MSNBC's Morning Joe panel hit the Republican congressional leadership
Wednesday for not admitting its faults in dealing with the President the
past two years. After playing a video clip of leading House Republicans
Eric Cantor and John Boehner praising President Obama for his admission
of not having reached out enough to the GOP, Morning Joe co-host Joe
Scarborough challenged the GOP to do the same.
"And now the polite thing to do...is to say 'And you know what? We
could have reached out more, too'," ex-Republican congressman
Scarborough said of the congressional GOP. "That would have cost them
nothing," he preached.
Co-host Mika Brzezinski complained that the GOP focused on the
negative, and scolded them for speaking out like they did. "I just heard
them emphasizing anything that the President might have given a little
to put out an olive branch," she griped, "and then they focus on the
negative."
Scarborough
lamented that President Obama had to be the grown-up in the room. "The
President - unfortunately - in this system we have, has to be the
adult," Scarborough argued, adding, "The President has the megaphone,
and he chose yesterday to be the adult, and I think we all salute him
for that."
For his part, Morning Joe guest and Time magazine writer Mark
Halperin reminded the panel that President Obama's mood after the
election in 2008 was essentially a "we won" attitude.
A transcript of the segment, which aired on December 1 at 6:08 a.m. EDT, is as follows:
(Video Clip)
Rep. ERIC CANTOR (R-Va., Minority Whip): I was encouraged by the President's remarks regarding his perhaps not having reached out enough to us in the last session.
Rep. JOHN BOEHNER (R-Ohio, Minority Leader): I agree that the President did make an important point that Eric mentioned, that he hadn't spent as much time with us reaching out and talking to us - and committed to do so.
(End Video Clip)
JOE SCARBOROUGH: And now the polite thing to do -
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Would be to be quiet -
SCARBOROUGH: - is to say -
BRZEZINSKI: - and move on. I mean seriously, is that all they have to say?
TINA BROWN: Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
SCARBOROUGH: - is to say, "And you know what? We could have reached out more too." That would have cost them nothing.
BRZEZINSKI: Did they say that?
SCARBOROUGH: No.
BRZEZINSKI: Yeah, I didn't hear that. I just heard them emphasizing anything that the President might have given a little to put out an olive branch -
SCARBOROUGH: But you know what, though?
BRZEZINSKI: - and then they focus on the negative.
SCARBOROUGH: But here's the deal, though. The President - unfortunately - in this system we have has to be the adult.
BRZEZINSKI: I guess so.
SCARBOROUGH: The President has the megaphone, and he chose yesterday to be the adult, and I think we all salute him for that.
MARK HALPERIN: The Republicans' attitude now is what the President's attitude was after 2008. "We won."
BROWN: Exactly right. That's exactly what John McCain says, by the way, to Howie Kurtz, in the Daily Beast today. He makes this point, he says, you know, he says Obama's administration is incompetant handling the whole fiasco, he says about WikiLeaks, he says that's his first opening salvo. And then he goes on to talk about the fact that they won, and, you know, that he's got to compromise with Republicans. So, you know you do get a slight sense of - this is all just gesture. And the President has made his gesture, but where's the other gesture, as Joe says?
BRZEZINSKI: I want to know how they're going to pay for all their great idea - oh, okay.