Joe Scarborough: "Keep Bush away from the press"

[Human Torch]

Aug. 21, 2006 | 9:26 a.m. ET

Keep Bush away from the press



The Washington Post ran an article that talked about the growing discontent among some conservatives regarding George W. Bush and his not-so-conservative administration. Last week’s Scarborough Country segment that asked whether our president was an idiot, as pop tart Linda Ronstadt suggested, got heavy play in the Post piece.

Asking whether our President is mentally engaged in job is an important question to ask. With al Qaeda back in the headlines, Iraq deteriorating, Hezbollah in rapid ascent, Iran defying the world, Israel in turmoil, Afghanistan in crisis mode and North Korea behaving more recklessly every day, President Bush needs to assure America and the world that he is intellectually engaged. Still, I am uncomfortable asking these questions of any president, especially this one.

I voted for George Bush twice and would do it again if Al Gore and John Kerry were once again the alternatives. I spent a few hours alone with President Bush on Air Force One. He was likable and sharp. I have met more than a few world leaders and I can tell you our President seemed as mentally equipped as most leaders I have met.

But the George Bush of 2006 seems to be a far cry from the man I spoke with in 2001, or the back-slapping governor who charmed the hell out of me when I visited him in the Texas governor’s mansion in 1999.

MORE:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13345463/

[bluerum]

1. Why hide the idiot? He is the president and the servant of the people.

We have a RIGHT to know who is leading us.

[wanpete]

2. Amen to that bluerum! He is what he is and doesn't deserve to be hidden.

By the way, love your name!

[MrModerate]

3. "pop tart Linda Ronstadt"?

That's a bit of a stretch.

Brittany Spears = Pop Tart, Linda Ronstadt = Aging Folk-Rocker.

[MaineDem]

13. Hey, watch it with that aging talk

Us "older" ex-folkie types don't think of ourselves as aging. More "classic" - like a good vintage Martin dreadnaught.



I agree that pop tart is not a term I would ascribe to Linda Ronstadt.

[MrModerate]

16. I like "classic" too . . .

Especially since Linda is only a handful of years younger than me!

[Skittles]

25. I'd like to know who ISN'T aging

are there people for whom time stands still?

[brg5001]

14. Who is this turd to call anyone anything?

I love it (really I do) when right-wing shock-jocks like Glen Beck, Neil Boortz, Shaun Insanity, Joe Scarborough and Laura Ingraham have the temerity to castigate entertainers for voicing opinions on world affairs. Who exactly made THESE guys foreign-policy experts? Joe Scarborough is another has-been who never was. So Linda Ronstadt is a pop-tart? Joe, you're an utterly forgettable nothing-burger.

[MrModerate]

15. I like "nothing burger" -- I'm going to look for opportunities to use it.

n/t

[MrModerate]

4. I was going to say that Scarborough is easily impressed . . .

"He was likable and sharp," etc.

And then I remembered a clip of Bush during a debate with Ann Richards in his first gubernatorial race, and he was cogent, multisyllabic, and not entirely crazy.

He's gone waaaay downhill since then, and the pace of his deterioration seems to be accelerating. Maybe he needs another physical where they look a little closer at his neurological (vs cardiovascular) system.

[Virginian]

21. It is really hard to keep track of all his lies.

We can write them down on paper, but he has to memorize them.

[Whoa_Nelly]

5. Hey, Joe! WHat alternate universe have you been living in?

"Right now, this President cannot afford to bumble his way across the world stage."

Since when has he not been bunbling on the world stage?

Come on, Joe. Let's put some food on your family and ask is your children learning. And, please, Joe, make sure you wife's OB/GYN gets to practice some love.

[brg5001]

11. One more question for Joe...

Whoa_Nelly, those are great questions. I have one more:

This is from the White House website, from the esteemed Shrub's press conference, April 13, 2004. A lucky 13th, indeed:

Referring to the Iraqi people:

"..they're not happy they're occupied. I wouldn't be happy if I were occupied either."

My question is: Joe, would you be happy to be occupied?

[Whoa_Nelly]

18. Good one, brg5001!

And Welcome to DU!

[brg5001]

22. Thanks! This administration has been "A Hard Day's Night"!

Mr. Nelly, it's great to be here. Thanks for the warm welcome. Since you're a Beatles fan (obviously), all I can say is that under this fundamentalist-fascist regime, "Happiness is a Warm Gun". Yes, it's been a "Mystery Tour", but hardly a Magical one. I feel like someone is doing it to me "In the Road." I'd be having much more fun in an "Octopus's Garden" which fortunately isn't too far away since I live in Delray Beach, Florida. At least there's no need for the uber-wealthy to worry about the "Taxman" as long as "This Boy" King is formulating policies "With a Little Help from HIS Friends" like KKKarl Rove and the Sam Walton family, who earned their "Money" the old-fashioned way -- through conservative values (like forcing their workers onto the public health-care dole) and being born into the right family while the rest of us scrimp and save on "Penny Lane." It's going to be a "Long and Winding Road" to a progressive victory but in the end, cheering will be heard "Across the Universe". See ya!

