Salon.com > Joe Scarborough http://www.salon.com Fri, 24 May 2013 16:32:11 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Joe Scarborough’s IRS hypocrisy http://www.salon.com/2013/05/16/joe_scarborough_in_2003_yank_the_naacps_tax_exempt_status/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/16/joe_scarborough_in_2003_yank_the_naacps_tax_exempt_status/#comments Thu, 16 May 2013 16:55:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13300546 This week, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough joined the chorus of those decrying the IRS for targeting Tea Party groups for extra scrutiny in applying for nonprofit status. "You can't allow the government to tread on political speech," Scarborough said. "The Internal Revenue Service -- the taxman -- to go after their political beliefs. ... I can't imagine much worse than this," he added.

Targeting nonprofit groups because of their political beliefs is wrong -- pretty much everyone agrees on that. So today's Scarborough must be outraged by his 2003 self, which gave this monologue on his show "Scarborough Country" on July 13, 2003:

The leader of the NAACP bashes President Bush and the Republican Party. Why is this clearly partisan group still being funded by your tax dollars? [...]

[T]he NAACP continues to get a free ride off of taxpayers because of the tax-exempt status that's conferred to them by our federal government, now, this despite the fact the NAACP produced and ran the most vicious campaign attack ad in the history of televised presidential campaign. [...]

As Americans, NAACP members are free to speak their mind any time, day or night. But they shouldn't be getting a tax-free ride on the backs of hard-working Americans who don't get such preferential treatment. President Bush and members of Congress should have the guts to yank the tax-exempt status away from these left-wing activists. And while they're at it, take away the tax exempt status of any right-wing activist who thumb their noses at the law as brazenly as does the NAACP.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/16/joe_scarborough_in_2003_yank_the_naacps_tax_exempt_status/feed/ 75 Joe Scarborough apologizes for Pelosi-Iraq War comments http://www.salon.com/2013/03/21/joe_scarborough_apologizes_for_pelosi_iraq_war_comments/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/21/joe_scarborough_apologizes_for_pelosi_iraq_war_comments/#comments Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:12:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13248328 On Thursday's "Morning Joe," Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski apologized and issued a correction for showing selectively edited footage of Nancy Pelosi that Scarborough described as Pelosi "beating the drums of war."

Salon's Alex Pareene pointed out that in a video segment to commemorate the Iraq War, Scarborough had said in a voice-over that "the very same people who spent years beating up George Bush were the very ones beating the drum for Iraq's regime change and Saddam Hussein's ouster." The video then shows Pelosi saying, "I applaud the president's focusing on this issue, and on taking the lead to disarm Saddam Hussein," but leaves out her remarks afterward that "I rise in opposition to this resolution on national security grounds."

"In fact, it seems like she got it just about right," Scarborough said in Thursday's segment, as he and Brzezinski apologized.

Watch:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/03/21/joe_scarborough_apologizes_for_pelosi_iraq_war_comments/feed/ 9 MSNBC selectively remembers the Iraq War http://www.salon.com/2013/03/19/msnbc_selectively_remembers_the_iraq_war/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/19/msnbc_selectively_remembers_the_iraq_war/#comments Tue, 19 Mar 2013 19:38:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13246025 [UPDATE BELOW] MSNBC today ran two very interesting segments addressing the 10th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War. In one, Luke Russert interviewed veteran NBC foreign correspondent Richard Engel on the state of Iraq today (spoiler: not great). In another, Joe Scarborough hosted a large panel to discus how the Iraq War happened and what went wrong.

The Russert segment is sort of bizarre, referring to "that big anniversary" and completely ignoring the reasons the Iraq War started. It concludes -- after Engel explains how Iraq is once again in a sectarian civil war -- with Russert essentially asserting the inevitability of a military strike against Iran, saying they could be "months" away from building nuclear weapons.

Here's the Morning Joe segment. It's long, but well worth watching. Bob Woodward's presence adds a note of dark comedy to the proceedings. No one bothers to mention any of his horrible pre-war punditry, or his culpability for the misleading journalism the Washington Post was producing at the time.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/03/19/msnbc_selectively_remembers_the_iraq_war/feed/ 47 The politician vs. the economist http://www.salon.com/2013/03/05/the_politician_vs_the_economist/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/05/the_politician_vs_the_economist/#comments Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13219026 It was billed like a prize fight -- “one night only!” Politico wrote -- with liberal New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman versus conservative-esque MSNBC host and former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough. The venue: Charlie Rose. FIGHT!

