Morning Joe: All Episodes Talk

[Kemper]

I am glad I wasn't the only person who, while feeling really badly for Joe, wondered about all the time off.  

What I saw of the show today, with Willie, was just fine.  There was so much news to discuss it was hard to know what to talk about first.  Meeka was trying so hard to justify her position as Anchor, while probably feeling that she should be with Joe. 

I have to wonder if they will still broadcast from Florida when things get resolved with Joe's mother.  

[Landsnark]

This morning at the gym I found myself shouting at Mika.  She was introducing Ari Melber as MSNBC's legal expert, and she asked a 2 minute question, setting up the Cohen situation for Ari and us, because neither Ari nor the audience had ever heard anything about this before.  Because of this Ari had no time to get into things.. and I presume that'll be his last shot at it until he's on air later, after Cohen has already testified.  So that was a lost opportunity to get his estimation of what may happen and why.

For some inexplicable reason, as the show comes out of an extended segment on Cohen's current situation to transition to legal expert Ari, Mika takes it upon herself to recap that immediately preceding segment to "prove" to us she's not the stupidest person working at that network. 
Ari just sat still with a Mona Lisa smile for 2 minutes as Mika made sounds.  If I was him, I would be wondering why I got to work 3 hours early to spend my time listening to the network's bottom rung mind waste my on air time.

Her inability to read words aloud is bad, but I think worse is a news host feeding their own ego on air.  This is a learned habit from Joe, who is nothing but bloviating ego.

Edited February 27, 2019 by Landsnark

[Landsnark]

When was the last time she was brought onto another show as a wonk or topic-related expert?
"I can handle things. I'm smart. Not like everybody says, like dumb. And I want respect!"

[suomi]

33 minutes ago, Landsnark said:

"I can handle things. I'm smart. Not like everybody says, like dumb. And I want respect!"

Yep. Fredo Brzezinski, LOL. I swear, she will launch into that some morning, using her tense voice of course. 

Edited February 27, 2019 by suomi
typo

[teddysmom]

45 minutes ago, Landsnark said:

Ari just sat still with a Mona Lisa smile for 2 minutes as Mika made sounds.  If I was him, I would be wondering why I got to work 3 hours early to spend my time listening to the network's bottom rung mind waste my on air time.

Ari should have thrown in some of his rap references like he does on The Beat, just to fuck with her.

[teddysmom]

2 hours ago, Landsnark said:

When was the last time she was brought onto another show as a wonk or topic-related expert?

I don't think they have a show centered on what push up bra to wear, or how to terrorize your pet pig. 

[millennium]

16 hours ago, teddysmom said:

I don't think they have a show centered on what push up bra to wear, or how to terrorize your pet pig. 

But I would totally watch it.

[stormy]

The apologizer in chief aka Ignatius is on board today.

After Jonathan Lamire's scary reporting, I turned off the TV.

Edited February 28, 2019 by stormy

[Eliot]

9 minutes ago, stormy said:

The apologizer in chief aka Ignatius is on board today.

After Jonathan Lamire's scary reporting, I turned off the TV.

I think of him as the “Normalizer in Chief,” because he persists in treating the Trump administration like it’s just any other normal presidency. His context is so skewed by his years in the beltway; he is simply unable to grasp what’s really going on.

I am liking Donnie today. I hope he is wrong with his prediction.

[stormy]

35 minutes ago, Eliot said:

I think of him as the “Normalizer in Chief,” because he persists in treating the Trump administration like it’s just any other normal presidency. His context is so skewed by his years in the beltway; he is simply unable to grasp what’s really going on.

I am liking Donnie today. I hope he is wrong with his prediction.

Damn   I missed Donnie's prediction.

What was it?

Donnie's been throwing out RICO for weeks. I had to look it up as I'm not familiar with fancy legal talk.

Edited February 28, 2019 by stormy

[Landsnark]

Mika is uncomfortable when women apologize, y'all.  Because she's a feminist thought leader.

[Ladyrain]

I am sick and tired of little Ms. KYV sitting there mute as the menfolk go on a 'splaining spree, and then she lets out s breathless "wow" at the end of the tutorial.   It's childish, stupid, and demeaning to women.   Has she ever "wow"ed after one of the female panelists have given an enlightened monologue?   I am convinced that she is envious of all the women guests who hold their own in the conversations, when she just sits there sighing and tsk-tsking and gazing up adoringly at her hubby.  