[Whoa_Nelly]

23. Love all the Beatles' Songs... ROFL

Thanks, brg5001!

...and ****pssst**** am a Ms. Nelly (it's in the profile )

[brg5001]

27. Ms. Nelly! I stand corrected.

Oops. My newbie-ness is showing! In the future I will check the profiles 4sure. Until next time...Hello/Goodbye!

[calimary]

26. Anyone who is a friend of the Beatles is a friend of mine. Welcome to DU!

Very clever, too!

"I'm SO Tired" of "Mean Mr. Mustard" in OUR White House, and ALL "The Fool(s) On the Hill" who enable, excuse, and cover for him. They leave me screaming "Help!" - "Eight Days a Week."

[brg5001]

29. Thanks, Calimary

I had a lot of fun with the Beatles titles and overall, I'm enjoying the DU experience...The comraderie is much-needed!

[kerstin]

31. Say that reminds me.

Question: Why did the gynecologist go into semiretirement?

Answer: He just wanted to keep a hand in!

That's a joke son. (Er, I mean sister.)

(By the way, that killed at the Planned Parenthood Center back in '87!)

[larryepke]

6. The events are not comparable

Joey boy is comparing two different things. He's willing to be "charmed" by Boy George, and so he falls for the con.

However, when George detects the least bit of opposition, he goes into attack mode. The attacks now are more frequent since the press has shown some (rare) willingness to deviate from the script, and they are much more incoherent!

[ProSense]

7. "I voted for George Bush twice and would do it again if..."

Scarborough is full of shit!

[Reckon]

12. I agree.. if Scarborough is that stupid I don't care to hear what

he has to say!

[kerstin]

30. I agree too.

Everything that comes out of the mouths of these toy journalists is calculated.

[Double T]

8. We don't need a backslapping good ol' boy who tells dumbass.....

hee-haw jokes. bush is an embarrassment to this entire nation, even though some people are not aware enough to know it. We DO NEED a president that knows how to use diplomacy to solve world problems, instead of military force and war. The current president seems to have suffered brain damage making him no longer fit to serve the office. Insanity is usually not controllable and this is specially true in his case.

[one_true_leroy]

9. you forgot Poland...

"With al Qaeda back in the headlines, Iraq deteriorating, Hezbollah in rapid ascent, Iran defying the world, Israel in turmoil, Afghanistan in crisis mode and North Korea behaving more recklessly every day..."

Poland is the feather in the cap of this admin's foriegn policy and diplomacy.

[WinkyDink]

10. This person could NEVER, EVER not even as a CHILD, have been

likeable.
NEVER.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

17. But he still said he'd vote for him again, so Scarborough himself

is an idiot. WTF?

[Supersedeas]

19. Apparently, regular Joe is easily 'charmed' -- got charmed the hell out of

by the Texas gubneer.

[Superman Returns]

20. I love when people

praise Joe Scarborough when he criticizes Bush, even though he would still vote for the guy. Scarborough is a hack who parades his "moral values" shit all the time on this show, along with his facade of "average joe" who speaks for the heartland. He is all mouth, all nonsense, all bullshit news stories, and is only interested criticizing the President when he wants to compete with O'Reilly's fans who are becoming disgruntled conservatives. His top story the other night was whether the movie Talladega Nights was anti-christian. Fuck him and all these "heroes for the common folk" ilk. He will sell his soul to bring in the ratings and appeal to libertarians to paleo-cons. He doesn't care for America but only his wallet. People have a tendency on these boards to point to a new GOP mouthpiece criticizing Bush. They have no validity. At the end of the day they would put a knife in our collective backs. Don't trust the media whores.

[Skittles]

24. Joe, you are a LYING BASTARD

these pathetic attempts to get the blood off your hands - please, who the FUCK do you think you are kidding? bush has always been an intellectually devoid incompent litte asshat but you didn't mind that back when all it meant is wealthy fucks like you received more money. Now you see the consequences of your blind, ignorant support of this warmongering chickenhawk fucktard and you want us to believe HE HAS CHANGED? No Joe, YOU changed - from a snivelling bush supporter to a snivelling talk show host trying to explain your way out of a jam. YOU CAN GO TO HELL JOE AND TAKE YOUR IGNORANT DUMBASS BUSH-VOTING FRIENDS WITH YOU.

[Supersedeas]

28. Image and PR is everything to the Win at any cost Party shills