Posts Tagged ‘Joe Scarborough’
July 1, 2011
It’s always upsetting when one of your heroes turns out to be an unethical creep. I was sick when I learned—for certain—that Bill Clinton had lied to me on national TV, sad when I learned that my Dodger hero, Manny Ramirez, had used banned substances, and devastated when my biggest hero of all. Greg Mortensen (of Three Cups of Tea fame) had not really built girls schools in Taliban country and had in fact stolen millions from his non-profit.
Still, I’m not getting used to my heroes falling. Not even after the latest, Joe Scarborough, conservative ex-congressman (R-FL) and host of the fun morning political conversation, Morning Joe.
I posted yesterday about how Joe and his co-host, Mika Brzezinski, had goaded and cajoled Mark Halperin into expressing his honest opinion of President Obama’s performance at his press conference Wednesday. They assured him that any off-color remark would be bleeped by way of a seven-second delay. When the show’s producer pressed the wrong button, Halperin’s opinion, “I thought he was kind of a dick,” went out into the ether for all to hear. More giggles from Mika and Joe, then a heartbroken apology from Halperin, then Halperin was “suspended indefinitely.”
In urging him on, Scarborough had promised, “You fall down I’m going to catch you.” But he didn’t catch him. Not a word protesting the suspension or owning up to his responsibility. (more…)
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Tags:banned substances, Bill Clinton, cowardice, ethics, EthicsAlarms, Greg Mortensen, heroes, Jack Marshall, Joe Scarborough, Manny Ramirez, Mark Halperin, Mika Brzezinski, Morning Joe, Obama press conference, seven-second delay, Three Cups of Tea
Posted in Apologies, Entertainment, Ethics-general, Media, Politics | 2 Comments »
June 30, 2011
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe this morning best-selling author and Time editor at large Mark Halperin was asked his opinion of President Obama’s behavior at yesterday’s press conference. Before giving it he asked if there was a seven-second delay and was assured by host Joe Scarborough that there was. Co-host Mika Brzezinski urged him on:
“Go for it, we’ll see what happens.”
Scarborough reassured Halperin:
“You fall down I’m going to catch you.”
Halperin gave his opinion:
“I thought he was kind of a dick yesterday.”
The hosts dissolved in giggles—shocked giggles when they learned that there had been no delay, “dick” had gone out on cable at (more…)
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Tags:Apologies, dick, ethics, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, Jay Carney, Joe Scarborough, Mark Halperin, Mika Brzezinski, Morning Joe, Obama press conference, obscenity, seven-second delay
Posted in Apologies, Ethics-general, Government, Media | 3 Comments »
February 5, 2011
The videos from Cairo show happy peaceful demonstrators by the tens of thousands, interspersed with videos of Mubarak supporters battling the demonstrators in a chaotic scene. When the action dies down the TV talking heads ruminate over what outcome would be best for America. Or as Joe Scarborough put it, “Who is behind Door #2?”
Jack Marshall explains in his Ethics Alarms blog why Americans should be uncompromisingly for Egyptian freedom from the Mubarak dictatorship. Simply stated, America’s very meaning is about the rights of all men to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Declaration of Independence doesn’t assert these rights for Americans, it asserts them for all men.
So what’s best for America is an Egyptian government by the people. Whether that government follows the superficially pro-American policies of Mubarak is irrelevant. The Declaration of Independence is what’s relevant. That’s why all Americans should cheer the demonstrations.
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Tags:and the pursuit of happiness, anti-Mubarak demonstrators, Declaration of Independence, Egyptian freedom, ethics, Ethics Alarms, Jack Marshall, Joe Scarborough, liberty, life, Mubarak dictatorship
Posted in Ethics-general, Government, International, Politics | 2 Comments »
October 22, 2010
In the search for diverse opinions on television I like MSNBC’s Morning Joe, an entertaining roundtable of people you would enjoy having at your next dinner party. Hosts Joe Scarborough—a conservative former Congressman—and Mika Brzezinski—a liberal daughter of President Carter’s National Security advisor—are politically balanced while being friendly and civil. Their guests span the political spectrum, and the conversations are usually spirited. Nobody on the show claims to be objective, they just bounce their opinions off each other. Fun and informative.
