Power-couple Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, anchors of “Morning Joe” – the smartest “Washington” morning show, spent years making their name on fiercely fighting Donald Trump’s increasingly authoritarian posture and head-shaking inanity. And yet on Monday morning, Mika told viewers that that she and Joe sought an audience with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday morning and spoke to him directly. The couple may or may not have gone down there seeking to unify the chattering class going forward but they did manage to unify a great many critics who saw the move as self-serving, morally bankrupt, and futile. I am a little more forgiving than some.

As for Mika and Joe, Mediaite reports that Mika began Monday’s show with the announcement:

Brzezinski began on Monday by acknowledging that many viewers, spanning “regular citizens” and “political leaders”, had expressed feeling “scared” and “dismayed” at Trump’s cabinet selections. As a result, she and Scarborough decided to reach out to Trump’s team to see if they could have “the opportunity to speak with the President-elect, himself.”

She continued: “On Friday, we were given the opportunity to do just that. Joe and I went to Mar-a-Lago to meet personally with President-elect Trump. It was the first time we have seen him in seven years.”

Now, it is unclear to me whether Mika wanted it to sound as though she and Joe went down as ambassadors in a sense, to perhaps talk a little sense into Trump. After all, why did she mention fear about the cabinet nominations? Obviously, some of the nominations are almost criminally atrocious, but they’re also done and everyone knows the issues – Trump better than anyone else. So is Mika saying that they went to discuss this, representing the nation’s interests, and just how bad these would be?

Or is it much more logical? Did Joe and Mika go down and visit Trump in order to begin anew, try a fresh start, one that would allow Joe and Mika to reconsider the new president while also forcing Trump himself to look at Joe and Mika as two real people and not just a cause of some kind or simply opponents? This would be the more logical explanation.

Let’s not immediately tear the couple down if the journey was made in part due to fear. Yes, yes – Joe and Mika (Especially Joe) make well into eight figures a year and that money owes to the fact that they regularly pound on Donald Trump, calling him a fascist, while mocking him. And it now could put the couple in real danger during a future Trump administration if the nation becomes more a police-state and certain citizens go after critics. Please believe me, it actually is pretty depressing and tough to take when one realizes that death threats may become more than threats – especially when one’s a single dad with no money. At least Joe and Mika can pay for security. Still, it is understandable as to why they would want to smooth things over out of fear.

Both sides can agree to lower the temperature, the hatred, the fighting, thereby decreasing the chance of violent interaction. Perhaps Joe and Mika went down in an attempt to persuade Trump to not even want to control others. Someone has to suggest a fresh start. It likely won’t be Trump – though it would be nice, so why not Joe and Mika?

As Mediaite reports, there was real pushback by those who considered Joe and Mika’a new reproach to be cowardly:

But the stated goal of the MSNBC morning show hosts as “time for a new approach” was viewed less laudably by nattering nabobs. Instead, it was derided as evidence that Scarborough and Brzezinski seemed to not believe in the conviction of their previous criticisms. The criticism came from provocateurs and thought leaders from both ends of the political spectrum.

Right. On this one they were destroyed from all directions. They do appear to be dropping all conviction aside and, looking below – that is all too easy to mock as self-serving and cowardly:

More:

Here, though – is something interesting:

Except what if the meeting kind of was like international diplomacy? What if Joe and Mika did see themselves as ambassadors from that hated set of “elites” that are constantly looking down their noses at Trump? What if they packed up their egos and went down there, tail between the legs, and asked to sort of reengage on behalf of all Americans, elite or effete? Would that be so wrong?

Probably so.

Yes, yes, yes – and yet, they do still have jobs, something Keith Olbermann cannot say, even though Keith is likely right on this and has actually put his life on the line. Again, please understand that even us mid-majors don’t feel all that great about some things right now…

But that doesn’t mean that Joe and Mika should be lecturing anyone, nor does it mean that they should have even come out and reported on their trip like the trip itself was news – which they did. Maybe they should have just quickly said that they sought an interview, made some observations, and that their reporting would reflect such in the future. Maybe they should have just been honest and said that they were afraid – Joe in particular.

But then someone might have asked why it is that we have to make trips to Florida because we live in fear of the new President’s voters now. Some of us cannot fly down for a long weekend but do live the same reality. It is not easy. It is hard to like what the couple did but it’s also hard to be very critical right now. If I had the opportunity, I would’ve done exactly what they did even as I criticize it. That’s easy enough to say.

God Bless: I can be reached at [email protected] and @JasonMiciak

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8 COMMENTS

    • I’m curious. I don’t care about the name calling. I am concerned about going after someone’s faith.

      That’s a pretty bad look, fwiw.

      jason

      2

  4. “Both sides can agree to lower the temperature”

    But not, it would seem, by getting the guy with the flame-thrower to turn it off.

    Whenever we hear requests for ‘both sides’ it always involves the D side giving up something while the R side changes nothing except moving further to the right, until they’ve become actual fascists. the Overton Window is now shoved so far to the right that no-one in the real middle can even see it anymore – let alone look through it.

    12

  5. The things people will do for access! My first reaction was how Mika would explain giving Trump the time of day to her father. Given Trump’s relationship with Putin and being fine with destroying NATO and letting Putin recreate the USSR and WITH all of Europe under his control Mika’s dad must be spinning in his grave.

    7

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