Joe Scarborough Thinks He Knows What's Wrong With Talk Radio

MORE CLUELESS JOE

MSNBC Host Uses Left's Old 'Rush Clones' Talking Points







Isn't it time for 'Morning Joe' Scarborough's mouth to take an extended holiday break? After yet another ridiculous outburst, your Radio Equalizer wonders why Joe doesn't seem to know when to quit while he's behind.

Just days after exploiting co-host Mika Brzezinski's quasi-mugging in front of a Washington hotel, Scarborough is back, this time recycling Clinton-era liberal nonsense about talk radio being full of "Rush clones" who simply "read Republican talking points".

A decade ago, this fallacy was utilized by left-leaning radio managers as an excuse not to hire successful conservative hosts from other stations and markets. Any right-leaning talker was then cast as a "Rush clone" who took his or her arguments straight from the GOP playbook.

But conservative talk radio and the Republican Party have been divorced for many years, a development that seems to have escaped Joe's attention. Here's what he told the New York Times for a story published today:

With more stations converting to news-talk formats — perhaps with the hope that live talk cannot be displaced by an iPod the way music can be — the middle tier is where most of the movement is. The conservative commentator Monica Crowley is entering weekday syndication through the Talk Radio Network. The CNN anchor Lou Dobbs is signing new affiliates for a three-hour afternoon show. And Mr. Scarborough, the host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” is hosting a radio version on WABC in New York. ABC Radio plans to syndicate it next year, beginning in Los Angeles at KABC.

Mr. Scarborough, the former Republican congressman, did not enjoy his brief stint with Westwood One in 2005. But his MSNBC morning program, which replaced the TV simulcast of “Imus in the Morning” when Don Imus was fired for using racially charged language in 2007, resembles a radio show and attracted interest from radio networks earlier in the year. Mr. Scarborough expects his program to provide more political balance than some others.

“We have been in an era where you’ve had Rush Limbaugh, followed by a lot of conservative talk show hosts that lacked his talent and sense of humor,” Mr. Scarborough said. “They decided that if they just read Republican talking points, they’d get a big audience. I think that world is coming to an end. You’re going to have to be entertaining like Limbaugh, but also allow people of all political stripes on the show.”

Time will tell whether Mr. Scarborough and his co-host, Mika Brzezinski, can cross over to radio. “So far, I don’t think we’ve seen any TV personalities have success” on radio stations, Ms. Mijatovic said, “only the vice versa.” Indeed, two of the newest stars of TV talk, Mr. Beck, who left CNN for Fox News, and the MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, emerged after years on the radio.

So there you have it: despite having failed at syndicated talk radio once before, Joe Scarborough believes he's the answer to its "problems". This at a time when the medium is more successful than ever and poised to explode in popularity under the Obamist Regime.

Even more ridiculous, Joe sees a need for liberal guests (and a lefty co-host, of course) as the best way to "fix" talk radio. No doubt that means it's time to do the same thing at Air America, right?

But where did Joe get these crazy ideas? Most likely from Citadel - ABC Radio's left-wing management team, the same folks who refused to ride on the same airplane as Sean Hannity and have been watering down programming offerings, even as the firm teeters on the brink of bankruptcy.

While they are no doubt thrilled by what Scarborough has told the New York Times, his words only serve to undermine his credibility with conservatives and other talk hosts.


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