Race For The White House: Scarborough Doesn't Need No Stinkin' Facts To Know McCain Is A Maverick
By Logan Murphy Tuesday Apr 01, 2008 9:00pm
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Download | play (h/t Silent Patriot)
I saw this video Joe Sudbay posted this morning and thought it was worth passing along. Rachel Maddow tried to point out the fallacies in Joe Scarborough's glowing, fact-free praise of John McCain on MSNBC's Race For The White House.
The Scar continues to spew this ridiculous media narrative that John McCain is a "maverick," completely disregarding the myriad of flip flops the aging Arizona senator has made over the past year. Rachel tries to put him in his place, reminding him that McCain has been pandering to the right on all the major issues including permanent tax cuts, immigration and torture, but all Scarborough does is tell her that she doesn't understand the Republican party. True dat, since she is the lone voice of reason and we all know that facts have a liberal bias. Scarborough loves to steamroll Mika Brzezkinski on his morning show, but as you'll see from this video, his bullying style gets him nowhere with Maddow.
Partial transcript with links to facts below the fold
JS: He refused to tell Tim Russert that he made a mistake voting against—he was one of two Republicans that voted against Bush’s tax cuts. Conservatives will tell you that two things that Bush did right…
RM: And then he changed his mind about them, Joe.
JS: No, he hasn’t changed his mind.
RM: He says he wants them to be permanent now…
JS: He told Tim Russert on Meet the Press in New Hampshire when his life…political life was on the line that he made the right call. He was glad he voted against them.
RM: And now he wants them to be made permanent. He is…He’s pandering to the right and it defies the media happy talk that they like about John McCain…
JS: Okay …whatever…
RM: …but how else to do you explain going after the John Hagee endorsement, going after the Rod Parsley endorsement…
JS: Okay…You know what? Let’s see, let’s see…the Democrats…
RM:…changing his mind on torture, changing his mind on the tax cuts…
JS: Rachel… Good lord…
RM: I’m sorry, but the facts don’t meet…don’t meet your storyline here, but the storyline ought to change to conform to the facts, rather than denying the facts.
JS: Rachel, if you compare, let me just say this. Compare the rigid ideological views of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton with the Democratic Party. The most progressive people in the Democratic Party. Compare that to what John McCain did with the Republican Party. There is no comparison. McCain has gone more towards the middle over the past four years than either of those two. That’s just the bottom line.
RM: That’s absolutely incorrect.
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As much as anything else, presidential campaigns are won and lost by the media narratives that rightly or wrongly come to define a candidate. In the case of Repubican nominee John McCain, the seemingly unshakable narrative of the political "maverick" could not be further off the mark. At almost every turn, McCain in his eternal quest for the White House has reversed long-held positions, compromised core principles and swallowed his pride in order to curry favor with both the leading lights of the conservative movement and right-wing Republican primary voters. The untold story of campaign 2008 is simply that of John McCain's transformation from maverick to prostitute.
For the details, see:
"From Maverick to Prostitute: The Untold Story of John McCain."
I still get this knob confused with Tucker Carlson.
Rachel Maddow should be the first US Secretary of Debunking Bullshit, if only for us to see what the DoDB seal would look like.
Why does Msnbc keep this Joe dude on air? I have tried and tried to watch Morning Joe, but cannot stand it for more than 15 or 20 minutes. He constantly ridicules Mika. He is totally scarcastic and not even a little bit respectful. And that goes on for 3 solid hours. Actually Fox and Friends is sometimes much better and that is saying something.
wtf is a maverick?
Angry brings up a good point (in a semi-spam sort of way): After John McCain loses the presidential race (I will not fear. Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death), will he keep up with his prison-bitch relationship with those he's whored himself out to, or will he try to go back to being the kinda-sorta maverick that takes crazy political stands in defiance of his party leadership(like "Torture is bad.")?
This whole meme that Republicans hate McCain is horse crap. They are pressing that and the maverick thing because the Republicans' only hope this year is to attract independents so they pretend that Republicans hate him which makes him seem like an attractive alternative to the people who have spent the last eight years asleep. There are more than enough of them to turn an election. This whole fiction that Republicans won't support McCain must be exposed vigorously and often.
