Morning Joe Profile…
The New York Times’ Liesl Schillinger profiles Morning Joe…
When you first turn on “Morning Joe,” for a moment you might think you’re still in the Stepford-ized zone of network breakfast television. Mika is so striking, poised and accommodating; Joe is so alpha. It’s easy to be misled. But once you start listening, you realize this is a new genre: morning-news-romcom-vérité. The hosts’ differences become plain as they riff on the headlines, arguing, flirting and jousting with an energy that can feel more Hot Lips Houlihan and Hawkeye Pierce than Meredith Vieira and Matt Lauer. A classic-rock soundtrack bookends each segment: Doobie Brothers, Bruce Springsteen, Steely Dan and Squeeze, a playlist curated by Joe, who has played in rock bands for decades.
In this parallel universe you’ll also find that the hosts and guests are genuinely, thoroughly, discussing the news, debating it and laughing over its absurdities, hour after hour. Joe is an opinionated conservative, and a former Republican congressman from Florida, while Mika is a (moderate) liberal, and the daughter of Zbigniew Brzezinski, the national security adviser during the Carter administration.
Inside Cable News 
May 7, 2010 at 11:24 pm
Joe has an interesting perspective on politics because he is from that sector. Mika, on the other hand, appears as a worthless part of the show and offers nothing to benefit the show regarding the issue-of-discussion. Just a matter of time before cancellation if Mika stays there. Maybe she should be working on the show-staff off-camera, maybe answering the phone or getting coffee for the on-are staff or something constructive.
May 8, 2010 at 6:30 am
Joe isn’t a mainstream conservative, as he has been drinking the MSNBC Koolaid and bashing conservatives and Republicans, while sucking up to various liberals.
May 8, 2010 at 7:25 am
I forgot who I was watching or listening to the other day, but JS was named as the #1 pseudo conservative (RINO), in addition to David Brooks, David Frum, etc.
That’s the problem with Republicans. They are happy to attack their own. Liberals and dems do no such thing.
May 8, 2010 at 10:01 am
“The problem with Republicans” is the uber-conservative wing considers moderates like JS, Frum and Brooks “not Republican”. There are a lot of moderate Dems and Independents like myself who would vote Republican more often if you guys wouldn’t kick this group to the curb before they get to a general election. Democrats allow for more ideological diversity in their party, which is why you don’t hear them “attacking their own”.
May 8, 2010 at 11:31 am
Oh please. Joe S. (as opposed to the Joe here) is not a “moderate” Republican, or anything approaching mainstream.
Anyone who constantly bashes Bush, Palin and just about every prominent Republican is not a “moderate.” We still remember the video clip of Joe S. trashing Sarah Palin and claiming that Howard Dean is just SO intelligent, while Palin is stupid. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiwvZfSDXY8
If your Democratics are so open and ideologically diverse, why do they still ban pro-life Dems from speaking at their national convention?
Or how about the way they banished Joe Lieberman for daring to disagree with them on the war and national security? Where was the ideological diversity in his own Senate colleagues (in the DSCC) working with his primary opponent to try and oust him from the Senate? Too bad he has such a case of Stockholm Syndrome that he still caucuses with them.
May 8, 2010 at 12:11 pm
Shazam! Good points, BW
May 8, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Missy, are you calling us terrorists?
May 8, 2010 at 12:50 pm
“Attacking” and “didn’t get a spot at the convention” are not the same thing.
Lieberman campaigned for John McCain against Barack Obama. There’s nothing “Democrat” about Joe Lieberman, and I have no idea why they continue to let him caucus with them. He’s not even a moderate Republican.
May 8, 2010 at 1:17 pm
@BW:
Instead of just reading the title of the Youtube video—maybe you should actually listen to what Joe S. said:
Scarborough understood that he was going to “enrage” the Conservatives by saying it but didn’t back down because he doesn’t need to pander to the Far Right like the Limbaughs and Ingrahms…etc…
In terms of ideology (and ideology only) Dean is probably the Lefts equivalent of Palin. He is a far Leftie and she is a far Rightie. The difference between them arises when intellectual substance is questioned.
