Summary
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski met with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, marking their first in-person interaction in seven years.
Despite years of mutual criticism, the meeting aimed to restart communication and address divisive issues like abortion and political retribution.
Trump expressed interest in finding common ground with Democrats, while Scarborough and Brzezinski acknowledged their concerns about Trump’s actions and words.
The move reflects their belief that Trump’s re-election requires a new approach, though it drew criticism given their history of opposition to Trump, including his personal attacks on the hosts during his first term.
These were the guys that told Biden not to step out of the race. These people also claimed Trump was fascist at one point. What changed? Did they ever have spines?
What changed?
Probably the looming possibility of an American gulag for Trump’s political enemies.
They have sufficient money and means to get out.
I’m not so sure that’s going to matter this time around.
Money and means always matters.
The bending of the knee is just a quest for more money.
Cowards.
Soon to be something worse: collaborators.
I am seeing the sentiment all over the place right now that says one should somehow adjust his or her principles because the electorate presumably disagrees with them. It is implied by some that there is somehow wisdom in the election results to which we need to cower. And, it is implied that not doing so is un-American, or perhaps un-democratic. All of that is nonsense, spewed by the very same unprincipled liars that have been enable the rise of fascism in the US for at least 40 years. Don’t let them lull you into accepting the autocracy that promises to enrich them at the expense of your freedoms, health, wellbeing, and wealth. Some things are just wrong, and they continue to be wrong when people support theme in mass. The republicans didn’t stop being fascists just because people voted for them.
The Democratic elites fucked it up and we’re seeing them kowtow and shift the Overton window in real time. All to chase the people they’ve effectively denigrated for the entire election cycle.
The reality is that they’ll never learn. This is a near perfect repeat of other Democrat losses to Republicans over the last 50 years. The knee-jerk reactions we’re seeing (e.g. scapegoating trans people) are indelible without a wild paradigm shift of the core tenets of the party.
Three drink bonus: My brain is trying to color in some takeaways from the early progressivism movement (which IIRC gave birth to elitist leftism), but it hasn’t really gelled yet.
I’m trans, and that’s what bothers me the most about those two congressional Democrats coming out against trans athletes in sports. Parroting the “biological boys in girl’s sports” line the right has been using for years now.
They were so comfortable saying it, that’s what pisses me off the most. It shows me it’s not ingrained in the party’s platform, and we were just a token group to support when they thought we brought in enough votes. So they’d rather scapegoat us and try to court a minority of moderate Republicans that won’t vote for them anyway.
It showed me we, trans people, don’t matter to the DNC. Maybe we matter to the electorate of the DNC, but we don’t matter to the DNC.
Oh, Money… The only money that moneys to the DNC is moneys.
Remember: MSNBC is supposed to be the “liberal” network. How is it that there is so much content from Republicans on this supposedly “liberal” network, I wonder.
The neo-liberals have hardly any more principles than conservatives. They’re just siding with the winner and pretending everything will be business as usual.
For years high-level Democrats have told us Trump is The End of Democracy. They either don’t believe it’s true OR they are fine with it.
Which is it? Why don’t liberals ever ever have an answer to this?
Too many people are afraid of dying
Traitor.
Everyone has to kiss the ring. They know who their class allies are.
“Bending the knee” is not excusable, being a coward is not excusable, placating fascists is not excusable.
You fight or you’re the enemy as well.
Joe is a Republican.
So was the piece of shit McCain, yet l can at least somewhat respect how he acted with Trump.
Devil’s advocate: he probably doesn’t want to fall out a window considering election results…
Like it or not, he sees the writing on the wall. He knows that the best he can probably hope for under a Trump administration if he doesn’t bend the knee is the end of his career. He is not the first who have bent the knee since the election, and he won’t be the last. Every aspect of society is going to quickly become a lot more favorable to Trump, even if only to avoid his ire. Just check out how much media coverage is now significantly more Trump-friendly. Even the independent Youtube influencers on the left are already taking a much more subdued tone towards Trump.
Jeff Bezos bent the knee out of fear of Trump retaliation. Judges have been pausing Trump and J6 related cases since he won. And before that, our entire judicial system bent to Trump’s will largely out of fear of violence if they don’t. Senators have been saying for years that they will not speak out publicly against Trump out of fear of retribution. Prominent Republicans have seen the end of their careers, driven out of the party at Trump’s hands. Much of social media have rescinded previous policies about banning disinformation. The two GA election workers that had to go into hiding after being targeted by the Trump Hate Machine. People openly marching in the streets promoting Nazi memorabilia and preaching white supremacy. Take a look up and down mainstream media over the past couple of weeks and see how much of the coverage has suddenly become infinitely more favorable towards Trump.
There’s a reason for that. Because even the most powerful and well-connected people in the country do not have the power to stand up to him without being run over. Scarborough is just trying to stay out of jail, just like everybody else. The country is now Trump’s, and most people are just trying to find where their place is in TrumpWorld, because the world they lived in before no longer exists, and there is a growing number of people that are saying that they want it this way.
I mean, you’re still free to stand behind your Constitutional protections and speak out openly against Trump all you want. Feel free to do just that. But when people with infinitely more resources and influence than you or I could ever dream of are having second thoughts and opting to bed the knee instead, you may want to think about why. Constitutional protections don’t mean jack shit if the people charged with enforcing those protections are the ones laughing in your face as they cuff you.
Fighting a battle you have no chance of winning isn’t bravery. It’s suicide. And for those who are going to rush to the downvote button, remember that youtube is a thing. There is exactly nothing stopping you from going on youtube, speaking against Trump, and trying to rally the troops. Go ahead. I’ll wait.
At the end of the day, most people are just trying to keep their heads down, make it through the day, and make it through life. Celebrities are no exception. Very few people are going to be willing to sacrifice everything they’ve worked for, and possibly even their freedom, to fight a battle that they cannot win.
There is exactly nothing stopping you from going on youtube, speaking against Trump, and trying to rally the troops.
Not like anyone would see it, given the skewed platform.
Look, I’m not asking them to fall in their swords. I’m just asking that they don’t fly out to Maro Lago to say he’s normal actually.
A valid point, but remember that he’s also trying to avoid having the sword involuntarily shoved into him, too.
“I for one welcome our new insect overlords”
just another tv host looking for a cabinet seat