Today, in the wake of NPR’s firing of Juan Williams, there was some discussion of objectivity in the media. Mika had a proposal that would improve the credibility of reporters and commentators of all stripes:
“I would argue that nobody is objective in journalism: that we all come from our own world views and our own backgrounds and our own political affiliations, and we’ve voted for Presidents, and you know what! It’s time to be honest [about it}—and then we can be trusted.
Honesty: What a concept!
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Tags:ethics, Joe Scarborough, Juan Williams, Mika Brzezinski, Morning Joe, MSNBC, objectivity in the media
Posted in Entertainment, Ethics-general, Media, Politics | Leave a Comment »
May 26, 2010
My favorite TV program is MSNBC’s Morning Joe. The hosts are conservative ex-Congressman Joe Scarborough, liberal television journalist Mika Brzezinski, and humorist/sports fan Willie Geist. While their politics are very different, they are intelligent and good natured as they talk about the world. They have interesting and nice guests—the kind of people you’d enjoy having over for dinner.
So I was disappointed Wednesday morning when, after Mika introduced a report by NBC reporter George Lewis on the threat to public health posed by super-sized restaurant meals, Joe and Willie and guest Mike Barnicle started clowning and joking about how great it was to eat huge meals at the restaurants identified by the Center for Science in the Public Interest as contributing to America’s epidemic of obesity.
CSPI cited P. F. Chang’s double pan fried noodle combo (1820 calories), California Pizza Kitchen’s tostada pizza with grilled steak (1680 calories), and the king of the gorge plates, Cheesecake Factory’s pasta carbonara with chicken, weighing in at 2500 calories and 85 grams of saturated fat. That’s 250 more calories than the Mayo Clinic recommends for an average fairly active man in an entire day. Clearly such meals consumed regularly are deadly. No joke. Not funny, Joe. (more…)
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Tags:Amos and Andy, California Pizza Kitchen, calories, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Cheesecake Factory, comedians, double pan fried noodle combo, drunk routines, drunkenness, epidemic, George Lewis, Joe Scarborough, Mayo Clinic, Mika Brzezinski, Mike Barnicle, Morning Joe, MSNBC, obesity, P. F. Chang, pasta carbonara with chicken, public health, restaurant meals, saturated fat, television, tostada pizza with grilled steak, Willie Geist
Posted in Business ethics, Education, Entertainment, Ethics-general | 4 Comments »
March 4, 2010
Amidst all the scandals erupting from New York (about which, more later–stay tuned), finally a big helping of ethics cheer: Joe Scarborough earns a (mythical) Reinhold Niebuhr award* for bringing good temper and integrity into the political fight.
Thanks to Samuel Jacobs for alerting us to Scarborough’s ethics heroism in his Daily Beast blog.
Scarborough, a conservative Republican former congressman from Pensacola and now co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, blasted Glenn Beck for hate-mongering:
“We’re going to have a conservatives’ honor roll on this show… I’m talking to you, Mitt Romney, and I’m talking about anyone who wants to be president in 2012. … You need to call out this type of hatred.”
The highest level of political ethics is to call out members of one’s own party. We’re not surprised when Republicans call out Charlie Rangel, or when Democrats criticize Appalachian Trail-trekker, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. That’s no contribution to the integrity of the political fight. But when a Republican calls out fellow Republicans like Scarborough did, he deserves kudos. And when he does it on national television he deserves a Niebuhr award. Nice going Joe.
Romney declined, through a spokesman, to take up Scarborough’s challenge.
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*Christian theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote, ‘The temper of and integrity with which the political fight is waged is more important for the health of our society than the outcome of any issue or campaign.”
Tags:ethics, Glenn Beck, Joe Scarborough, Mark Sanford, Mitt Romney, Niebuhr, Rangel, Samuel Jacobs, scandals
Posted in Politics | Leave a Comment »
Ethics Bob 