By the way, I'm referencing Meek-s reaction after Normalizer in Chief Ignatius was talking about the abruptly ended talks about N.K. denuclearization and could this mean that Japan would now think about arming itself with nukes.

Edited February 28, 2019 by Ladyrain

[teddysmom]

I can't believe Joe is defending Trump leaving the summit early with "sometimes you just have to walk away".  Wait, yes I can. 

They are coming home because Trump is losing his shit over Michael Cohen. 

The summit was  a joke. There were no preliminary talks, nothing set up. The terms of any agreement are usually worked out in advance and the summit is just ceremonial. Do we actually think Trump is sitting there negotiating with Kim? He can't figure out how to work an umbrella. 

[may flowers]

7 minutes ago, teddysmom said:

I can't believe Joe is defending Trump leaving the summit early with "sometimes you just have to walk away".  Wait, yes I can. 

They are coming home because Trump is losing his shit over Michael Cohen. 

The summit was  a joke. There were no preliminary talks, nothing set up. The terms of any agreement are usually worked out in advance and the summit is just ceremonial. Do we actually think Trump is sitting there negotiating with Kim? He can't figure out how to work an umbrella. 

That's when I turned the show off. Trump failed, and Joe just can't say it. Trump didn't get a deal, he didn't change the subject from Cohen, and what he did do - defend a dictator who murdered an American citizen with "he told me he didn't know and I believe him" - is disgraceful.  What is Joe's problem? I'm trying to cut him slack because of what he's going through with his mom, but his and Ignatius defending Trump's failure is too much.

Edited February 28, 2019 by may flowers

[The Solution]

2 hours ago, teddysmom said:

I can't believe Joe is defending Trump leaving the summit early with "sometimes you just have to walk away".  Wait, yes I can. 

He can't figure out how to work an umbrella. 

What kills me is that Joe was acting like it was Trump's decision to end things.

"He can't figure out how to work an umbrella" is going to stay with me all day. 😂

Edited February 28, 2019 by The Solution

[teddysmom]

The fact that they are going along with Trump & GOP saying the hearing was a distraction from the Summit, they scheduled the Summit to distract from the hearing. 

[Eliot]

1 hour ago, stormy said:

Damn   I missed Donnie's prediction.

What was it?

That Cohen was right when he said Trump won't leave office peacefully. That's a scary scenario.

Also, I like Elijah Cummings and everything, but the fawning and salivating over him by both Joe and Mika was just ridiculous. At one point, someone made the comment that it was a "good day for America" that all these things are coming to light (and we can debate that all day long), but when Mika breathlessly muttered, "Thanks to Elijah!" I almost vomited into my mascara. I get that he officiated at their wedding, but, God, having some fucking objectivity!

AOC got high marks from most pundits for her non-grandstanding questioning style yesterday. I thought she did well also. Just curious, did Mrs. KYV have anything to say about that?

Edited February 28, 2019 by Eliot

[teddysmom]

28 minutes ago, Eliot said:

Also, I like Elijah Cummings and everything, but the fawning and salivating over him by both Joe and Mika was just ridiculous. At one point, someone made the comment that it was a "good day for America" that all these things are coming to light (and we can debate that all day long), but when Mika breathlessly muttered, "Thanks to Elijah!" I almost vomited into my mascara. I get that he officiated at their wedding, but, God, having some fucking objectivity!

Cummings did do a great job ending the hearing , but ITA, Mika & Joe can address that w/o making it about themselves.  "Oh look someone who likes us did something good, that means we're good too!!".

No, it does not. 

[XOQueens]

1 hour ago, Eliot said:

but when Mika breathlessly muttered, "Thanks to Elijah!" I almost vomited into my mascara.

Mika is nothing without the men in her life. 

[millennium]

5 hours ago, teddysmom said:

I can't believe Joe is defending Trump leaving the summit early with "sometimes you just have to walk away".  Wait, yes I can. 

That's when I switched off.   I sensed we were but one step away from "Today Donald Trump became President of the United States."

