In his November 30 Politico column,
Joe Scarborough rips Sarah Palin whose "anti-intellectualism" threatens
the GOP's success in 2012. With a scathing indictment of Palin's
presidential aspirations, Scarborough asks Republicans secretly critical
of Palin to stand up and voice their opposition to her presidential
run.
Scarborough questioned the former Alaska governor's basic intelligence for
even considering running for the presidency, although he admits later in
the article that Palin "is not a stupid woman" but "does not know what
she does not know."
"What man or mouse with a fully functioning human brain and a resume as
thin as Palin's would flirt with a presidential run?" Scarborough asks,
discreetly mocking former Delaware Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell
(R) for her belief that American scientists have infused human brain
cells into mice.
Palin's resume and her actions of the past two years "makes the
political biography of Barack Obama look more like Winston Churchill's"
although Obama was a "little more than a glorified state senator before
he entered the Oval Office," the MSNBC host insisted.
So just to clarify, Sarah Palin - who serving as Wasilla mayor and then
a partial term as Governor of Alaska - ranks far below the man who
served as a state senator and completed not even one term as a U.S.
senator before ascending to the presidency.
Scarborough also hit Palin for mocking Ronald Reagan and the Bush
family, who he terms "Republican giants." Palin blames George W. Bush
for the poor economy, Scarborough writes, and for that she should be
called out. Yet Scarborough himself has repeatedly slammed Bush and
congressional Republicans on his MSNBC show for failed fiscal policies.
As for Palin's remarks on Reagan, she was speaking in defense of her
own background as a reality show star. When asked if her being the
subject of reality television was too frivolous for a presidential
resume, Palin pointed to Ronald Reagan's career as an actor. Scarborough
thinks this makes mockery of the Gipper.
"Sounding like every left-wing politician and media elitist who
ridiculed Reagan for decades, Palin sneered that she could be president
if the actor from 'Bedtime for Bonzo' managed to do so," griped
Scarborough.
"And now a point of personal privilege," he adds near the end of the
column. "I work hard every day to assume the best of Americans who
engage in public service. But I am offended by Palin's attempt to build
herself up by tearing down great men like Ronald Reagan and George H. W.
Bush."
-Matt Hadro is an intern with the Media Research Center.
