Embarrassment on Morning Joe today.

[CTyankee]

Somebody needs to calm Pat Buchanan down.

Today he was interrupting guest Steve Rattner to such an extent that Rattner was sending signals to Mika, caught on camera, to let him get a word in edgewise. Mika tried to cut Pat off, but he started up again once Rattner was making his points. This was in a discussion of how we got into this ditch in the economy in the first place.

Pat was in his usual high voiced (and getting higher by the moment) screech about not raising taxes on the wealthy during a recession.

In exasperation, Rattner asked Mika to show the chart he brought showing exactly how the Bush tax cuts added to the deficit (in addition to Bush spending on wars and the Medicare Part D program). Pat harangued more (while agreeing on the war expediture). Where Rattner was going was to show that had it not been for what Bush did, we would be experiencing a small surplus now. The chart also showed how much smaller the Obama stimulus was compared to Bush's spending.
Pat "just couldn't handle the truth"!!!

Finally, they were out of time on that segment and moved quickly to the next one, after the commercial break...

[malaise]

1. But that is why Pat is there every fugging day of the week -

to only allow ReTHUG talking points to be heard

[femmocrat]

2. You deserve a hand for sitting through it! Good catch!

:applause:

I rarely watch (especially if Scarborough is there), but always click when Buchanan comes on! Too bad the worthwhile information about the deficit got lost in the drama.

[Hissyspit]

3. You could post that subject line every day...

and it would be correct every time.

[CTyankee]

5. This was brazen, though. Mika was obviously trying to help Rattner out.

While I have no love of Rattner, he was trying gently to get his point across and there was genuine embarrassment on the set of MJ today. I'd never seen that before and I've sat thru many a Buchanan rant.

[Ilsa]

4. I wish they had given Rattner a second segment

without Pat so Rattner could clearly make his points.

The Bush tax cuts have to be reversed or allowed to expire. Close the loopholes without trade-offs. End the O&G subsidies. End the wars. It doesn't have to be that difficult.

[spanone]

6. long ago i got tired of starting my mornings pissed off...i rarely if ever watch

[CTyankee]

8. That's what my husband says! He says that I start my day with MJ and then go online

to DU and then I'm pissed off for the rest of the day! We get a big laugh out of it!

[stanwyck]

14. Me, too. Used to be a loyal watcher - when John Ridley was often

a guest. And Harold Ford. Then...when Buchanon's appearances became more frequent, I stopped watching. You're right -- no way to start your day. (I did catch a few of the shows before the election. Mika and Pat fawning all over Sarah Palin. Buchanon kept referring to her as "young and fresh". Couldn't tell if he wanted a VP or a piece of fruit. With Palin, not much difference.)

[EFerrari]

17. You guys should watch Amy instead.

It's a much nicer way to begin the day.

[CTyankee]

21. She is nice. I'll have to check back in on her show...

[lame54]

7. Yeah, I'm embarrassed every time I watch it too

[CTyankee]

11. I wasn't embarrassed, just annoyed. But I think Mika was embarrassed and

probably had a word with Pat after the show. "If you don't play nice, we'll have to take you out of the sandbox!"

[chelsea0011]

9. I've grown so tired watching the wealthy sit around a table talking about

how they don't want the Bush tax cuts to go back to the rates they were when Clinton was around. The only argument they have is creating jobs and we know that is a lie and a myth.

[Cyrano]

10. Pat Buchanan is a long-standing disease that never goes away.

Most people aren't aware that he spent much of his adult life as an apologist for the Nazi regime. If you're interested, google "Pat Buchanan Hitler" and read all about it.

It all poured out of him at the 1992 Republican Convention where he gave one of the most disgusting, outrageous speeches in American history.

The late, great columnist, Molly Ivins, summed it up best. She said, "His speech sounded better in the original German." Jeez I miss her.

[CTyankee]

12. The NYT sent Stephen King to cover that Convention and he wrote

a wonderfully caustic and funny OpEd about Pat's speech. He said Pat looked like he had just enjoyed a nice meal, "a child perhaps." I remember bursting into guffaws reading it...

[Cyrano]

13. Thanks, CTyankee. I'll try to google it.

[CTyankee]

20. He also described Reagan giving his speech "looking like an iguana."

It was a fun column...if you find it please send me the link...

[Cyrano]

34. Reagan ... " looking like an iguana." That qoute just brightened up my day.

[gristy]

25. Let us know if you find it

[Cyrano]

29. So far, no luck. I'll get back to you if I dig it up. And if anyone else

finds it, please clue us in.