[millennium]

3 hours ago, Eliot said:

Also, I like Elijah Cummings and everything, but the fawning and salivating over him by both Joe and Mika was just ridiculous. At one point, someone made the comment that it was a "good day for America" that all these things are coming to light (and we can debate that all day long), but when Mika breathlessly muttered, "Thanks to Elijah!" I almost vomited into my mascara. I get that he officiated at their wedding, but, God, having some fucking objectivity!

AOC got high marks from most pundits for her non-grandstanding questioning style yesterday. I thought she did well also. Just curious, did Mrs. KYV have anything to say about that?

Cummings undermined his day's performance by taking extraordinary pains to publicly rehabilitate his "best friend" Mark Meadows after that "some of Trump's best friends are black" stunt. 

I know almost nothing about AOC except that I'm sick of hearing about her and it annoys me that people call her AOC.  But she was really sharp yesterday.

[meowmommy]

3 hours ago, millennium said:

I know almost nothing about AOC except that I'm sick of hearing about her and it annoys me that people call her AOC.

I think it's meant less to be cutesy and more because her entire name is eleven syllables.  And it works because already you see "AOC" and you instantly know who they mean.

5 hours ago, XOQueens said:

Mika is nothing without the men in her life.

Ugh.  Her pseudo-feminism while idolizing men epitomizes everything I don't want to be as a female of a certain age. 

I'm trying to imagine any scenario in which Mika would be offered her own show, on any network including the Cartoon Network, and I can't, just can't.  And if Joe decided to walk away, it would not be Regis & Kelly-minus-Regis redux.  The show would die. 

And I agree with the poster upthread who commented that Mika is never seen on another MSNBC program, either as a substitute host or as a guest, unlike virtually every other talking head on the network.  Who the hell would want her there?  What would she have to offer?

9 hours ago, Eliot said:

I am liking Donnie today. I hope he is wrong with his prediction.

Donnie bothers me with his Michael-Cohen's-best-friend routine.  And I don't understand his qualifications to be on the network, any more than I do Mika's.  Although he's far more coherent.

[Eliot]

Speaking of Mika's pseudo feminism, this Tweet she just sent annoyed me to no end. Why must she try to wedge everything into her stupid "know your value" frame of reference?

I agree Tlaib should not have apologized, but she wasn't apologizing because she is a shrinking violet woman who doesn't know any better, as Mika would have you believe. She made a considered judgment to not drag the proceedings off course. You can agree or disagree whether that was the right thing to do, but it had nothing to do with her being a woman.

[cased]

34 minutes ago, meowmommy said:

Donnie bothers me with his Michael-Cohen's-best-friend routine.  And I don't understand his qualifications to be on the network, any more than I do Mika's.  Although he's far more coherent.

Donnie used to annoy me, but now I actually like him. He was on Laurence O'Donnell's show last night, and Laurence was fawning over him.

[millennium]

1 hour ago, meowmommy said:

I think it's meant less to be cutesy and more because her entire name is eleven syllables.  And it works because already you see "AOC" and you instantly know who they mean.

I have a problem with acronyms.   It's because of texting I think.  Everyone's too lazy now to type out actual words or even pronounce them.  On TV commercials, metastatic breast cancer is called MBC, like it's hip.  Mohammad bin Salman, who ordered the hit on the Washington Post (notice I didn't write WaPo) journalist is MBS.   Alexandra Ocasio Cortez is AOC.    Even Democrats are no longer Democrats in news articles and even on TV -- they're "Dems."   Also, it all reeks of branding.  I don't know if it's the Virgo or the English major in me, but I don't like what's happening to the language.

Edited February 28, 2019 by millennium

[millennium]

1 hour ago, meowmommy said:

Donnie bothers me with his Michael-Cohen's-best-friend routine.  And I don't understand his qualifications to be on the network, any more than I do Mika's.  Although he's far more coherent.

There were some muttered half-jokes from the other panelists this morning about Donnie's stench.  Makes me grateful for the limitations of television.

[Eliot]

32 minutes ago, millennium said:

On TV commercials, metastatic breast cancer is called MBC, like it's hip.  Mohammad bin Salman, who ordered the hit on the Washington Post (notice I didn't write WaPo) journalist is MBS.   Alexandra Ocasio Cortez is AOC.    Even Democrats are no longer Democrats in news articles and even on TV -- they're "Dems."   Also, it all reeks of branding.  I don't know if it's the Virgo or the English major in me, but I don't like what's happening to the language.

