity], and HW thereafter converted to a semi-conservative in his run for the presidency. His son W completely disguised himself as a Reagan Republican by buying a RANCH IN TEXAS, and donning cowboy jeans [although he let his yankeeism out of the bag by passing his socialistic drug welfare legislation]. Scarborough's gig on MORNING JOE indicates a more intense relationship with his female co-host than is usually seen on co-anchor type venues, and his slobbering devotion to DADDY DOCTOR is akin to animal in sexual heat. Joe is a disgrace to his Alabama [and U of A] heretage, and is what is commonly referred to as a CLOSETED LIBERAL!!!!!
Margie| 12.2.10 @ 3:49PM
Joe Scarborough left conservatism some time ago.. I lost track as to when. I used to listen to his radio show to see where he was at and once I realized what a traitor he was to conservatism I stopped listening. He's the typical butt-kissing middle-of-the-roader, IMNSHO. He reminds me of Joe Lieberman or Arlen Specter.. not sure which party they want to be in, heh.
It doesn't surprise me at all that he doesn't like Sarah Palin. The morally reprehensible among us agree with him.
I mean, what's not to like? She stands for America and freedom. She's for less taxes, is pro business, pro Life, for a strong military, is pro Israel, loves God.. methinks Scarborough's mindset is the problem.
These so-called conservatives are insane. Their minds have been warped so badly due to their playing both sides that they cannot even recognize a real conservative like Sarah Palin. It always amazes and disgusts me how they have the nerve to insult and demean the best among us.
Too bad Barbara Bush has the same problem.
William R| 12.2.10 @ 6:21PM
She's the epitome of an empty skirt and if the Republicans are dumb enough to nominate her Obama will wing in 2012.
Margie| 12.2.10 @ 7:58PM
Hey WmR~ so glad you make yourself known here.
You're the epitome of the anti-Israel Letist mindset who try and call themselves conservatives.
Bravo!
Mark J. Goluskin | 12.2.10 @ 6:50PM
What is so loathsome is what you point out. That Joe did not address ANY actual policy differences with Mrs. Palin. Funny how we both address the same thing http://rightviewfromtheleftcoa.....ainst.html
Peggy R| 12.2.10 @ 7:15PM
Thanks for slapping old RINO Joe around. It warmed the cockles of my heart. He is an opportunistic slug who is begging for attention from Sarah Palin. I hope she ignores this Twit as he is just not relevant and it would only give him something to talk about on his loser show.
This Is Your Brain On MSLSD...| 12.2.10 @ 9:39PM
Jeffrey, name ONE instance of civility ever emanating from anyone on MSLSD. Morning Joke is a RINO, typical of the kind who have destroyed The GOP with willing help from "the ruling class" running The GOP. Jeffrey, do not watch MSLSD. It is hazardous to your mental health.
Astonished| 12.2.10 @ 9:48PM
Where does MSNBC find such great self sacrificing prevaricators? Hour after hour after hour they sit on their duffs without personal complaint. Willing to obfuscate and direct their ire at so many unworthy and petty beings. None are more deserving of their eternal reward,
Mary T| 12.2.10 @ 10:47PM
Peggy Noonan is not queen of America. She's been a good writer for a long time, but she's just not in touch with the 'common folks'. Scarborough pants after her like a lap doggy. He really hit this all WRONG, and anyone who follows Palin knows how far wrong his analyses is. Imagine! She's a huge fan of Reagon--certainly not dissing him, and Barbara Bush deserved it.
DANSHANTEAL| 12.3.10 @ 2:56PM
BOB NOVAK RELATES THE TIME BUSH #41 CAME TO THE EVANS AND NOVAK OFFICE TO SAY HE WAS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT AND, TO NOVAK'S GREAT CONSTERNATION, EVANS ASKED PRESIDENT OF WHAT.
DANSHANTEAL| 12.3.10 @ 3:06PM
I WATCHED ON TV AS RONNIE AND THE RED DOGS GAVE THE DEMOCRATS A WUPPING. COULD IT BE WE'LL SEE SARAH DO THE SAME? HUCKABEE SAYS SHE COULD RUN THE TABLE FOR THE NOMINATION.
Marty| 12.11.10 @ 12:27AM
Interesting how this William R takes a few quotes completely out of their clear context, even when his link gives you the context if you care to read the whole thing, and hijacks this whole thread.
Don't you people ever read the whole thing? Why do you feed the troll?