Douchebag didn't lsten to one thing she said, just tried to shout over her. Why the fuck don't the show 'moderators' actually provide fact checking of the assholes on their shows? Oh, right...'cause they don't want to let the facts hinder the douchebaggery of the right.
That's the way to do it: Laugh in his face!!
I heart Rachel Maddow.
If you don't listen to her show, you can podcast it for free from Green960:
http://www.green960.com/pages/podcasts.html
Jimmy @ 5:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xlRngJlPlXE
this is Mavericks
mudshark @ 11:
actually, this is small Mavericks.
Scar hates it when "the little ladies" speak down to him. Just ask Lori Klausutis.
Rock on Rachel! She's getting loads of airtime and is doing us proud with this time.
Keith @ 10:
Thanks, Keith. I was this close to breaking down and buying a membership to Air America.
Scarborough was frustrted because Maddow was wiping the floor with him with a little thing called REALITY.
Rachel Maddow can mop the floor with just about anybody on the TV or radio talking head circuit, so watching Maddow clean up Java Joe is entertaining, but hardly unexpected. She shows him for the lightweight he is.
I usually won`t watch Scarborough in the AM, because of his inflated ego. I feel so bad for Mica and wish she would smack him upside the head! He won`t let her or anyone else finish a sentence. His only redeeming quality is his occasional Bush bashing.
Also, Scar is so full of it when he tries to pretend he's "balanced" because he's been critical of Bush. As Derrick Coleman would say, "whoop-de-damn-do!" He only became critical when the glaring debacle was so obvious that he could use as political cover to state what any fool could see. Back in '02-05 when honest criticism would have taken at least some measure of guts, he was too busy painting those who took opposite views as cowards and traitors. He's the freakin' coward.
With the facts on her side while all he could do was sputter, Rachel Maddow didn't have to bite it off and spit it out; it would have shriveled even more with her every refusal to STFU, had Joe Scarborough not been dickless* all along.
*CF Ghostbusters
I will never watch his crap show. You'd have to pay me to watch that bs. No wonder this country is so effed up, with trash like that being pumped into American brains every day before work. Sad.
Jimmy @ 5:
An unbranded cow.
McCain is a sacrifice offered up by the RNC during an election cycle they know they can't win.
The RNC knows that whoever the next prez is, that person is going to have to deal with consequences of Bush's presidency and it won't be pretty. And the RNC is perfectly happy if the person who has to deal with Bush's mess is a Dem, even better if its a Dem woman or black person.
Why else do you think the Repub primary field was so crappy? Giuliani and Mitt were the leaders of the most liberal places out there. Thompson was completely useless, Ron Paul was a nutcase. Tancredo was a racist nutcase. Who is left? McCain, a quasi-conservative who is too old to matter if they use him up here and now.
Ed@4
I thought that the seal would be obvious, a toilet or toilet plunger.
Maybe Rachel should point out that Barak and Hillary having been pandering to the far left, Iraq War, "fair economy", unions, health care, on and on...
Joe is rarely restrained. They usually find women dead in his office.
What#8 HDon said. The only way Mr Joe could argue with her was to shout her down. This is the mark of a loser in a debate. Cheap shot Joe.
chris @ 25:
ISP
chris @ 25:
Actually based on current polls none of those positions are far left. They are all mainstream. Bush aint below 30% popularity because he's a centrist you know.
Scab-face is just an MSNBC tool. He was paid to be the asshole rightwinger on his old show, which was a bust, along with miss breathless-big-bosom Rita cosby (pardon the pun.) When MSNBC realigned the shows, he became a "maverick" like McInsane, i.e. in name only. He, like McInsane, are just focused on the gold and anything they feel they need to do to keep on the path, they will do. Nevertheless, I just can't imagine how they get Scab away from a mirrior long enough to stare at the camera. (Has anyone noticed how Scab sounds and looks a bit like John Wayne?) Also he claims to be from panhandle Florida, but he sounds like a yankee to me.
Ed @ 3:
I'm fed up with all this McCain/Hillary/Barry Bullshit!
I'm writing in Rachel Maddow! I'd trust her at 3 a.m more than anybody!!!
SteveinSC @ 30:
*deep breath* Yes, thanks for pointing it out. Sometimes I forget. These people are paid to behave EXACTLY the way they behave in order to fulfill some marketing/progam director's idea of what should be in that spot to reach the demographic of blah blah blah.
who is more batshit crazy mcsnoodles or scarface? its a frickin tie!