I'm with you on the abbreviations. I hate that hideous diseases and hideous people have been reduced to cute monikers that diminish their horribleness.

I don't mind "AOC," but that's because I don't think she's horrible.

[Landsnark]

So none of you heard Donnie say "r*******" on air, and change it to "mentally challenged?"  Yeeesh, bro.  Calm the fuck down and go 1/2 decaf or something.
I heard it and presumed he meant the dictionary meaning of the word, which means to slow or prevent development.  But then he sputtered and changed it to "mentally challenged," meaning he was using the term as a pejorative to insult.  You're on television, dummy.
 

[Ohwell]

2 hours ago, meowmommy said:

I think it's meant less to be cutesy and more because her entire name is eleven syllables.  And it works because already you see "AOC" and you instantly know who they mean.

I refuse to give her initials, ala RBG.  I just call her Ocasio-Cortez, which isn't difficult to get out. 

[suomi]

2 hours ago, Ohwell said:

I refuse to give her initials, ala RBG.  I just call her Ocasio-Cortez, which isn't difficult to get out. 

I hear ya, but I like that RBG came from Notorious RBG (I have a T-shirt and the DVD) which came from Notorious B.I.G. (Biggie Smalls) who is tied with Tupac as the greatest and most influential voice in hip hop. RBG is an homage and also a salute to Associate Justice Ginsberg's standing in her field and a play on how a tiny little old lady goes just short of gangsta on the opposing Justices when she files dissenting briefs. 

I feel sorta guilty about it but I've always liked Donny and usually enjoy his appearances. And then he fucks it up when he does something like using the R-word. He did have the nerve to call out Keith Olbermann although it backfired because at that time TPTB were all up in KO. Now, not so much. Not a big fan of how they kick Donny on this show much of the time, just because they can. He guests on afternoon and evening shows while Mika and Joe, as others have noted, are seen only in their teeny tiny pretentious small pond. I did notice that the BriWi Brian Williams scuttlebutt in the link above mentioned "if Joe Scarborough revives his political career." LOL, could the gods be that generous?

Edited March 1, 2019 by suomi
typo

[stormy]

Joe's always talking about these mysterious people in the White House who advise trump and he never takes their advice.

Who are these people?  Because I've never seen them (John Kelly's gone. Mick Mulvaney is working part time at a job he doesn't want).  Which leaves Jared and Ivanka.  And they're getting top secret info with security clearances they aren't qualified to have.

Only Susan Del Percio got the Otto Warmbier story right.  It is amazing, although we should all know better by now, that  everything was chucked out the window in 2016.

[suomi]

I'm watching these self-satisfied  mutts open the show today by pontificating and clucking about what all they knew and when they knew it and how it's turning out just as they predicted ... and it's all I can do not to throw three hammers at my three TVs. 

[oakville]

Friday Recap. Joe started talking about Stalin & quotas. Noah & Joe started complaining about AOC banning hamburgers. Mika said too much meat is bad for you.

Noah wants to speak at CPAC but they have not invited him.

Joe is mad at Trump for embracing tyranny.

Kim Jong Un knew about Otto being tortured.

[millennium]

"I like Mark Meadows."   

"I consider Mark Meadows a friend."

Says a lot about Scarborough's lack of character.

[suomi]

Miss One Trick Pony is slogging through a verge of tears tirade about women apologizing and/or not using Their Voices. :::sigh:::

[xaxat]

During the discussion about Meadows/Tlaib everyone was quite eager to call statements by Tlaib anti-Semitic. But when it came to Meadows, they worked their asses off to avoid calling Meadows' statements/actions racist. "Maybe he didn't know calling Obama a Kenyan was offensive, blah, blah, blah. . . "

Mika finally got there, and then Joe was like "We're done here."

ETA And fifteen minutes later they did a wrap up of Black History Month. That timing actually made me laugh.

Edited March 1, 2019 by xaxat

[teddysmom]

13 hours ago, Eliot said:

I'm with you on the abbreviations. I hate that hideous diseases and hideous people have been reduced to cute monikers that diminish their horribleness.

