Can somebody give Joe Scarborough a xanax? Please...

[CTyankee]

First he attacked Jeffrey Sachs, who was one of the negotiators on the Greek deal, when Sachs challenged him, saying "I was in the room. It's not what you say it is."
Joe said "You were in the room? Were you drinking?"

Then he ranted while Sachs looked on in shocked silence...Sachs is a dignified academic at Columbia University and head of the Earth Institute. While I don't always agree with him, he's no hack. If joe wants to appear respectable, he has to stop being so irresponsible.

At the next segment, after the break, Sachs was gone, with his drink cup and morning papers still at his place at the table. Which means that Sachs walked out. Joe tried to smooth it over, but other panelists looked VERY uncomfortable...

Not too much later Joe delivered a rant so loud and so angry he pounded the table and wildly gesticulated. I've seen him rant before but this was epic...

Something is wrong with this man. No wonder both of his wives divorced him...

[Cosmocat]

1. I stopped watching a LONG time ago

it is like one of those cheesy 1980s after school specials about an abusive father with the family taking on the various roles of co-dependency, except in this case it is a bunch of sell out media whore sycophants who kiss his ass out of the dual fear of his going full mental and smashing their heads in with a chair or just going 99% mental and taking their cushy little gig from them if they dare oppose him in any way.

[lunatica]

39. I stopped years ago also

Ditto to everything you said and add to it that he whines incessantly and acts like he's being victimized if things don't go his way. If any Republican shows even a modicum of heart he takes it quite personally.

If I didn't mind that kind of shit I'd still be married.

[hlthe2b]

2. I should have thought Joe Schmoe would be railing against the Greeks and

loving the push for more austerity like all the bullying RW cretins... What exactly was his position?

[CTyankee]

7. Oh, he was ranting against the Greek people plenty!

He came across full throttle for austerity and punishment for the overspending sins of the Greek people. It's all part of the repuke playbook...

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

30. He thought Sachs was not blaming the victims enough.

I think it was Rattner who made the analogy to an alcoholic taking the free drinks that a bartender offered them. Rattner, of course, wanted to place all of the blame on the drunk in such a scenario. It was basically just another look at our own financial crisis, with the financial industry shoveling loans at people they knew couldn't repay them, making money whether or not they did, thanks to derivatives credit default swaps, and then Republicans placing all the blame on the people who took out the loans that banks told them they would be able to repay.

Sachs was having nothing of it, and corrected Joe repeatedly, saying that the Greeks had agreed to all sorts of 'reforms', but pointed out that they were broke and needed more money simply to stay alive, while Joe was proclaiming that Greece kept offering nothing. Sachs also pointed out that Greece was in their own 'Great Depression', largely caused by the very austerity measures already pushed onto Greece by the EU financiers.

[hlthe2b]

37. Ahh, thanks... That makes sense.

[GeorgeGist]

3. 3rd rate mind ...

in a 1st class asshole.

[99Forever]

4. And yet you'll tune in tomorrow.

[CTyankee]

9. I'd like to see the fallout from this...

[99Forever]

12. The clown says thank you for helping keep his paychecks rolling in.

Carry on...

[CTyankee]

13. well, at least we get an early warning system of the GOP talking points du jour...

I'll just let your snark go...got nicer things to think about today...

[99Forever]

14. I care fuckall about "GOP talking points du jour."

What precisely is it that you believe having such "knowledge" will accomplish?

[CTyankee]

16. It's a game, you see. First the other side "tries out" a talking point to see what happens...

does it "resonate" with likely voters? If it does then it becomes more visible and repeated over and over again. If it doesn't, then it is discarded as not effective.

My son in law is a Dem political consultant whose expertise is in focus groups. He's give me lots of information about how these campaigns are conducted. It was interesting to learn from his own actual experience...he did some focus groups in a couple of states in the Kerry campaign. He said Teresa polled really badly (altho I kinda thought that myself just by how she conducted herself on the campaign).