That is all that Joe was saying. Morning Joe had been EXTREMELY forgiving to Palin during the 2008 election. Joe’s advise, like many’s to Palin, was to sit down, gain some erudite knowledge and prepare for 2012. Instead, Mrs. Palin decided she would be more useful creating Facebook and Twitter pages where she can sign-off ghost-written attacks on the POTUS, but that is besides the point.
He is a decent conservative, who (not always) most of the time can take a Left’s talking point and refute it WITHOUT the ad hominems the Right has grown to love (Talk Radio FOX News).
Wikipedia:
“Like most freshmen Republicans elected during the 1994 Republican takeover of the House led by Newt Gingrich, Scarborough was regarded as a reliable conservative. He was a part of a small group of Republican congressmen the National Journal said possessed a surprising amount of power given their youth and lack of years in Congress. He received a 95 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union. He signed the Contract with America.”
May 8, 2010 at 2:22 pm
joeremi Says:
May 8, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Joe, you’re being disingenuous. Lieberman was kicked out of the party long before the 2008 campaign. He was removed because he didn’t go along with the Democrats strict “anti-war at all costs / anti-Bush at all costs” campaign. He was defeated by the extreme left of the party (see Howard Dean, MoveOn, etc.), and has been routinely insulted, mocked, and criticized by the left-wing base.
To claim that the situation isn’t similar, is false. Lieberman was the Vice Presidential nominee for Pete’s sake… and then, two years later, hated by the majority of Democrats!
May 8, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Joe: INB is right – Lieberman campaigned for McCain YEARS AFTER his Dem Senate colleagues worked with Ned Lamont to see Lieberman dumped from the Dem ticket.
RealReal: Wikipedia isn’t known as a reputable source of information. And as far as intellectual capacity, we’ll take Palin’s over Screamin’ Dean’s any day of the week. Sorry, but Joe S. is NOT a normal conservative, not the way he was bashing Bush and the war, among other things. He’s just an outlier that MSNBC likes to use to show what “conservatives” they allow on their airwaves. Sort of like how Pat Buchanan’s a regular on MSNBC, but is nowhere near being a mainstream conservative, although he’s certainly presented there as such.
May 8, 2010 at 4:45 pm
“Wikipedia isn’t known as a reputable source of information.”
-Actually Wikipedia is pretty good with biographical information—the problem comes in when freeps put in fake “BREAKING” News stories Nancy Grace-esq. Anyways, everything stated about Joe S. was true–He, in fact, did receive a 95 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union and was elected to the House in 1994 during the Newt Gingrich led takeover of Congress. There is not much, if anything, that can can be refuted because it is simply facts.
“And as far as intellectual capacity, we’ll take Palin’s over Screamin’ Dean’s any day of the week.”
-Screamin’ Dean? Ha? As if getting an adrenaline, yet cringe-worthy scream refutes Mr. Deans intelligence. Mr. Dean graduated from Yale, studying Political Science, later he entered the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and served six terms as the Governor of Vermont. To compare them two is almost laughable. I’m guessing I won’t be able to convince you that Sarah Palin is not as smart as Howard Dean so I digress.
“…but Joe S. is NOT a normal conservative, not the way he was bashing Bush and the war, among other things.”
Do you even watch Morning Joe–because the way you attack him is almost identical to that of how Rush Limbaugh or one of his ditto heads would falsely describe him. I watch Morning Joe most morning and Joe is FAIR yet Tough. I think there CAN be a balance between being partisan yet listening what others have to say. Joe reaches that.
“He’s just an outlier that MSNBC likes to use to show what “conservatives” they allow on their airwaves. ”
-Uhhh…no not really. MSNBC have many Republican strategist that appear on daily. People like Todd Harris, Ron Christie, John Feery, Mike Slater, Ben Ferguson and even on occasion Liz Cheney/John Ziegler. Give me a break.
May 8, 2010 at 5:22 pm
Sorry, but Wikipedia is NOT a credible source. No media (meaning actual media, not some blog) will accept it as a source, nor will academic institutions. Certain entries are full of bias.