[CTyankee]

32. It's probably in the NYT archives...I'll try later...

[stanwyck]

16. Oh, I miss Molly, too. One of the many annoying things about

Buchanan is that he always refers to his days in the Nixon White House. Gee, Pat - that was a LONG time ago. Joe is just as bad - always referring to his time in the House. Also, a long time ago. Both of these guys are just coasting as they continually make references which, though mildly interesting historically, are not often relevant to current issues.

[CTyankee]

22. Isn't that the truth! Pat was burping up another one today about something Reagan

had said to him...how he had wanted $3 in cuts for every $1 of tax increase but instead got $3 in tax increases and $1 in cuts...

[badhair77]

15. I turned it off for awhile

In the segment I caught, Joe would not let Mika speak. I know, that's a routine occurrence but today was worse than usual. Then I flipped back over and on came Peggy Noonan. Off it went again. I went back for "what did I learn?" and PN sounds like a old schoolmarm with something up her behind. She was blathering on about some philosopher. Unwatchable. But thanks, CTyankee, for your summary.

[CTyankee]

23. I missed most of Peggy today...but at least she looked sober...

[Ichingcarpenter]

18. The Romans had vomitoriums we have Morning Joe

Now everyone go back to the breakfast table
and enjoy another breakfast.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

19. Was It The Same Chart(s) Referenced Here?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1458309

Because if it's not, I'd love to see the chart, particularly the one comparing Bush's spending to Obama's, because I've got a friend who insists that Obama is spending 87 bazillion times more money than any Presdient ever, and I'd love to smack him down with it.

[CTyankee]

26. It was a little simpler, but the same idea.

Obviously, Pat was skeered of it or he wouldn't have kept trying to shut Rattner up...

[TheKentuckian]

33. In TeaPubliKlan la la land tax cuts and loopholes aren't spending, nor are "incentives"

Most of them don't count the military either.

Spending only means a check for non-military programs goes to someone.

***note, Democratic party proposed tax cuts may count as spending with these folks for comparative purposes even if they aren't philosophically seen as spending and only can be forgiven if they are not for the poor or wage earners.***

[pipi_k]

24. Wait a minute...

Do they not have the ability to turn off a guest's microphone if one gets too rowdy?


If they do and chose not to, then it would seem to me that they WANTED that whole brouhaha to happen.


:shrug:

[CTyankee]

28. Well, they have Pat under contract as a semi-regular so they wouldn't do that.

But they gave him an inch and he took a mile today. It was clearly not meant to be so top heavy with Pat. And he was being rude to Rattner, another guest who I suspect is under contract for a certain number of appearances.

It's called "overstepping your boundaries." Not done...

[pipi_k]

35. OK, here's my thought on that...

If you know at some point someone is an ass, don't be surprised when, someday, he acts like an ass.

I can't believe they accepted him as a semi-regular thinking he would act like a rational human being all the time.

Makes me laugh, though.

Lots of people who screech about the media manipulating Americans with stories about missing white girls and political sex scandals, etc. don't even stop to think that maybe they're ALSO being manipulated. This would be one way it could be done.

How does anyone here know the producers didn't tell him beforehand to do what he did?

What a way to get attention! Spark outrage!

We're all being manipulated in some way.

[CTyankee]

38. Of course, you are right. Pat was being Pat only a little more so today.

I did get the feeling that Rattner was not happy being rolled over by Pat in such a fashion and he signalled his displeasure to Mika. Mika, being a good little doobie, tried to get Pat to stop but only weakly. A funny moment, tho...

[Iggo]

27. The embarassment IS morning joe.

FoxSNBC.

[kentuck]

30. Joe and Pat are the chosen ones...

To begin the right-wing spin of the day. Rather odd it begins on MSNBC but they set the agenda for the rest of the day, for Rush, Hannity,and the rest.

[CTyankee]

31. Actually, when I tuned in after 7 am Joe was giving Pat the business about

exempting the rich from taxes. He was really skewering Pat on that...go figure :shrug:

[yella_dawg]

36. How can you watch that crap?

All it is is a shouting match. You can rarely even catch what they're talking about.

[Shagbark Hickory]

37. ...

Don't you think its time you clicked the button in my sig?

[CTyankee]

39. Oh, I'm aware of that...gimme a little credit, here!

I watch to see what the "spin" du jour is. It's quite entertaining and I get the repug "talking points" of the day early...

[Shagbark Hickory]

40. Oh it's entertaining. I can't dispute that. nm