Joe Scarborough Takes Aim at the Right: “Am I Not Conservative Enough?”

by Frances Martel | 9:09 am, February 19th, 2010

» 33 comments

Joe Scarborough is getting a little tired of the accusations that naturally follow from being one of the last remaining conservatives on MSNBC. The Morning Joe host wrote a column on Town Hall making an impassioned defense of his conservative ideals, aptly titled “Am I Not Conservative Enough?“, mostly directed at Media Research Center’s Brent Bozell.

Bozell attacked him on the MRC blog earlier this week in a column claiming his commentary was increasingly “stupid, or reckless, or provocative, or insulting, or a combination of all the above” (Or, as Scarborough puts it, “you would think that I threw my lot in with a pack of pot smoking Greenwich Village Marxists.”) Instead, he argues, he has maintained his values:

Republican leadership…became more liberal with Americans’ tax dollars and it was large swaths of the Washington conservative establishment who sat silently by because they enjoyed being in power so much that they never bothered to let their principles get in the way of supporting reckless GOP party bosses.

It all seems to get at the root of a misunderstanding between Bozell and Scarborough – while Bozell claims to have never written about Scarborough, Scarborough went on the offensive in reaction to attacks on the MRC-related watchdog blog Newsbusters, which he implied were direct attacks from Bozell. Newsbusters has done some extensive work on Scarborough, and seem to be dead set on disproving his conservative tendencies. Scarborough himself points out in his piece that, while most of his hate mail is from antagonistic liberals, “mixed in with all those slanderous emails that call me everything from a fascist to a white supremacist, I usually find one email from Newsbusters asking why I hate conservatives.” Bozell, however, was not the author of any of these pieces despite being the Newsbusters overlord.

Within Scarborough’s multi-layered attack he also takes aim at fellow conservative Glenn Beck, and confirms his distaste for the Fox News commentator that helped get him in trouble with Newsbusters in the first place. In fact, despite the article being mostly directed at Bozell, he seems to have left his most scathing attack for Beck: he contrasts him to Ronald Reagan, arguing that Beck’s divisive tactics would have sunk Reagan’s presidential campaign definitively in the 1980s. He makes a point of excluding Beck when he explains that on his program, “I stand alone in my defense of conservative media figures like Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge, Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly or Fox News.”

Attacking a who’s who of conservatives in an article attempting to prove his conservatism is a gutsy and counter-intuitive move on Scarborough’s part, one that is not very likely to get Newsbusters off of his back. And given that Beck is not one to back down from or attack people on his side of the aisle, has Scarborough tangled up the situation even further?

Brent Bozell, conservatives, Glenn Beck, joe scarborough, Media Research Center, morning joe, MRC, msnbc, Rush Limbaugh, town hall

blueblogger

Conservative enough? Not for today’s republican party. Arrogant enough? Fits right in with today’s republican party.
Cubby

In this new era of Glenn Beck and the Tea Parties, the fringe is now the center. There is no room in the Republican party for anyone who does not wholeheartedly believe that Obama is a socialist/fascist who was planning on ruining this country since his madrassa days. You can see all the politicians pandering to this new radical base, especially at CPAC, whether they believe in the “cause” or not.
timzank

Cubby, we don’t think ALL that, just the “He’s a socialist” part. Obama has made it pretty damn clear, government is the answer plain and simple, for the good of all.
Jim R

Bad break, Joe, now even railing against S.S., Medicare, and anything else that actually still works is no longer enough.

That resurrected campaign you’ve been envisioning is crashing upon the rocks of secession, xenophobia, and hatred of the other.

You helped make this bed with your nonsensical rantings, now go lie in it.
MichelleF

Cubby,
By BO’s own admission in his books, his whole life he’s sought out socialist, marxists, and communists to mold him. He has several people (less now, he’s ushered several out in the dead of night when it hit the light of day), that he’s hand picked to work with him. Without being hateful (which will be your first instinct), why do you think that is? Try not to just insult me, I”d like a really honest answer. If he doesn’t believe these things, why is he doing this. If there is a good explanation, I’d really like to hear it.
roxsteady

I’ll admit that this is slightly off topic but, could someone explain to me why Scarborough and the rest of the Republicans and Conservatives constantly praise Regan? I was watching Rachel Maddow last night and she put up a graph on screen showing deficit growth under several Republican Presidents and Regan was the worst. He increased the deficit by a whopping 189%. That’s right, 189%! Yet, Scarborough and the right are constantly praising him. Why?
mcf1757

I love Joe Scarborugh, he’s a good conservative, unlike some of the crazies!
Cubby

Just because personal attacks are the norm around here, don’t assume that I’ll resort to them just because I disagree with you. It’s that kind of assumption, that the “other side” is full of nothing but hate, that fuels the tone not just here but in our country’s political discourse.

