Joe Scarborough Disses Rachel Maddow
Just as I was gearing up for a calm July 4th weekend, Joe Scarborough raised my blood pressure to a high boil. Coming in 20 minutes late to “Race for the White House” on MSNBC, my son informed me that Maddow was arguing with Scarborough in a discussion about Obama’s Iraq withdrawal policy.
Shortly after I started watching, Scarborough – in a direct steal from Romper Room – said, “Whoever agrees with Rachel, raise your hand.” The conversation continued in circles, with Maddow reiterating her points. In frustration, she started to laugh. Scarborough’s response was, “Gee, Rachel, for an Obama supporter, you sure have the Hillary cackle down.” This may not be verbatim, as I don’t have TiVo. However, “the Hillary cackle” phrase is a definite, and is now burnt into my brain.
In that moment, Scarborough epitomized every boorish, condescending male that ever tried to diminish a woman…whether it be a family member, a co-worker, or a presidential candidate.
It appears that going forward into the campaign coverage, one of the media’s “talking heads” has learned absolutely nothing from the previous months of discourse on appropriate coverage and dialogue. Let’s hope that the producers at MSNBC get enlightened sooner rather than later, before they choke on the next offensive sexist soundbite.