Indianapolis is referred to as Indy and it drives me INSANE.  Even the newspaper changed its name to IndyStar. 

1 hour ago, xaxat said:

ETA And fifteen minutes later they did a wrap up of Black History Month. That timing actually made me laugh.

I was in the bathroom and I kept thinking WTF are they doing? Shouldn't this have been done during FEBRUARY?  And why all at once? I appreciate the impact of all those people, but how about honoring 4-5 of them a day?  

Joe tap danced so hard to defend Meadows he probably put holes in his shoes.  White guys gotta white. 

[Eliot]

Mika was utterly insufferable this morning. Brave Little Toaster, with her impassioned "Here's what I would have said to Meadows" pre-written speech, as if she's not the same whipped dog who cowers in the corner every time Joe looks at her sideways.

She is a joke and a fool.

[teddysmom]

5 minutes ago, Eliot said:

Mika was utterly insufferable this morning. Brave Little Toaster, with her impassioned "Here's what I would have said to Meadows" pre-written speech, as if she's not the same whipped dog who cowers in the corner every time Joe looks at her sideways.

Wanna bet someone on the staff wrote that speech? 

[Eliot]

4 minutes ago, teddysmom said:

Wanna bet someone on the staff wrote that speech? 

Oh, I'm SURE she wrote it. That's her MO - spout off self-righteous platitudes that she can never in a million years live up to.

[teddysmom]

8 minutes ago, Eliot said:

Oh, I'm SURE she wrote it. That's her MO - spout off self-righteous platitudes that she can never in a million years live up to.

 I think if she'd been watching and was that upset, she'd have made a statement on Twitter instead of waiting 2 days.  While Hubby pointed out that Mark really is a great person. 

Cummings spoke of his "friendship" with Meadows to diffuse the situation, and that's the same reason Tlaib apologized when she didn't have to.  Mark Meadows is a racist. You can be a racist and have black relatives. See: Strom Thurmond.  

 

[Ohwell]

12 hours ago, suomi said:

I hear ya, but I like that RBG came from Notorious RBG (I have a T-shirt and the DVD) which came from Notorious B.I.G. (Biggie Smalls) who is tied with Tupac as the greatest and most influential voice in hip hop. RBG is an homage and also a salute to Associate Justice Ginsberg's standing in her field and a play on how a tiny little old lady goes just short of gangsta on the opposing Justices when she files dissenting briefs. 

I should have made my post clearer.  I understand the origin of RBG, I like the initials.  What I meant was Ocasio-Cortez doesn't deserve RBG-like initials because she hasn't accomplished anything along the levels of RBG. 

[Landsnark]

Was it my imagination or was Mika especially terrible today reading the news?

Also, should we name the Bond villainess top she wore today, and wears most days?  It needs its own name.

[teddysmom]

2 hours ago, Landsnark said:

Also, should we name the Bond villainess top she wore today, and wears most days?  It needs its own name.

We could nickname Mika "Odd Job" because it's really odd that she has this job.  I didn't notice the top, I'm always mesmerized by how white her hair is, and how much highlighter she has under her eyes. 

[millennium]

41 minutes ago, teddysmom said:

We could nickname Mika "Odd Job" because it's really odd that she has this job.  

Sitting on my fingers, lol.

[teddysmom]

Quote

Sitting on my fingers, lol.

Good one!  Can you believe me of all people didn't even think of that. I'm usually the one with the trash mind. 

[millennium]

Trying to decide, do I go outside and shovel a foot of snow out of my driveway or stay in and listen to Scarborough Joe-splain Trump's appeal and the Democrats' lack thereof?

Either way, I'll need boots ...

[stormy]

At 6:30 Joe announced that his mother had passed away over the weekend.

Condolences to Joe and his family.

Edited March 4, 2019 by stormy

[suomi]

At 6:30 Joe announced that his mom died. He thanked everyone who assisted in caring for her. Mika told him he did a good job with his mom.

[Eliot]

Just now, stormy said:

At 6:30 Joe announce that his mother had passed away over the weekend.

Condolences to Joe and his family.

We cross posted. I do feel bad for him. Dementia is awful.

He is pretty together, all things considered.