[99Forever]

18. No, it's not a game.

Football is a game. Baseball is a game.

Politics is about REAL people's lives. I'll take blatant HONESTY over "focus groups" every time.

[CTyankee]

19. I know, it's a sad state of affairs that politics is such a game in the media.

I agree with you on that point. Our politics is such a circus, really...

[winstars]

48. Thanks for watching so we don't need to. The morning talking points reason is true. TKS!!!

[Duckhunter935]

5. I had to turn the channel

[malaise]

6. I switched - he's too fugging rude

and he's knows nothing about everything but you'd think it was the reverse.

No sympathy for Sachs - he should refuse to participate on these crap programs.

[CTyankee]

8. Usually, Joe treats Sachs with some modicum of respect.

Right now, I think there is a "discussion" over whether Sachs will ever consent to be on the show again or at least extract a promise from Joe not to be over the top disrespectful. I'm sure he has a contractual agreement of some sort with Joe and I hope he is contacting his attorney right now with some demands about how he is treated on the show.

[on point]

46. Should only come on when Mika is sole host. Big step up then

Much more civil, has intellectual content and genuine interesting discussion. Joe is killing the show

[Ino]

10. And no wonder his intern left him...

errrr.... died.

[Bluenorthwest]

15. Last Monday, in a country with 318,000,000 people, just 425,00 watched Morning Joe

During that time slot, about 25 million Americans watch TV morning talk shows. But only 425,000 of them watch Joe.

[CTyankee]

17. I can't stand the Good Morning America type shows and haven't watched them in

YEARS. Too much goody good.

At least with Scar I get political red meat. I actually laughed out loud during Joe's epic rant. It was right out of his wheelhouse...great entertainment...

[Bluenorthwest]

20. I don't watch any morning TV myself but I find great comfort in Joe's shitty numbers

Even CNN beats Morning Joe. I'm not knocking you for watching, just saying he's not having a massive cultural impact. Many people think of 'TV News' as having massive audiences. They think in classic broadcast terms. I think it is healthy for Democrats to understand the true nature of the cable audience.

[CTyankee]

21. oh, yeah, joe has his sponsors, too. And I'm sure people tune in for the same reason

I do -- he has guests with some currency and there's always the chance that Joe will lose it like he did today and go full rant mode...it's theatre...

[lonestarnot]

22. Dead intern guy is a freak of nature. Xanax won't help that. Just turn it off.

[redstateblues]

23. Bad way to start the day

I watch some of the talking heads later in the day but I can't start the day like that.

[redstateblues]

24. Bad way to start the day

I watch some of the talking heads later in the day but I can't start the day like that.

[DanTex]

25. Out of curiosity, what were Sachs's and Joe's takes on the Greek vote?

[CTyankee]

27. Joe was blaming the Greek people and government for overspending and not

willing to take the austerity medicine. Sachs started to correct some of the inaccuracies of Joe's basic argument and Joe just started shutting him down. Sachs tried to speak and Joe was abusive and loud and not letting Sachs get a word in edgewise. If you can find that part of the show (it was early in the first segment) on the MJ website, it is worth watching. You'll see what happens. Sachs was being polite but he was clearly shocked at such a personal out of bounds remark...a few minutes later there was a commercial break and Sachs was gone. I hope he told Joe to go eff himself before he departed...

[DanTex]

29. Thanks. About what I expected.

[beveeheart]

50. I don't usually watch, but did see this part of the show.

and I was not surprised that Sachs walked out. Like you, I hope he told Joe to STFU.

[fredamae]

26. A Highly Paid Hack

that needs a different venue.........not drugs.

Sheepherder might be good as he has the "Transferable Skills" to step right into it

[JHB]

31. He'd send the sheep over a cliff.

Sheepherding requires certain social skills, or even the dogs will bite you rather than listen to you.

[JHB]

28. Xanax? That's a brand of weather-resistant 2x4s, right?

Well, maybe not, but there are moments...

