An exchange on yesterday’s Morning Joe has garnered national attention due to the panel’s collective calumny hurled at a major U.S. Senate candidate:
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In case you don’t want to slog through it, noted plagiarist Mike Barnicle kicks things off by referring to Harry Reid’s Republican opponent, Sharron Angle, as “embarrassing” and a “mental patient.” Chris “McTingles” Matthews joins the chorus by misquoting and mischaracterizing a(n admittedly sloppy and ill-conceived) comment from Angle in which she speculated about “Second Amendment remedies” to dealing with unpopular government policies and politicians. Joe Scarborough, appearing suspicious of Matthews’s account, asks if and how Angle had “walked back” her quote. Matthews proceeds to incorrectly assert that Angle hadn’t even made an attempt to do so. In fact, to her credit, she did. Armed with false information, Scarborough promptly declares the race over and pronounces Angle a “jackass.”
I suppose the MSNBC crew’s denunciations may have been warranted. After all, Angle famously declared an ongoing American war “lost” in 2007:
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She called the president of the United States a “loser.”
She imperiously complained about tourists’ body odor:
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She mistakenly voted the wrong way – twice — on crucial legislation:
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She marveled at the president’s light skin and lack of “Negro dialect.”
She claimed paying taxes is “voluntary.”
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She celebrated the loss of “only” 36,000 American jobs as “really good.”
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She told a constituent that she hoped his business would fail.
She demonized her opponents as “evil mongers” and compared them to supporters of slavery:
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And she spearheaded an enormous new entitlement program against the will of the voters she was elected to represent.
Given all that embarrassing, borderline-insane jackassery, Scarborough is surely correct. This race must be over.