While Krugman was the early favorite among liberals, he seemed unprepared for Scarborough’s aggressive debate style. While the economist seemed to expect an academic and substantive discourse, the former congressman came prepared with opposition research on Krugman’s past statements and debated his foe like he would an opposing candidate in an election. Scarborough was on the attack from the beginning and didn’t let up, even mocking the Nobel laureate at times, and occasionally misrepresenting his own or Krugman’s arguments to make a point.

"Why don't we try to argue about the substance and not play gotcha?" Krugman said exasperated.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/03/05/the_politician_vs_the_economist/feed/ 65 How not to defend yourself against the “chauvinism” charge, starring Morning Joe http://www.salon.com/2013/01/10/how_not_to_defend_yourself_against_the_chauvinism_charge_starring_morning_joe/ http://www.salon.com/2013/01/10/how_not_to_defend_yourself_against_the_chauvinism_charge_starring_morning_joe/#comments Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:24:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13167305 As best as I can tell, here is what happened on "Morning Joe" this morning. Wacky jokester morning show host and respected American political figure Joe Scarborough mocked and belittled his co-host, Mika Brzezinski, until she became genuinely upset with him, then he angrily yelled at her for being upset with him until, finally, he got her to apologize to him for calling him on his bullshit.

Brzezinski was defending Obama from complaints that his Cabinet is too male. Scarborough was responding to her comments with snide jokes, including one about the Lily Ledbetter Act. Brzezinski told Scarborough that he was "being chauvinistic right now," and Scarborough responded with outrage. Soon he was -- for real -- snapping his fingers to get her to shut up and listen to him berate her.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/01/10/how_not_to_defend_yourself_against_the_chauvinism_charge_starring_morning_joe/feed/ 36 Hack List No. 8: MSNBC http://www.salon.com/2012/12/19/hack_list_no_8_msnbc/ http://www.salon.com/2012/12/19/hack_list_no_8_msnbc/#comments Wed, 19 Dec 2012 19:48:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13149142 This year, my annual list of the worst of political media highlights not just individuals, but the institutions that enable those individuals. The 2012 Hack List will be counting down the 10 media outlets that are hurting America over the next two days -- stay tuned! (Previous Hack List entries here, here and here.)

MSNBC, we're told all the time, is the liberal Fox News. That's reductive and stupid. It isn't. MSNBC isn't the liberal Fox News for two very important reasons: It usually demonstrates a greater respect for the truth than Fox News, and it's not as good as Fox News. It's not as good at being liberal as Fox is at being conservative. Fox is rigidly ideologically consistent, with its "straight news" programs echoing the same talking points and pushing the same slanted stories as its opinion shows. While there's no doubt that MSNBC is more unapologetically liberal than it used to be, it's still all over the place, with a conservative anchoring its flagship morning show, objective Beltway "straight news" proponents like Chuck Todd and Andrea Mitchell dominating in the daytime, and weekends full of ... prison shows. But more important, it's not as good as Fox at being compelling TV, which is why millions more people watch Fox every day. (There are demographic reasons for Fox's advantage, too, but it's still a huge number.)

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/12/19/hack_list_no_8_msnbc/feed/ 72 Media elites: Cut Medicare! http://www.salon.com/2012/11/27/why_the_debt_debate_will_never_ever_get_anywhere/ http://www.salon.com/2012/11/27/why_the_debt_debate_will_never_ever_get_anywhere/#comments Tue, 27 Nov 2012 19:43:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13108368 With various Republicans making headlines recently for suddenly, shockingly appearing open to considering small tax hikes on wealthy people, it can seem sometimes that some fundamental shift has just transpired in the national political conversation surrounding the national debt and government spending. I assure you, that is not remotely the case.

Joe Scarborough, America's blogger, made a very good point in his Politico blog, the other day: While Barack Obama did promise to raise taxes on rich people, and then he won the election, Republicans should continue refusing to raise taxes on rich people because they also won elections.