I can’t speak for you, but most people I know who throw around the terms “socialist”, “marxist”, and “communist” are not informed by reading Obama’s books or examining his policies, but listening to oversimplified “analysis” of both by right-wing pundits. It is a common occurance in this media environment where people don’t want to hear facts – they want things boiled down into simple, partisan catchphrases. As someone who doesn’t follow either party line (and is very distrustful of the mainstream media in general), I do my best to do my own research. And what I’ve found is that Obama’s policies are a lot more centrist than the hysterics of the New Right would have you believe – and getting more centrist all the time as he continues to make concessions in an attempt to get anything done.
roxsteady

Ugh! Stop with the socialists bullshit! What did you folks call it when Bush gave tax cuts to the rich in 2001, 2003, and 2007? While you’re eating up the bile that is Glen Beck, you’re ignorning the redistribution under Bush and the Republicans. Liberals aren’t stupid enough to go around calling Bush a socialists because he wasn’t a socialist either. He and his party simply dooped their supporters by telling them that these tax cuts would spur investments by the rich and jobs would be created. Of course we all know how that turned out. 7 million jobs were lost.
blueblogger

Cubby, you are a breath of fresh air around here!
roxsteady

Perhaps I should send my question about the hard on the right has for Regan to Mr. Scarborough. I suspect that he won’t be able to explain it to me either!
timzank

rox…go away already. The grownups are talking.
MichelleF

Roxsteady,
If you actually ever watched Beck’s show, who’d hear him rant about Bush on a daily basis. I’m assuming you never have and get your info from media matters and Olby.

Cubby,
So just to clarify, I shouldn’t read anything into who BO has associated with his whole life or the words that come right out of his mouth? I’m not getting it second hand, I’m hearing it from his own mouth. Are you saying he wasn’t being honest in his book?
MichelleF

And cubby, I apologize for lumping you in with all lefties on this site, I’m just used to being insulted when I ask a geniune question.
Cubby

Michelle, what I’m saying is to look at his policies and what he’s done. What words of his are you referring to, specifically? And if you’re going to bring up Ayers and Wright, that’s old news. I was friends with a drug addict in my 20′s – does that make me a drug addict? I was really into Ralph Nader in college – does that make me a green party radical? Of course not.

Getting back on topic, playing the “socialist” card is bad for the credibility of mainstream Republicans, and Joe knows this – which is why he calls them on it whenever they appear on his show. It clearly shows their pandering to the fringe, which they are hoping will be their ticket to a resurgence in the elections to come. And who knows, it just might work.
writer

Cubby, Obama wasn’t a kid when he attended Wright’s church. And he went there for twenty years. Wright is a racist radical and Obama’s claims that he didn’t know Wright felt the way he did rang a bit hollow. Chicago’s a big city. Wright was the best he could find? If the rest of us had shady friends in the past, not such a big deal. If the guy getting ready to be president is still hanging around with such people, that’s a different matter.
MichelleF

Cubby,
I’ve always prided myself on being someone who doesn’t judge. I’m in no way perfect and don’t judge others for their past. The difference here is the Obama has been making these choices his whole life. For me, it’s not just what a person says, it’s how they act. And I’m not just talking about Wright and Ayers. He continues to this day to have people around him that have admitted in the very recent past to being communists. Why would he have these people in his inner circle if he didn’t in some way agree with them? He said in his book that he felt like he was working for the enemy when he took a job in corporate life and still today he has nothing but disdain for capitalism. And I am looking at his policies and frankly, they scare me. He owns a car company and wants to completely take over healthcare. You can say that’s not true, but his own words betray that. To one group he will say it’s nonsense to say that and to another group, he says it may take some time but we’ll get there.

I’ve never considered myself on the frings and don’t now. In fact, it seems that the majority of American’s are feeling the same thing. I guess in the end, we will see which one of us is right on election day.
Cubby

I could go on and on about how the “government takeover of healthcare” is not only untrue, but the very definition of an empty catchphrase designed to be spread through the echo chamber of the right-wing media. Frank Luntz, anyone? But I won’t because not only is it off topic, but I’m sure there’s nothing I can say to convince you otherwise. I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.
MichelleF

I think we will, thank you for the respectful debate, Cubby.
ImNotBlue

blueblogger says:
February 19, 2010 at 9:52 am

Isn’t it hypocritical to complain that Republicans have become too fridge, only days after the Democrats lost one of their moderates (Byah)… and the folks on the farther left (see: Maddow), rejoiced?
JamesA1102

Joe is not a conservative. He’s a GOP talking point machine.
Cubby

INB: Obviously there are those on the left that felt Bayh wasn’t liberal enough, but the obsession with exposing “RINOs” is rampant on the right these days – just look at Hoffman vs. Scozzafava in New York, Hayworth vs. McCain in Arizona, and Rubio vs. Crist in Florida.
ImNotBlue

Cubby says:
February 19, 2010 at 12:30 pm

Lamont vs Lieberman in CT.

