EFTA01120087.pdf

DAILY CALLER Scarborough: 'Conservatism Is A Racket For A Lot Of People To Get Very, Very Rich' MSNBC's Joe Scarborough created quite a stir on Monday when he said that former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and others should stand up to some elements of the conservative movement by punching them in the face. Later that day, in a lengthy interview on Hugh Hewitt's radio show, Scarborough elaborated on those remarks. He said his aim was to encourage conservatives to push back against obstacles that could hurt them electorally. "[M]ore generally I'm talking about people that make it harder for conservatives to win elections," Scarborough said. "I'm talking about people that sometimes say things that will shock the audience, that will drive the ratings up, that will maybe paint conservatism in a harsher viewpoint and again will make them a lot of money, will get them a lot of listeners, will help them in the demo, but will actually hurt us in the type of places we have to win every four years to put people in the White House." Scarborough recalled when radio talker and former Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck and his 2009 remarks calling President Barack Obama a racist. The "Morning Joe" host said that Romney should have repudiated those remarks that came nearly two years prior to announcing his candidacy for the White House. "I immediately went on the air and I said, `Mitt Romney, if you want to be the leader of my party, if you want to be the leader of the conservative movement, you need to step out, you need to criticize him for saying that, and you need to ask him to rescind it because that sends the wrong message to America.'" As for a possible double standard, where Scarborough is willing to call his own side out, but less willing to call out his left-of-center MSNBC colleagues for similar rhetoric, Scarborough admitted he does not watch his own network beyond his own program. "All I will say on that point is, I a long time ago made a deal with Phil Griffin — he was the president of MSNBC — and that was that I would watch MSNBC from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. in the Page I 1 of 3 EFTA01120087 morning and that was it," Scarborough said. "It makes my life a lot easier. It makes everybody else's life at MSNBC a lot easier. And it's a formula that works well." The "Morning Joe" host said he is not criticizing talk radio blindly, explaining he listens to Rush Limbaugh, Hewitt, Bill Bennett and Michael Medved when possible. But the one he said he most identifies with was the same talker of which he was critical — Glenn Beck. "[B]ut I will tell you, ironically enough, ideologically — even though he drives me crazy, I criticize him all the time because of the crazy nutty things he says, I think ideologically and please don't tell anybody, I may be closest to Glenn Beck," Scarborough said. "I've got a libertarian bent. I'm a 10th Amendment guy." Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/11/scarborough-explains-his-punch-in-the-face-remarks- says-he-identifies-with-glenn-beck-videoMixzz2EndOvX5n HUFF POST MEDIA Joe Scarborough: Conservative Media Is 'Destroying' Republican Party Joe Scarborough lashed out at some conservatives, particularly pundits, for "destroying" the Republican party on Monday. The MSNBC host was reacting to Bill Kristol's recent op-ed, which alleged that parts of American conservativism have become "a racket." Scarborough could not agree more. "You have a lot of people running around, saying harsh things that sell books and push ratings and lose elections," he said on Monday. "Conservatism is a racket for a lot of people to get very, very rich. With no thought of winning elections." He blamed the "anti-intellectualism of the past decade" for what he said were the views that the GOP has become known for, as well as the lack of "intelligent" ideas coming from the party. "These type of people who have the ability to make... the compassionate conservative argument — they're thrown to the side because they don't sound enough like Glenn Beck or a blogger," Scarborough opined. Mike Bamicle wondered if it was possible for someone to break through the "loudness and the shrillness" of voices on both sides. Page I 2 of 3 EFTA01120088 "Do you think any of these people in talk radio, if they're punched in the face by a Republican nominee, do you think they would push back?" Scarborough said. "No, they're cowards, they're bullies. Punch them in the face and they'll back off." He said that conservative media personalities would only lead the GOP to a "permanent minority." Scarborough continued, "Who are they to say anything about what the future of this party and of this movement is? They're making tens of millions of dollars. They're getting rich and they're not really hurting this country because they're irrelevant... but they are destroying the Republican party everyday." Page 13 of 3 EFTA01120089