[tavernier]

32. If you google his name and meltdown

you will find many examples of past meltdowns, some youtubes as well, over several years. NBC probably encourages him to throw these tantrums since it is a train wreck.

[valerief]

33. Why are you watching Joe Dead Intern Scabby? nt

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

34. You're right today was worse than usual

After the break didn't the Brit (sorry can't remember her name right now) say that Sachs had another committment? I really wanted to hear what Sachs had to say and he never had the chance to fully explain his answer. Why have someone on and then not listen

[CTyankee]

43. I was probably getting my second cup of coffee...but it didn't look like he left in an orderly

I mean, a tall drink cup with the straw still in it and his newspaper right there where he had been sitting...if he had another
commitment wouldn't the table in front of him be cleared? I'm sorry, but I don't believe that...

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

52. Truly

I think she was trying to cover for an uncomfortable situation

[johnp3907]

35. Why do so many DUers watch this guy?

People might quote a Limbaugh or O'Reilly here, but they don't post about "every time I listen to his radio show" or "every time I watch his TV show." But with Scarborough it seems like some DUers are regular viewers.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

38. There aren't a lot of political shows on in the morning.

Put up a leftwinger in the same time slot, and I imagine a lot of folks would switch over to that person.

[uponit7771]

47. +1

[Cosmocat]

42. MSNBC and the format

I like the format, and it is the channel you would have to have some non-republicans butt kissing on.

You know what Scar is, but you hope that it balances out with the surrounding misfits.

I TRIED to watch it for a while, but just could not justify the blood pressure spikes that got my day off on the wrong foot, and haven't watched in a couple years.

[johnp3907]

45. Ah, thanks.

Yeah, those blood pressure spikes....I can't deal with them.

[DrDan]

36. I watched it also - Sachs was attempting to provide a reasoned explanation

of what was happening in Greece.

Joe just had to continue to interrupt - leaving Sachs noticeably frustrated. I was not surprised when he was not there after the break.

[liberal from boston]

44. Jeffrey Sachs

Lawrence O'Donnell had Jeffrey Sachs on a few weeks ago. I was impressed by him & Sachs commented that he was looking for a Presidential Candidate who would state that he/she was not bought by big money He came across as intelligent, articulate, IMO I became more informed.

[CTyankee]

51. well, I've taken Paul Krugman's side on an issue where Sachs is on the other but

not disgustingly so. Just an argument in academia and that goes on. I think
Sachs is a real gentleman...

[tartan2]

40. I refused to waste my energy watching Joe Scarborough,

he is nothing but a whiney ass white man.....

[Octafish]

41. Prefer it were sodium pentothol...

Ask the smug turd about Lori Klausutis.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2823029

[olddots]

49. The Morning Joe show is a text book veiw of garbage production values

The steady cam operators circling around for a sence of movement with a background of techy sci fi looking vibrant bullshit like mission control .Close in for a reaction shot on the fawning blond lady who makes love to Joe with her eys ..........I would rather snort lines of Draino off a live atomic bomb than start my day with Morning Joe with his confused concerned look of an aging jock trying to figure out the world .
When they finally cancel this show I won't be morning for Joe .

[Martin Eden]

53. Joe's subconscious knows he's a tool for the kleptocracy

Whenever that realization bubbles close to the surface (like when he's confronted with facts that refute conservative dogma) his anger kicks into high gear to beat the threat of self awareness back down into submission.

[Skittles]

54. why would you watch that piece of shit Scarborough?

Last edited Mon Jul 6, 2015, 11:27 PM - Edit history (1)

seriously - WHY?

[CTyankee]

55. cuz his show manages to get some people on that I want to see...simple as that...

I like Howard Dean, who is a somewhat "regular" and I've seen Elizabeth Warren come on and various others I want to see...I like to see the ones who push back on him and refute him...and I'm usually having my coffee and reading the NYT while he's on...I can take him or leave him and sometimes he's just plain ridiculous...and I get my first huge laugh of the day...

[Liberal_in_LA]

56. he is exciteable