It may be the case that millions more Americans voted for Barack Obama than Mitt Romney. It may also be true that Americans voted for a significantly more liberal (and still Democratically controlled) Senate. And some crazy people have been pointing out that more people nationwide voted for Democrats to represent them in the House than for Republicans. And, sure, the thing Obama has been promising to do since 2008 -- when he also won the election by lots of votes -- is raise taxes on rich people. But Americans will totally understand if Republicans refuse to do this thing everyone wants to do.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/11/27/why_the_debt_debate_will_never_ever_get_anywhere/feed/ 18 Must-see morning clip http://www.salon.com/2012/11/26/joe_scarborough_why_are_liberals_still_so_angry_on_the_twitter/ http://www.salon.com/2012/11/26/joe_scarborough_why_are_liberals_still_so_angry_on_the_twitter/#comments Mon, 26 Nov 2012 14:20:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13107393 "Morning Joe" co-host Joe Scarborough summoned his inner John McCain this morning when he asked, "Why are liberals still so angry on the Twitter?"  He added:

They are angry about everything. Like they won. They don't understand like when conservatives win, we go hunting. and drink beer. And know we're going to control at the same time, the country for four years. The liberals on the Twitter, on my machine, are so angry. And it doesn't bother me. I feel sorry for them.

When asked, "What did these people do before the Twitter?" Scarborough joked, "They kicked their dogs."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/11/26/joe_scarborough_why_are_liberals_still_so_angry_on_the_twitter/feed/ 5 Joe Scarborough to Nate Silver: “I’m sorry” http://www.salon.com/2012/11/21/joe_scarborough_to_nate_silver_im_sorry/ http://www.salon.com/2012/11/21/joe_scarborough_to_nate_silver_im_sorry/#comments Wed, 21 Nov 2012 15:13:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13104583

Joe Scarborough -- who called the 2012 election a "dead heat" on Twitter and mocked anyone who would predict how it would turn out -- has apologized to the man who correctly called every state for the second presidential race in a row.

In a column on Politico this morning, the "Morning Joe" co-host told Nate Silver he was sorry for doubting the methodology Silver uses on his fivethirtyeight blog.

"I do need to tell Nate I’m sorry for leaning in too hard and lumping him with pollsters whose methodology is as rigorous as the Simpsons’ strip mall physician, Dr. Nick. For those sins (and a multitude of others that I’m sure I don’t even know about), I am sorry," Scarborough wrote.

He added:

Politics is a messy sport. And just as ball players who drink beer and eat fried chicken in dugouts across America can screw up the smartest sabermatrician’s forecast, Nate Silver’s formula is sure to let his fervent admirers down from time to time. But judging from what I saw of him this morning, Nate is a grounded guy who admits as much in his book. I was too tough on him and there’s a 84.398264% chance I will be less dismissive of his good work in the future.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/11/21/joe_scarborough_to_nate_silver_im_sorry/feed/ 31 Hey, hacks: Nate Silver’s not taking your job http://www.salon.com/2012/11/02/dont_be_scared_of_number_wizard_nate_silver_pundits/ http://www.salon.com/2012/11/02/dont_be_scared_of_number_wizard_nate_silver_pundits/#comments Fri, 02 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13060255 In terms of issues dividing the nation as we approach the long-overdue end of this endless campaign season, the raging War on Nate Silver is not as big a deal as, say, the war on poor people and minorities having their votes counted, or the fact that thousands of people on the Eastern seaboard have no power or, in far too many places, food. But it is one of the more entertaining diversions of the feverish week before Election Day. In short: Conservatives are outraged at Silver for "predicting" an Obama victory, and nonpartisan (but fiercely ideological) political press elites are all chuckling at his curious notion that fancy math can be used to determine what is most likely to happen in an election.

Nate Silver does not actually need his army of defenders. He is a wildly successful author and New York Times contributor with a huge audience, and he is smart and witty enough to fight his own battles. I also realize that any defense of Silver plays into the savvy politico notion that liberals are irrationally "clinging" to his projections because they are terrified of uncertainty and Mitt Romney's ineffable momentum.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/11/02/dont_be_scared_of_number_wizard_nate_silver_pundits/feed/ 134 Must-see morning clip: Obama talks debt cuts on “Morning Joe” http://www.salon.com/2012/10/29/must_see_morning_clip_obama_talks_debt_cuts_on_morning_joe/ http://www.salon.com/2012/10/29/must_see_morning_clip_obama_talks_debt_cuts_on_morning_joe/#comments Mon, 29 Oct 2012 12:08:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13055884 "Morning Joe"'s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski interviewed President Barack Obama during a recent New Hampshire campaign stop for a segment which aired Monday. The hosts lightly grilled the president over the Libya embassy attack and gave him the opportunity to talk about his immediate plans should he win a second term.

Obama told the hosts that "our first order of business is going to be to get our deficits and debt under control,” for which he said the Bush-era tax cuts' expiration would be a "forcing mechanism." He appealed to conservative undecided voters with talk of "steamlining" and questioning the size of government, but managed to slip in a back-handed compliment to Romney over healthcare. "I stole a whole bunch of ideas from a Massachusetts governor," he said.