The point I’m making is it’s a mirror image… both parties do it. It only seems that the other party notices.

But is it really that surprising? Isn’t it normal to expect a political party (ie: an organization of similar thinking people) to want for everyone to think and represent the same goals? It’s not left right, nor is it more prevalent on the left or right. It only seems more noticeable or noteworthy when “the other guy” is doing it.
JamesA1102

“And I’m not just talking about Wright and Ayers.”

Ayers???? He served on two boards of directors with Ayers, along with several republicans. I’ve served on board of directors and I hardly knew the people. Never saw them outside the meetings.

“He continues to this day to have people around him that have admitted in the very recent past to being communists.”

Really??? Who???
http://www.karlspensen.blogspot.com Karl Spensen

VAN JONES!!!!1
TfT

Joe can complain all he wants, he is just looking for attention and more audience for his poorly viewed show. Joe took his public spanking from MSNBC, directed by KO, and went silent. He complains about right wing speech but doesn’t do the same when his own MSNBC colleagues step over the line. He has no spine.
stoogedudes

Van Jones did admit to being a communist in the past. Haven’t you done things in your past you aren’t proud of? I used to be a conservative, no joke, but now I couldn’t be farther from it.

Van Jones has written a book in which he promotes green technology and innovation to save the free-market economy. He has been pro-business for years and has recieved a lot of recognition for his work.

Van Jones was young and stupid. He has changed and has been a pro-business advocate ever since. Just read this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eva-paterson/glenn-becks-attack-on-van_b_271518.html
stoogedudes

Uhhh, TFT, do you remember when Joe went after Keith Olbermann just a couple weeks ago for Olbermann calling Scott Brown a homophobe, racist, etc, etc? I usually like Keith but I agree with Joe for condemning him for his poisonous words.

Conservatives always criticize liberals for going after Fox News claiming they don’t watch it so they don’t know what they are talking about. Maybe if you watched a little more Morning Joe, you’d see how much he actually does go after liberals like Olbermann.

If my memory serves me right, he’s also gone after Ed Schultz as well.
kit9

The issue between Bozell and Scarborough, which the author of this sloppy article never even gets to, is that Bozell called out Scarborough for making patently false statements about him. THAT’S the issue and the purpose of Bozell’s blog was to call Scarborough out on his dishonesty. Joe is playing victim and attempting to change the subject by whining about RINO’s. But, that’s not the issue. His lying is.
StewartIII

NewsBusters: Scarborough Attacks Bozell Again on Townhall — But Commenters Are Blocked (Updated)
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2010/02/19/scarborough-attacks-bozell-again-townhall-commenters-are-blocked
http://www.youtube.com/cmdrgmh cmdrgmh

I have yet to have any proof what Obama has done to the Country. He gave 95% of the public a Tax Cut, That’s right rethugs I got a tax cut this year and so did you. You guys started the Bailout shit. You guys put us in the hole because of the non paid for Medicare Drug bill. Oh and the Huge Tax cut given to rich fucks. 2 Wars not paid for. So just what has changed that you dickheads don’t like. Could it be that he’s a black guy and that He Won the Election. And that just pisses you off. You Teabagging right wing racist nut jobs. Thats all this is about. Your teabagger cult is nothing more then pissed off rightwing nutjobs because you lost the election. No More and No Less. Your battle Cry “I want My Country Back”. Well guess what. No one took your country. No one has changed a damned thing . Nothing has happend. So since nothing changed except the guy in the white house, there is only one answer. Your little cry babies who lost the election That do not like the black Guy in the white house. Get Over It.
wickerchino

“I stand alone in my defense of conservative media figures like Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge, Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly or Fox News.” What a deluded idiot. Does he not see these people/organizations are cut from the same tree as Glenn? Does he not think Rush demonizes the president on the airwaves every day? Does he not think Fox News does that? I have to say it. That quote right there, he shows himself to be a deluded fool with that quote. I take that quote to prove his idiocy once and for all.
wickerchino

You have to admit, there is a lot of deluded right-wing sycophanty in that quote. Does he seriously think Fixed News is anything but a tea party outlet? Or Rush?