Filthy Harry @ 29:
They are pandering to them, Hello Hillary voted for the war!! You and I, well maybe just I, know that public opinion can change ona dime, remember, the American people supported the war for a while. Furthermore, americans are dumb, they don't know what universal health care is, or what is would cost. Once you break it down for them then they get it, well some of them....
chris @ 25:
Actually chris, I'm far left. Neither of those two have been pandering to me. They have, however been courting people who are to the right of me. You are probably thinking of centrists.
No one panders to the far left.
According to Wikipedia, (your grain of salt may vary) a "maverick" was named after a Western rancher who did not brand his calves, thus making them vulnerable to being branded, and claimed, by others.
Is it ironic, or not?
Because this fella's Brand is Republican.
And they are welcome to him.
chris @ 34:
So now you are saying the far left wanted war? Put the crack pipe down, dude.
Mika's dad cannot possibly be proud of her for how she allow Joe to roll over her, talk down to her in what I think is the most Frat Boy Sexist way that I have witnessed. And I am southerner who has to put up with Frat Boys all the time...and suppose the nation has likely had a belly full of the biggest Frat Boy of all...Dubya Bush. Hopefully Mika can look herself in the mirror ...and that she feels like her education wasn't a waste of her families money. It was delightful to see a gay chick take Frat Boy down. Keep it up Rachel.
BTW,
The only thing that approached our happiness when Scar was on after Olbermann,
was his stunned, pole-axed look when the camera switched to him after one of Olbermann's Special Comments.
Priceless.
I heard McCain say exactly as Rachael said. He wants Bush tax cuts permanent. Scarborough is another republican idiot.
How do you reply "whatever"? Good christ, Scar is an idiot. That has to be the most frustratingly stupid thing I have ever seen in my life.
Jimmy @ 5:
A "maverick", according to Ole' "Dead Intern Joe" Scarborough is someone like McSame who can flip-flop on countless issues and con the media that he's schmoozed and bullshitted into thinking it's "straight talk". Seriously though, Rachel kicks Scarborough's sorry ass all over the set and he's left sounding like as Joe Pesci said in "GoodFellas", a "mumbling, stuttering prick". And make no mistake, Scar is a major league prick.
Rachel Maddow is the only voice of reason on MSNBC. Joe, Tweetie, KO, and all the rest are shills for the corporate heads. Give her a show of her own. Move that idiot Matthews to whatever closet they placed Tucker and slide her into that slot. She is smart, analytical, articulate and does not let her biases get in the way as do the others. She has her own show on Air America and does quite well because she discusses the issues. Unlike the others who continually either slap down Hillary or pee all over themselves regarding McCain. Outshouting, interrupting, putting down, belittling and humiliating females does not an audience gain.
Scarborough in a nutshell: flip-flopping on positions is proof that McCain is centrist!
Uh, yeah, right....
dear lord David Gregory's show is un-watchable. awful. horrid. he comes off like a monkey. scarborough is in the running for 'biggest blowhard' on TV who isn't Lou Dobbs. Rachel is awesome, too bad her contract probably forces her to appear on that show. it shouldn't be dignified with her presence.
Maddow is always at her best when she's under fire. She just won't flinch.
That's just an observation.
Jimmy @ 5:
Here are a couple of Mavericks, Bret and Bart.
Abbybwood @ 31:
Chris=Amus
Ignoramus
Spurning a right wing nut job like dobson is not "moving toward the middle." GOP has moved so far to the right that even American conservatives feel uncomfortable. McCain is flip flopping and dancing so he can get elected. And btw Scar, there are no truly left wing candidates out there, they're all "in the middle" cuz that's all the media will allow. (asswipe)
THE JOE SCARBOROUGH PLAYBOOK
Moves Against Rachel Maddow
1. If Rachel offers a list of instances of McCain's flip-flop pandering to the conservative base, hone in on just one, and say, "If that's all you've got against McCain . . . "
2. If Rachel's comments last for more than five seconds, interrupt her.
3. If Rachel asks for an explanation of McCain's flip-flop pandering to the conservative base, resort to ad hominem hypocrisy by pointing out that the Democrats pander as well.