Watch the full interview below, via MSNBC:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/10/29/must_see_morning_clip_obama_talks_debt_cuts_on_morning_joe/feed/ 9 Mika Brzezinski’s erotic dance http://www.salon.com/2012/09/17/mika_brzezinskis_erotic_dance/ http://www.salon.com/2012/09/17/mika_brzezinskis_erotic_dance/#comments Mon, 17 Sep 2012 20:54:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13014377 Vanity Fair’s short profile of MSNBC’s Morning Joe hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough ostensibly depicts them as a dynamic duo reminiscent of the great screwball comedies of the 1940s (the article references The Thin Man’s Nick and Nora). But the sassy journalist heroines popularized by Rosalind Russell and Katharine Hepburn would have balked at a photo shoot like this one—which is both reflective of current attitudes toward professional and political women and jarringly anachronistic. The notion that women exist primarily for men’s amusement (both on and off the job) seems oh so Mad Men, yet the trend toward depicting public women (especially those whose jobs place them in the realm of politics) primarily as sex objects is alive and well in the 21st century. The pornification of political culture (a process in which some women participate willingly and others have foisted upon them after their image is conscripted) has depicted political candidates (e.g., Sarah Palin and Janice Hahn) and women voters (in viral videos like this one and this one from the 2008 campaign) as strippers.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/09/17/mika_brzezinskis_erotic_dance/feed/ 32 Quote of the day: Scarborough’s lesson http://www.salon.com/2012/09/13/quote_of_the_day_scarboroughs_lesson/ http://www.salon.com/2012/09/13/quote_of_the_day_scarboroughs_lesson/#comments Thu, 13 Sep 2012 22:50:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13010703 Joe Scarborough, the host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," wrote an Op-Ed in Politico last night called "The Problem With Mitt," where he sums it all up:

"And the lesson is clear: If we want to win the battle of ideas in the long term, we should be willing to face the fact that Mitt Romney is likely to lose -- and should, given that he's neither a true conservative nor a courageous moderate. He's just an ambitious man. Nothing wrong with that, except when you want to be president. Great leaders combine ambition and ideas and conviction."


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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/09/13/quote_of_the_day_scarboroughs_lesson/feed/ 17 Morning Joe for president! http://www.salon.com/2012/09/11/morning_joe_for_president/ http://www.salon.com/2012/09/11/morning_joe_for_president/#comments Tue, 11 Sep 2012 22:46:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13008651 Oh, there is some exciting news buried beneath this incredibly demeaning and depressing photograph of Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski in the latest issue of Vanity Fair. Morning Joe is going to run for president, guys!

After the presidential inauguration in January, Joe (no fan of Mitt Romney’s—”I’ve been very critical”) plans on publishing a memoir that will serve—no joke—as a vehicle to test the waters for a presidential run in 2016. Take that, Mr. Romney.

I can't wait to read this! "Morning Joe: The Amazing Story of How My Second-Place Cable News Morning Show Convinced a Dozen People That I Could Make a Go at a Presidential Run."

But I have some questions about this! Will Joe Scarborough run as a Republican? Because he would not win a Republican primary anywhere. I guess Washington, D.C., has a Republican primary. He might win that one. Or will he run as a Democrat? Because he is not a Democrat and therefore would run into similar trouble.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/09/11/morning_joe_for_president/feed/ 14 Joe Scarborough says New York Times is “thin skinned” for correcting his nonsense http://www.salon.com/2012/06/07/joe_scarborough_says_new_york_times_is_thin_skinned_for_correcting_his_nonsense/ http://www.salon.com/2012/06/07/joe_scarborough_says_new_york_times_is_thin_skinned_for_correcting_his_nonsense/#comments Thu, 07 Jun 2012 20:54:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=12934322 Joe Scarborough may have been totally, utterly, completely wrong this morning, when he incorrectly argued, based solely on his own general, vague impressions, that the New York Times was treating Mitt Romney fundamentally differently than it had treated earlier Democratic candidates, but, you know, Joe Scarborough doesn't really care. He is still right in his gut.

