Mika Loses It On Moron Joe — Perfectly Understandable

Put yourself in Mika Brzezinski’s shoes, having to sit through the wingnuttery of her co-host Moron Joe and his loyal sidekick Weasel The Wingnut, day after day, hour by hour, minute by minute. And we're not even talking the second-string clowns, Pat Buchanan and Mike Barnicle.

Imagine Mika having to nod agreeably to their reactionary, sexist quips and the drumbeat of GOP propaganda talking points for which the show is a platform, trying to get a word in edgewise, and then oh, so agreeably. Imagine the multiple concessions Mika has to make to Moron Joe's moronic arguments because it would be mean to cut him down to size. For all this, Mika, the token liberal, gets little respect from her frat boy colleagues and takes it all in with classy stoicism. (Wingnuts are like immature frat boys; can you see Moron Joe and Tucker Carlson as two peas in a pod?)

Imagine being surrounded by wingnuts in your workplace, with little respite — A jolt of Joe in the morning and rabbit food for lunch. Sheer torture. At some point she’ll lose it, right?

Well, it happened this morning and it’s a gem. Notice that Mika’s wingnut co-hosts aren’t laughing. Only Carl Bernstein, one of the guests, did. He’s a good guy and definitely not a wingnut. Lawrence cracked a sideways grin; maybe he didn’t want to show up Moron Joe now that he has his own show on MSNBC. Mark Halperin is a distinguished member of the Idiot Punditocracy — kudos to him, his book is going Hollywood — and acts like one. I'm sure she'd be thrilled, but I’m with Mika. I was laughing out loud right along with her — I do have a strange sense of humor, though.

Here's some of the hilarious banter:

Moron Joe: “What’s wrong with you? You think that’s funny?”

Weasel The Wingnut: “I thought it was in bad taste.“

Moron Joe: “I thought it was mean-spirited and hateful. (Mika laughs uproariously, as Moron Joe adds) I thought it was hateful; I thought it was horrible.”

Weasel The (huffy) Wingnut: “What’s so funny; ‘America’ (a variation on ‘the American people’ theme the GOP spouts in its propaganda) wants to know.”

After Mika (sort of) explains through bouts of laughter it was “funny television” the wingnuts launch into a self-delusional spiel from Moron Joe about having “the most educated, upscale, smartest audience in the world — they watch Masterpiece Theater,” interjects Halperin. (Right. I had to laugh here. And if Moron Joe’s GOP cuts to PBS go through, we won’t be watching Masterpiece Theater, either.)

Weasel The Wingnut: “They know the show so well, we’re family, they know the characters.”

Mika: “Yeah. Pat Buchanan.” Ha! America's 'culture' warrior —I thought that was funny television, too! I was laughing too hard at this point to notice Mika mention Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, as a show-saving afterthought.