4. When all else fails, just call the Democratic candidates "the most progressive" people in the party, truth be damned.
chris @ 34:
universal health care would cost less than the GOP tax cuts for the rich and the GOP oil war for big oil and Halliburton. The GOP agenda is to take middle class tax dollars to use for themselves, their wars and their corporate cronies while cutting the programs designed to help the American middle class. The GOP agenda of death and destruction for profit is to use our tax dollars to kill rather than for health care to heal.
chris @ 25:
hilarious. the "far left" in this country is defined by discerning folks like yourself by opposition to the Iraq war. which 70% of the population, roughly, opposes. ok, thanks! great. actually, this isn't what you call 'pandering to the "far left"'. this is just what the candidates want to do anyways. the "far left" barely exists anymore, at all, but they are the people with the giant puppets and the strange, unproductive but highly interesting gadgets at things like Burning Man. nobody is 'pandering' to the far left, they are out of the conversation. which is a shame since Conservative idiots who know absolutely nothing about what they're talking about are almost always invited guests at nearly every important televised segment. vast majorities of people support environmental reforms, ending the war, health care reform. there is no need to 'pander' to these people, the Dem. candidates are already offering things they want.
HAHAHAHAHA!!!
It's hilarious watching Scar try to be Sean Hannity--does he have any idea how fucking RIDICULOUS he looks and sounds when he's doing this schtick?
As long as MSNBC continues to parade this wannabe-hack (alongside Chris Matthews and that BORING-ASS Dan Abrams) on the air several times of day, I say they deserve the paltry ratings that they get.
Joe Scarborough is an exact copy of Chris Matthews - they're the same guy. Personalities with a particular partisan bent to them that sway from side to side now and then to promote the network and its story lines. And then on top of that they constantly get caught saying assinine things just to try to help ratings. There's never any facts behind these two, just conjecture and silly jokes about ethnic origins and potatoes or some crap like that.
Obama and Hillary are the "most progressive"? What happened to the great gulf separating both of them from Kucinich?
chris @ 25:
Thanks for the imput, concern troll. You're right, though: a fair economy, unions to pay workers a living wage and give them a retirement and health benefits, health care are things I'd hang my hat on any day. Sorry you trolls reject those things for endless war and death, revealing the identity of a covert CIA agent that was investigating Iran's nuclear program, cheating taxpayers out of there hard earned money, bailing out big business, rigging elections, spying on US citizens, tripling the national debt, having the highest rate of home foreclosures in history. These are all things of which you are proud, I'm sure.
I'll stick with unions, a fair economy and universal health care any day. Got facts, troll?
chris @ 25:
That "far left" holding those positions is the majority of Americans.
Filthy Harry @ 23:
I agree, he's Bob Dole 2.0. its his 'turn', he earned it by hugging Bush in public and all. what Obama has to worry about, strategically, is the Repugs trying to regroup in the Congress for a 'revolution' 94-style. and the main way for him to do that will be, I think, to really unite the Democrats first. don't pull a Clinton and force anything like NAFTA down people's throats. get on a role with good, important legislation on Iraq, health care, energy, taxes (and waaaay play up the middle class tax cut he's proposed so they only have the rich to rally against it). get on a roll and build approval by getting things done so there's nothing to really rebel against. then he can start peeling off votes by Repub. senators in unsafe states and house members in unsafe districts. McCain actually probably is the Repub's best chance to somehow hold the White House. Romney was a joke, Giuliani took himself out in the most astonishing manner, like, ever...Hucakbee's 'fair tax' was easily tagged as crazy talk right away, despite his populist appeal. the rest of the R. candidates were a collective joke, except Ron Paul who would never win in a million years.
Rachel Maddow is the best thing to happen to television in years. She is sharp as a tack.
chris @ 34:
Wow, for an ignorant troll with no facts at your disposal to back you up, you sure have an elevated opinion of yourself.
A majority of 1. ROFLMAO!
I am a married woman in love with Rachel Maddow. She is the only one who can confront Scar to the point where he has to change the subject. She is even better on radio where she can be more herself. I am her mother's age, and Rachel is my role model.
