Posted by
The Hermit Crab on Thursday, December 02, 2010 2:41:39 PM
You just have to laugh at Joe Scarborough, the long-ago (1995-2001) Republican congressman turned MSNBC morning host. We don't mean because his show, which we never watch, is funny. If it were (OK, to be fair, if it is), we'd be laughing with him. Rather, because, as the Puffington Host's Howard Fineman reports, he plans to "help headline the launch next month of a new national group dedicated to restoring civility in politics."
Scarborough, a Republican, former Florida congressman and host of "Morning Joe" on MSNBC, will participate in the debut event of "No Labels" on December 13 at Columbia University in New York.
The slogan of the nolabelists: "Put the Labels Aside. Do What's Best for America."
![[botwt1201]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-LC968_botwt1_C_20101201120746.jpg)
Reuters
Mr. Civility
But yesterday Scarborough published a column on
Politico.com titled "Joe Scarborough Tells GOP to Man Up and Confront Sarah Palin." (Despite the third-person headline, he is the author of the column.) It's just one insult after another: "What man or mouse with a fully functioning human brain and a résumé as thin as Palin's would flirt with a presidential run? . . . this dopey dream . . . Palin's bizarre road show . . . spitting on John Wayne's grave or 'manning up' by shooting an American bald eagle . . . a former governor from Alaska who quit in the middle of her first term and then got rich . . . finishing third in the Miss Alaska beauty contest . . . the half-termer was selected as Miss Congeniality by her fellow contestants . . . her gaudy circus sideshow . . . a cultural icon whose anti-intellectualism fulfills a base political need . . . I suppose it's cheaper than therapy."
This is what happens when a respectable ex-Congressman hangs around the menagerie at MSNBC too long. Joe, we're sure glad you're going to help restore "civility in politics". (Last seen, I believe, during James Monroe's second term.) If you're sincere, you can start by giving up your MSNBC gig. Now.