Morning Joe: On the Beclowning of Defenders

How do you defend the defenders of William Barr?  Mike Pompeo travels in the the front seat of the clown car this weekend, defending Trump's latest tryst with Vlad Putin.  Joe Scarborough spoke aloud what most of us are thinking, a public service he performs most mornings on MSNBC.  "Pompeo," he said, "is unworthy to hold any public office for the rest of his life.  Put him at the top of the list of day-traders who don't understand that Donald Trump is going to be out of office in a year and a half, and he's going to be home, sitting at home because he's disgracing himself every day attacking Chris Wallace, attacking Fox News Sunday, and attacking the viewers."   

Tom Nichols called it "misdirection"-- maybe so. But the Trump Kool-Aide is a bitter elixir of stupidity and political machination that appeals only to minds that want to be led, somewhere, anywhere but where they are right now. We get it.

But they are being led by a clown car (Iet's call it that until someone describes it better) that only drives in circles, never leaving the driveway, bumping the mailbox and everything else in its way again and again. Billy Barr, Rudy Giuliani, Al Dershowitz, all the living dead that we have to rename, not to be cute but so we might separate their previous existence from the things they have become, will remain asleep.

But the living dead are all around us, not just on TV, roaming our neighborhoods, drinking at cocktail parties, cheering at our kids' soccer games, innocuously mixing with the living.

At least Joe's trying to wake 'em up, which is more than I can say for all the Dems that are tired of arguing, tired of Trump talk, willing to make nice with those that fuel the clown car.

So let's take a moment to celebrate any Republican (or former Republican) willing to call a clown a clown.  Thanks Joe for doing it day after day--respect! 

And one more thing, Joe.  We're in the middle of one of the best NBA playoff runs in years--so give us a BoSox break for a few more weeks.  Go Yanks.