‘Morning Joe’ as must-see TV

Morning Joe is to Washington politicians what church service is to evangelical Christians. So, when co-host Joe Scarborough went off on a 20-minute rant yesterday, it had Washington all atwitter. He called it a defense of civility in media, but it came across like a self-righteous sermon.

Scarborough upbraided critics for ridiculing the meeting he and his co-host wife, Mika Brzezinski, had with President-elect Donald Trump. He preached that their pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago was on “deep background.” Their assignment? To gather journalistic insights into issues that will define Trump’s presidency.

Trump commanded Joe and Mika to ‘obey in advance’

Except Scarborough spent most of his time fulminating about a column in The Atlantic titled “The Sound of Fear on Air.” The writer, David Frum, insinuated that, like so many others, they were just kissing the ring out of fear and framing it as enlightened journalism. Moreover, he cited the “unsettling experience” he had on the show the day before. During their discussion about Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, Frum quipped:

If you’re too drunk for Fox News, you’re very, very drunk indeed.

That was arguably the best line of any commentary on this nomination. But instead of applause and commendation, Brzezinski scolded Frum for being “too flippant” and disrespectful toward Hegseth’s colleagues at Fox News. Of course, kissing Trump’s ring is bad enough. But policing what informed guests like Frum say about his kakistocratic cabinet nominees takes obeying in advance to a MAGA degree.

Let’s not forget, though, that this meeting at Mar-a-Lago was supposed to be on “deep background.” That doesn’t just mean hushed tones; it means the meeting itself should be kept secret. Yet here’s Joe, blabbering self-righteously about how misunderstood he is, leaving Mika to only say, Amen. The couple doth protest too much, methinks.

Viewers protest and flee the show

Meanwhile, you know you done f*cked up when your show is losing viewers faster than eX-Twitter is losing users. But the way Mika allows Joe to treat her should’ve had viewers tuning out Morning Joe long ago. After all, Brzezinski’s “Know Your Value” campaign champions women’s empowerment in the workplace.

Yet on Morning Joe, she often plays Stepford Wife to Chauvinistic Joe, echoing the 1950s dynamic between housewife Edith and longshoreman Archie Bunker on All in the Family. If she truly knew her value, Mika would tell Joe to shut up at least ten times per show — and finally tame his chauvinism.

Even so, I suspect fickle liberals will soon come crawling back, realizing that turning to milquetoast CNN or red-meat Fox News amounts to cutting off their nose to spite their face. That might be Morning Joe’s saving grace, but it’s hardly inspiring.