ICYMI: Last month, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski – the married couple that serves as co-hosts of the popular MSNBC News show Morning Joe – traveled to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, and had a private meeting with the president-elect.
Days later, they informed their viewers about the meet up, explaining that their aim was to bury the hatchet, as they had spent much of the 2024 presidential race angering Trump and his MAGA loyalists by repeatedly describing him as a fascist, and likening him to Adolf Hitler.
“For those asking why we would speak to the president-elect during such fraught times, I would ask back: Why wouldn’t we?” Brzezinski said. “It’s time to do something different, and that starts with not only talking about Donald Trump, but talking with him.”
She went on to sing Trump’s praises, insisting that he was “cheerful,” “upbeat,” and “interested in finding common ground with Democrats” during their meeting.
To say watching them drop to their knees to kiss Trump’s ring was painful to watch would be an understatement, and “selling out” doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Fortunately, I wasn’t the only leftist that felt this way – the show’s ratings have plummeted since that segment, critics have been absolutely brutal towards them, and the hosts have been desperately scrambling to pick up the pieces.
They are clearly feeling the pressure – On Thursday morning’s episode, Scarborough went into a 22-minute tangent again defending their meeting with Trump, arguing that as a journalist willing to go into the lions’ den, he is a martyr for the American people.
So, this brings me to the subject of this article – though it was painful watching them bend over for Trump, it has revived my faith in the left a bit watching the backlash that has ensued.
And it’s all for one simple reason – accountability.
The right has willfully abandoned any concept of accountability when it comes to their elected officials. As long as whoever is in power is saying the things they want to hear, and owning the libs the way they want them to, it doesn’t matter if that leader has some little allegations of sexual assault against them, has a criminal history, or lies so much that the country can’t keep up.
At times, I find myself so jealous, because with all the recent victories the right has had recently makes it seem like they are having one hell of a time. They do and get away with the most egregious things, and never really have to answer to anyone. And instead of being driven away by backlash and criticism, it only seems to embolden them.
Accountability is no longer in their vernacular, and sometimes I can’t help but think the left should be taking notes.
But then I remind myself I’m not a petty and vindictive man child that gets my rocks off by being a troll on the internet.
For all its flaws (and there are plenty), the left does a halfway decent job at trying to hold those in charge accountable. Whenever a Democrat politician gets into legal troubles, or gets accused of awful things, you would be hard-pressed to find a leftist with any amount of influence use their platform to argue that we should ignore it.
That cannot be said about the right, particularly with Trump and his MAGA loyalists. They seem to take pride in seeing how far they can take things, and how much they can get away with, while swearing they are victims that have never, ever done anything wrong.
They argue their case with the grace of a 4-year-old caught with their hand in a cookie jar, yet the right will eat the shit straight from the trough, and pleasantly ask for seconds.
I have no interest in becoming that, and the Morning Joe debacle demonstrates that other leftists don’t either.
What the hosts don’t understand is that the backlash has nothing to do with them visiting Trump – it was WHY. As much as Joe wants us to believe he did it so he can come back and tell his viewers all the juicy things about Trump they could never get anywhere else (not like he’s in the news 24/7 or anything), the truth is that they went for their own self-interest, and everyone knows it.
Trump has openly vowed to seek “retribution” on his political enemies and members of the media as president, and the Morning Joe hosts thought they could slide back into his good graces.
Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have been a fly on the wall during their private meeting, to be able to listen to Scarborough and Brzezinski try to play strategy with Trump in order to keep their jobs secure.
Why would they do that, you might ask? It’s because they no longer have an interest in being resistance liberals. When it appeared like Democrats would come out on top, and Kamala Harris was expected to win, they were all about calling Trump out.
But now, he will soon lead the country, and the best way for media to capitalize on that is to simply submit – it’s far more profitable that way.
In doing so, they will unavoidably normalize much of his behavior, give him passes where he doesn’t deserve it, and give him yet another platform to spread misinformation and lies.
The right’s unwillingness to hold their leaders accountable, in my opinion, is a symptom of a base that doesn’t actually stand for anything.
But the left’s willingness to let their own crash and burn when they definitely deserve it is a virtue that we should never let go of, and should be something we uphold.
There are a lot of pundits and commentators, particularly of the “comic” variety, that have recently suggested that Democrats should match Republicans in their shamelessness, as if that is somehow the secret to winning future elections.
FUCK THAT – you’ll have to cut my tongue out to keep me from criticizing those in power when they mess up, no matter what side they are on. They are not in the position they are in to serve themselves, they are there to serve US.
As journalists, and not public servants, Joe and Mika have a bit more leeway on how much (or little) they do their job for the people compared to for their own self-interest, but they seemed to forget that we are always watching.
The Morning Joe hosts are getting a taste of that leftist accountability, and I really dig it. It’s the same reason no one is defending Bob Menendez, and it’s the same reason President Joe Biden is getting so much shit for pardoning his son – not because it was a horrible thing to do, but because he said on multiple occasions that he wouldn’t.
I want to live in a word where what we say and the words we choose to say them actually hold weight and matter. I want to live in a world where our elected officials live in FEAR of lying to the public, not one where they get off on it. And I won’t people of influence to hold and stand by their views, not sway where the corporate media wind blows.
I want these things, and I think the left want them too.
Dead Language NJ 