Dean is a rich boy. Funny how Bush’s educational credentials got slapped down because of his family, but Dean is brilliant? Too freaking funny. And despite the Einstein name, the medical school is not in the upper echelon of medical schools in New York.
We’ve watched Morning Schmoe a few times, but cannot stand him or the snotty nitwit next to him.
Hmmm. Let’s see. You’re a Dem, yes? Of course you think Joe S. is “fair” and all that.
As fairly informed people, we in the BW home have no idea who the “Republican strategists” are that you listed, other than Liz Cheney and John Ziegler. But we’re willing to guess that they don’t disagree a whole lot with the standard leftist line at MSNBC.
May 8, 2010 at 6:02 pm
“Sorry, but Wikipedia is NOT a credible source. No media (meaning actual media, not some blog) will accept it as a source, nor will academic institutions. Certain entries are full of bias.”
-Yeah I am pretty sure I already addressed that. I agree, but if you want to refute ” Sacrborough received a 95 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union and was elected to the House in 1994 during the Newt Gingrich led takeover of Congress”–than you would be objecting to facts.
“Dean is a rich boy.”
-Yes, having money allows you to get INTO prestigious schools—NOT pass those schools. Saying that Dean was only able to graduate Yale studying Political Science and graduate Albert Einstein College of Medicine because he was “rich” is being disingenuous. You need the brains to pass the classes and become a Doctor.
Maybe President Bush wouldn’t have to slap down the stupid claims if he could actually articulate a sentence, but that is an entirely different discussion.
So you watched him “a few times”—and came to the conclusion that:
“Joe S. is NOT a normal conservative, not the way he was bashing Bush and the war, among other things. He’s just an outlier that MSNBC likes to use to show what “conservatives” they allow on their airwaves…
Joe isn’t a mainstream conservative, as he has been drinking the MSNBC Koolaid and bashing conservatives and Republicans, while sucking up to various liberals….”
Seems pretty unfair to me.
Uhhh…You never heard of Ron Christie or John Feery? John has been on Hannity’s “Great American Panel” numerous times and Ron Christie was former deputy assistant to V.P. Dick Cheney—that is not even mentioning the Right Wingers that appear on “The Ed Show” like Tancredo, Heidi Harris..etc..
and no—none of them “don’t disagree a whole lot with the standard leftist line at MSNBC.” equivalent to an Alan Colmes on Fox.
May 8, 2010 at 10:17 pm
Senator Lieberman is not a moderate; He is a classic liberal with a classic liberal stance on issues of national security and foreign policy. Not remotely conservative, Joe Lieberman embraces the basic philosophy of liberalism as a matter of principle. That’s why he continues to caucus with the Dems. The Democratic Party has become largely overrun by radicals in recent years, many of which are true Socialists, and they make the Bayhs and Liebermans of the Democrat Party appear “moderate”.
The term “moderate” for either party sounds good to the ears of some, but more often than not it means that the politician is guided primarily by the winds of current public opinion rather than by philosophical principles. President Clinton (while in office, anyway) is a good example of a moderate Democrat – after 1994 he governed more like a Republican. He is also one of very few moderates who’ve gone on to become quite successful leaders.
May 9, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Joe Lieberman was defeated by Ned Lamont for being a Bush-backing warmonger, then bolted the party and campaigned against Barack Obama. I don’t care what he was in 2000…he’s not a Democrat now..any more that Arlen Spector is.
May 9, 2010 at 5:51 pm
That’s not very inclusive or big tenty of you, Joe!
May 9, 2010 at 9:17 pm
Perhaps Joe Lieberman knew that Barack Obama didn’t have the necessary experience to be a good president.
But I’m just a partisan hack.
June 6, 2010 at 5:56 am
I can’t stand to watch or listen to JS. He can’t help that he’s homely and takes 3 times as long to get his point across as most people. What bothers me is that he’s full of himself and I can’t understand why. His parents did him a disservice by giving him an overinflated opinion of himself. He’s like a child who looks for attention by interrupting the adults while they are trying to have a discussion. And because it’s his show, he can get away with it. Boring!