No Way, Joe S.

I remember well that early morning back in California when insomnia introduced me to "Morning Joe" on MSNBC. It must've been Java Joe's in Iowa or some other primary season haunt: People sitting in director's chairs with little direction, slanted at angles to each other both physically and politically, all against a clangy background of morning routines and people being people. It was, in a word, infectious.

I've been watching the show ever since, from one Presidential election cycle to the next, with (usually) great enjoyment. Many of my Twitter pals knock the co-host, Joe Scarborough, for his sometimes ill-conceived "conservative" views. I find myself at odds with Joe on a routine basis, but never really saw the need to complain voraciously. Maybe a little jab here and there.

Then I was watching in the dark of a mild Colorado morning today when Joe compared Rush Limbaugh's rant against Georgetown University grad student, Sandra Fluke, with comments Bill Maher made about Sarah Palin. I won't say that my mouth dropped or that my heart rate soared, but the comparison more than hit me wrong, as the saying goes. First of all, Maher is a comedian, and no matter how many times Keith Oberman calls him one, Limbaugh isn't. Secondly, Maher doesn't give marching orders to the Democratic Party, Limbaugh IS the Republican Party. Lastly, Maher was commenting on a very public, household-name-type personality who chooses over and again to go toward the bright light of publicity while Limbaugh chose to deride a college student who was attempting to speak to Congress on a matter of public policy.

I don't think Joe finds the words themselves comparable; his point was that "The Left" didn't call out Maher the way they are slamming Limbaugh. I find even that to be a false equivalency for the reasons I've just listed. But putting that to one side, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), definitely not "The Left", told Chris Matthews on "Hardball" this afternoon that she did chastise David Letterman when he called out Sarah Palin's daughters. Not Palin herself, but her family. That's closer to the same ballpark. You may know of other examples.

And speaking of ballparks, those of us who've watched forever know there's a drinking game for every time Joe mentions his tenure in the U.S. Congress which is triggered by the number 1994. The inside baseball joke here is that we can name the cohorts--Matt Salmon, Steve Largent, and Mark Sanford--as easily as Chicago Cubs fans can reel off the names Tinkers to Evers to Chance. Joe considers these fellow representatives and a few others to be his brand of "small government conservatives". He has his glory day memories, as he should. But the "Field of Dreams" that was once his Republican Party has become a bit of a nightmare. Joe's frustration is obvious. But he shouldn't let that cloud his vision on the issue of Rush Limbaugh. In the "apology" issued over the weekend, Limbaugh never uttered the word "sorry". He continues to deride Ms. Fluke on the airwaves. He talks about her time at Cornell University where she was involved with "leftist feminist groups" and attended "pro-abortion rallies". Note to Rush: No one is "pro-abortion". No one is "anti-life". Most of us, however, are pro-choice. (Not that this was even what was at issue!)

But there was another topic of discussion on today's show that got my attention. Voter suppression. More than 30 states, sadly including mine, are proffering Voter ID and/or Proof of Citizenship documents for this November's election. Though the case was made to Joe, he just couldn't understand that these are intended to suppress the vote and disenfranchise millions of would-be voters nationwide. Not only that, but in the states where these documents--never before required--will cost the voter money, the measures amount to a poll tax, something we outlawed long ago. And if you take out the fraud committed by elections officials, there's practically none left to prosecute, unless you consider a fraction of a fraction of a single percentage point to be troubling.

I'll keep watching the show for the same reason I began that first morning: the format is captivating. I love the conversation and I even enjoy the people. I listen to everyone whether I agree with them or not. And I think Joe usually does that too. He just missed the mark a bit today. We all have off days. I hope he'll see his way out of the forest on these two issues.