What happened is that on the "Morning Joe" show this morning, sponsored by the awful burned coffee company, Morning Joe Scarborough angrily rambled at length about a Times story - on the front page of the Home section -- about Mitt Romney's big, tacky house, and how his neighbors hate him and he is always calling the cops on people who smoke weed on the beach. The main problem is, Romney bought a big, expensive house by the beach, and then decided to quadruple its size, and predictably his neighbors have complaints about this. (His neighbors also have complaints about how Mitt Romney wants to ban gay adoption, because many of his neighbors are gay.)

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/06/07/joe_scarborough_says_new_york_times_is_thin_skinned_for_correcting_his_nonsense/feed/ 39 14. Joe Scarborough http://www.salon.com/2011/12/15/14_joe_scarborough/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/15/14_joe_scarborough/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:00:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10325771 Nothing sums up everything hatable about cable news and politics and possibly America itself better than "Morning Joe," MSNBC's daily extended advertisement for Starbucks products and Joe Scarborough's odd belief that he is funny and charming.

The former Florida congressman and possibly attorney of some kind followed up his unremarkable political career by becoming a wildly successful moderate TV talker. ("Wildly successful" in terms of monetary compensation and publicity -- his show is watched by less than half the number of people who watch Fox's daily televised morning train wreck "Fox & Friends.") Joe's supposed to be some sort of maverick because he's not a doctrinaire Republican (anymore), but what he is is a totally doctrinaire member of the moderate Beltway political establishment.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/15/14_joe_scarborough/feed/ 31 Joe Scarborough writes bizarre 9/11 song, for some reason http://www.salon.com/2011/09/08/scarborough_song/ http://www.salon.com/2011/09/08/scarborough_song/#comments Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:01:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/politics//war_room/2011/09/08/scarborough_song Joe Scarborough -- the former Republican congressman who now hosts a basic cable morning show -- wrote a 9/11 song. Why? I don't know. I really don't. It's called "Reason to Believe," and it comes with an insane, Americana-drenched video that also doubles as a parody of horrible Americana-drenched country music videos.

 

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/09/08/scarborough_song/feed/ 35 Joe Scarborough wonders where American dream went http://www.salon.com/2011/08/09/scarborough_column_2/ http://www.salon.com/2011/08/09/scarborough_column_2/#comments Tue, 09 Aug 2011 19:30:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/politics//war_room/2011/08/09/scarborough_column This is Joe Scarborough's opinion column that he wrote and that Politico paid him money for the privilege of publishing, today. It is about how the American dream is in trouble because when Joe Scarborough was a kid his parents used to drive him past rich people's houses and tell him if he worked hard he could live in a rich people house, but now the rich people houses make Joe Scarborough sad, when he drives past them (or drives into the garage of the one he himself lives in, as a rich person).

Today, I still remember those Sunday morning trips to church -- not because my parents were striking out at the inequities of a system that created such economic winners (them) and losers (us) -- but because of what my mom would say as we drove past the glorious homes of doctors, bankers and lawyers.

"You see that house, Joey?"

"Yes ma'am."

"If you work hard in school and keep fighting every day to improve yourself, you can live in a place like that when you grow up," Mom would say with admiration in her voice.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/08/09/scarborough_column_2/feed/ 61 Mark Halperin’s triumphant return to saying nonsense on “Morning Joe” http://www.salon.com/2011/08/03/halperin_back_2/ http://www.salon.com/2011/08/03/halperin_back_2/#comments Wed, 03 Aug 2011 15:45:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/politics//war_room/2011/08/03/halperin_back Oh, happy day! Mark Halperin was back on "Morning Joe" this morning, and MSNBC's master political analyst didn't lose a step during his month-long forced vacation. During a discussion of the economy and the national debt, Halperin masterfully said a bunch of inane, contradictory nonsense.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/08/03/halperin_back_2/feed/ 17 Mark Halperin’s back on MSNBC! http://www.salon.com/2011/08/02/halperin_back/ http://www.salon.com/2011/08/02/halperin_back/#comments Tue, 02 Aug 2011 22:01:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/politics//war_room/2011/08/02/halperin_back Poor Mark Halperin's summer vacation ends this week. The famous political analyst who doesn't understand politics and is wrong about everything will be back on MSNBC sometime this week, after serving his month-long suspension for calling the president a "dick," on "Morning Joe," on July 30. I had sort of hoped, a month ago, that MSNBC would just quietly not ever lift the suspension, or maybe they would all forget that MSNBC ever even employed Mark Halperin. Not to be! Soon, Mark will be back on "Morning Joe" where he will cover politics like a horse race, as covered by someone who had never seen a horse race.

Mark has surely learned his lesson, and from now on he'll be politely wrong about everything, constantly.

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