Is Joe Scarborough trying to make Republicans look bad? To the amusement of his lefty MSNBC audience? TCG reports, you decide.
On "Morning Joe" just now, Scarborough and his Merry Band of Bush-Bashers--helped out this morning by veteran Democratic politico Bob Shrum--were sitting around badmouthing Republicans, like they always do. Specifically, Chuck Todd was projecting an Obama victory this November.
Whereupon, Scarborough joked, "Somebody at the RNC needs to call Ahmadinejad fast."
Nobody else on the set picked up on it, but Scarborough's implication was clear: The Republican National Committee should somehow stoke up Iran's leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to get him to do something anti-American (never a hard sell for Ahmadinejad) and thus help the hawkish, national-defense-minded Republicans. In other words, an October Surprise.
Now I am pretty sure that Scarborough was joking, but he didn't explicitly say that he was joking. And so I am equally sure that out there in left-wing crazy land, somebody will take note of what Joe said, and spin it into a conspiracy theory--which lefties will be happy to believe, since it is a smear on Republcans. Just like anyone with a voice that can be overheard, people on TV have a responsibility to not say provocative and inflammatory things, especially when the subject is national security.
But hey, most likely, Scarborough doesn't care--he is worming his way into the affections of the lefty Kos-sack Netroots Nation, which will guarantee his longevity at the Olbermann-Maddow network. No doubt he will be invited to make a speech, soon enough, to some lefty nut group, to explain the workings of those evil Republicans.