Jimmy @ 5:
A maverick is the last vestage of white male rule for the top 1%, the corporate media elite whose paychecks depend upon division and sterotypes, and the military industrial complex. We were warned about this from one of their own who saw the handwriting on the wall years ago. We didn't listen to "Ike" then, and if the media has their way, just enough idiots who think the corporate class gives a damn about them, will build up and vote for another old man who was almost last in his class, has a hair trigger temper, and flip flops and lies on important issues. Long story short...a maverick is Bush 3 and may just be the next and possibly last "President of the United States!"
miss_kitty Hussein @ 37:
He's saying that Clinton wanted war, and that by now calling for the war's (gradual) end, she's pandering.
Of course, this doesn't really help his position (whatever it is -- after all, the mere fact that Democrats pander sometimes doesn't mean that McCain isn't pandering right now).
First, though Chris listed numerous issues on which he accused both Clinton and Obama of pandering to the "far left" (we barely even have a left, much less a far left, in this country), the only real example of pandering he could illuminate was Clinton's war vote. He implicitly conceded the argument on the rest of the issues.
Moreover, since none of those issues qualify as "far left," even if we say that Clinton is pandering on the war, we're saying she's a right-leaning politician pandering to the mainstream. McCain, on the other hand, is a one-time conservative pandering to the far-right -- neo-cons and theocrats -- when he had tried to make a career of being neither.
Does "Dr. Maddow" have her own show yet? C'mon MSNBC, get with the game.
Karen @ 51:
Exactly right. JO-JO the dog-faced boy has nothing. Like most wingnuts, he thinks loud and rude is smart. Like most wingnuts, he's wrong.
blog responder @ 56:
shhh havent you heard , ? hes unelectable! hes to short! he doesnt fit the idea of ones idea of a president! we like what he said but!hes to far to the left! hes batshit crazy because he wants the same things we do! and hes not black or a woman!!!!!!!!!did i leave anything out?
chris @ 34:
Oh, I agree they are pandering. However my point is still valid: The positions you listed are not 'far left'. They are pandering, but only to the middle. If they were pandering to the far left they'd be calling for war crimes tribunals and impeachment proceedings. (and legalizing it *wink*)
onceler @ 59:
Actually, I think though he's 'earned' the right to run, the RNC expects him to lose. They're using him up. Though I'm opposed to the point of nausea to almost all of the conservative platform's agenda, I still find it hard to believe there are no leading lights of the republican party they could have gotten to run. They want McCain to lose. So the dems can take the blame for Bush's incompetence/crimes. Any smart, charismatic, clean republican is wisely sitting this one out, thus the crop we got running this go round.
i thought not!!!!!!!!!
Rachel Maddow is without doubt the greatest on air debater. Scarborough is way out of his league.
Good job Rachel. Making republicans look stupid is getting easier every day.
woodguy @ 57:
"give them" retirement and health benefits, how about you earn it, this is a America, we don't give you any thing, well, atleast we used to be that way , thank you democrats. Everyone is capable of buying there own retirement and health benefits, its just how they manage money, ie. getting a good education to get a good job and living within your means, no kids you can't afford.!! Oh yea, "cheating tax payers" your right, the millionaire who actually pay taxes are giving money to the family of four on $50000 a year who get more back than he pays.
Why do conservatives always defend their talking points by saying something to the effect that one has to be a conservative in order to understand conservatives? It isn't important that a convincing argument is one that persuades all points of view. It's like conservatives have a secret club with secret handshakes and coded words spoken with raised eyebrows. Actions performed by a conservative in this reality are only truly seen by other conservatives. Other life forms that may happen to notice conservatives in action are witnessing an illusion and thus can not be trusted to give a correct analysis.
Scarborough, you are so lame.
Joe just got beat up by a woman. How manly are you now, Scar? What a neo-wussy-guy!
chris the NEW NEW Liberal @ 73:
"Everyone is capable of buying there [sic] own retirement and health benefits?" That's verifiably false. But go ahead and keep pushing your multimillionaires-are-getting-screwed theme and see how much credibility it gets you.
Joe is used to clubbing woman unconscious and leaving them for dead. He doesn't know how to deal with a fighter.
-GSD
Scarborough is pompous ass...and he proves it every time he opens his mouth.
.
I heart Rachel Maddow.
Margaret @ 7:
Good point. And the Democratic Party is sleeping at the wheel. Maybe they are going to do something once we have our nominee, but for Hillary and Barack to be picking at each other is a waste of energy and detracts from the issue.
The main point is.....a monkey's uncle would be better than anything the repugs can throw