Joe & Mika Exploit DC Mugging For Publicity

MUGGING FOR THE CAMERAS

How Much Coverage Can One Brief Encounter Generate?







Even if you had no previous idea who she was, by now, you've probably heard all about liberal TV / radio host Mika Brzezinski and her DC mugging this morning.

Just ten days ago, we wrote about Mika's debut with co-host Joe Scarborough on WABC radio in New York, which has since generated many listener complaints, some of which have been sent straight to us.

While your Radio Equalizer is certainly sorry to hear about this unfortunate incident, the reality is that the six dollars lost to this creep outside an upscale hotel has bought her victim millions in free publicity.

And that's where the affair transcends standard police blotter coverage in the back of a newspaper (if it would even rate that these days) and moves into mainstream media Goofyville.

Apparently, run-of-the-mill muggings are for the little people, not the liberal media elite, which explains the stunned reaction we've seen from newspapers, television and certain blogs.

There's no indication a weapon was used, leading Gawker to call the perp "an over-agressive beggar."

Whether Mika herself wanted the incident splashed all over the place isn't clear, especially given the way it was Scarborough who pressed the matter on today's Morning Joe:








In the clip, Mika rolls her eyes and seems uncomfortable with the topic, but Joe doesn't let up. Was he shamelessly exploiting the situation for publicity? Was she in on it, or truly unhappy with the conversation?

Finally, do establishment liberals avoid discussing their muggings in polite society?

Meanwhile, the Politico reports that Mika feels "great":

Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” was mugged Thursday morning as she waited for a hired car to pick her up at a Washington hotel.

“Feel great!!” she e-mailed after appearing on the air.

Brzezinski told “Morning Joe” viewers that the assailant asked for $20 and she gave him what she had — $6.

When asked what she’d learned, she quipped: “Give the money. Give the money.”

Her co-host, Joe Scarborough, agreed that the lesson was “to hand the money over.”

Peggy Noonan of The Wall Street Journal said on-air that Brezezinski has survived “a surprising moment in the morning with great dignity and style and humor.”

For his part, Rush Limbaugh added a number of funny observations to the mix during today's show:

Now, ladies and gentlemen, as you know, I have a unique take on most things that happen. To me, the most interesting aspect of this is not what so many people are e-mailing me about, and that is, "Will she now become conservative," because, you know, the old cliche is a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged, and she got mugged. She got held up for six bucks. The mugger, though, working cheap, accepted six bucks after demanding $20. What happened to Mika Brzezinski makes the case for tax cuts. She works in the Drive-By Media. She works in television. It's as though she's got nothing left after giving Bernie Madoff the money. She only has six bucks to give the man who is down on his luck. We have to understand who muggers are. Muggers are the salt of the earth; they're the backbone of America. They just have been placed in this current circumstance because of the evils of the Bush administration and supply side trickle-down economics. These are good people. They have been forced into thuggery, muggery, and holdups in order to survive.

What happened to Mika Brzezinski is exactly why we need permanent, across-the-board tax cuts. If we cannot keep more of our own money, muggers are going to have to work over time. This guy could have gotten everything he wanted from one victim, but because Mika Brzezinski only had a measly six bucks, he had to probably go hold up a couple or three more people to make his take.

That puts that many more people in danger, and, of course, the mugger risks getting caught with each attempt here at fleecing somebody. He could end up in jail as well. I mean, how is it that Drive-By infobabe on the road doesn't have enough money to help out a fellow citizen who's down on his luck. This country is better than that. When we get held up, we should have more than six bucks to give the muggers. You know what the rich are told, the rich are told to walk around with a significant amount of cash because if you do get held up and you got a couple, $300 bucks, then your odds of surviving the mugging are greater than if you don't have anything.

So the rich are advised by their security personnel to carry significant amounts of cash. How is it you're on the road and you've only got six bucks and you work in the Drive-By Media, you work for NBC Universal?

The mugger was a worker, by the way. He was out working. These are tough economic times. He probably lost his job at an auto plant or some such thing. Maybe he used to work at Wall Street, at a bank, who knows. Probably not paying his mortgage, still has his house, but he needs food. And to collect a measly six bucks from a Drive-By infobabe? That embarrasses me as an American, that somebody as accomplished and achieved as Mika Brzezinski only had six dollars. Can you imagine taking a road trip, folks, and only having six dollars? Remember, this happened before six o'clock in the morning. This mugger was up early. This mugger was a worker. He was up early working the streets. Somebody might want to hire this guy. This guy is loaded with initiative. This guy obviously has ambition.

If Mika just had a measly 20 dollars on her, she gives the mugger the money and she can feel good about it. Now she has to carry the shame of only having six dollars with her and shorting this hard-pressed working American 14 bucks. This just proves to me, folks, we need a tax holiday.

While no one quite knows what is motivating Joe & Mika to blab about this all over town, the results are clear: it's a publicity bonanza for this cable duo as they attempt to survive in the far more difficult world of talk radio.


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