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Security

MSNBC Host Revives Disputed Claim That Waterboarding Led To Bin Laden’s Death

By Ben Armbruster on Dec 10, 2012 at 12:32 pm

Joe Scarborough

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough propagated the myth on Monday that torturing suspected terrorist detainees eventually led to the death of Osama bin Laden. Scarborough was discussing the upcoming film “Zero Dark Thirty,” which depicts the events leading up to and including the raid that killed the al Qaeda leader last year.

New York Magazine’s David Edelstein said the movie “makes a case for the efficacy of torture” and on Morning Joe today, Scarborough agreed:

SCARBOROUGH: The truth that Barack Obama learned the first briefing that he got after he won the election and that is that the CIA program, whether you find it repugnant or not, actually was effective with KSM [9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed] and other people getting actionable intelligence that led to couriers that eventually led to years later to the killing of Osama bin Laden. [...]

I had to listen to people tell me on this program for years that the CIA didn’t work. Waterboarding didn’t work and I knew that that was not true. It did get information from Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other terrorists that eventually led to not just the killing of Osama bin Laden but a lot of victories. And you can say it’s immoral, you can say it’s wrong, just like you can say Lincoln buying off a congressman with a patronage job, suspending habeus corpus doing a lot of awful things to end slavery and win the war was also actions that would make us uncomfortable in the finest dining rooms in Georgetown and on the upper east side.

Watch the clip:

While Scarborough didn’t provide any evidence to back up his case, experts, government officials and Republican lawmakers have said that waterboarding and other so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques” did not yield the key information that led to bin Laden. The name of bin Laden’s courier was what eventually led intelligence officials to bin Laden’s whereabouts in Pakistan. And as the AP reported last year, former officials said that “Mohammed did not reveal the names while being subjected to the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding” and that “[h]e identified them many months later under standard interrogation.”

”This idea we caught bin Laden because of waterboarding I think is a misstatement,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said last year. Senate Intelligence Committee chair Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) has also said that the information that led to bin Laden did not come from torture.

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Media

Joe Scarborough On The Entire Muslim World: ‘They Hate Us Because Of Their Religion’

By Judd Legum on Sep 17, 2012 at 8:58 am

This morning on MSNBC, Joe Scarborough accused every single person in Muslim and Arab world of hating the United States. According to Scarborough, “if you scratch the surface, and if you gave every street vendor to prime minister in that region a chance to throw a rock at the U.S. embassy, they would.”

Scarborough added: “You know why they hate us? They hate us because of their religion, they hate us because of their culture, and they hate us because of peer pressure.” He said that anyone who believes “we’re going to go over there and change them” is “naive.”

Watch it:

Scarborugh’s Islamophobic diatribe encountered little resistance on the set of Morning Joe. His co-host Mika Brzezinski responded in apparent agreement, “look what is happening in Afghanistan 11 years later.”

Following the murder of four Americans in Libya, the people of Benghazi held a demonstration against terrorism and in support of the United States. According to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, many Libyans helped defend the embassy during the attack and “helped rescue and lead other Americans to safety.” The Atlantic noted, “Just like not all Americans are like the people who made the weird anti-Islam movie that is sparking protests in Muslim nations, not all people in Libya are like the ones who killed U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens.”

Health

‘Morning Joe’ Slams Romney For Medicare Hypocrisy, Scaring Seniors In Florida

By Igor Volsky on Jan 31, 2012 at 8:30 am

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough tore into Mitt Romney this morning for falsely claiming that President Obama is the only president “in history that’s cut Medicare by $500 billion” and scaring senior citizens about the future of the program. “It’s pathetic!” Scarborough exclaimed, before pointing out that Romney himself supports large reductions to the program and has endorsed Paul Ryan’s Medicare reforms:

SCARBOROUGH: That is the most shameful demagoguery that I have heard on the campaign trail yet this year. To tell senior citizens that the program that is going to bankrupt America unless we figure out a way to bend the cost curve, is going to be protected forever and can you believe that Barack Obama cut $500 billion from it? It’s just unspeakable…it is unspeakable, because this country is going bankrupt and Mitt Romney is trying to scare senior citizens — you know what? It’s what we called Mediscare in ’95 and ’96. It was pathetic when Bill Clinton did it it’s pathetic when Mitt Romney does it, it’s pathetic when he does it because of Medicare Advantage. Pathetic.

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“And Mitt Romney’s on record as supporting Paul Ryan’s plan, which as far as I remember it, actually takes huge, makes huge savings/cuts to Medicare,” New York Magazine’s John Heilemann added. Indeed, the Ryan plan fundamentally transforms Medicare’s structure into a guaranteed contribution program, significantly reduces its growth rate, and actually maintains many of the savings included in the Affordable Care Act. Romney himself has introduced very similar reductions as part of his own Medicare proposal.

NEWS FLASH

#TCA12: Joe Scarborough Says GOP Has ‘The Weakest Presidential Field They’ve Seen In Modern History’ | At the Television Critics Association press tour session for MSNBC this morning, Joe Scarborough said that he thought:

It’s the weakest presidential field they’ve seen in modern history. I’m not sure why that is. But even their ability to get on the stump and deliver a five-minute speech, or in Santorum’s case, the ability to deliver a speech that’s as long as Castro’s speeches used to be. But they don’t have hte ability to do the basics. Except for Romney, they’re broke…What happens to Ron Paul if he keep getting 15 or 20 percent. A lot of people think he’s going to run an independent. I just don’t think that’s the case…There are some of us who went to press conferences with Ron and Rand Paul who saw this as a precursor for his son to run later on. And obviously if he ran as an independent, it would hurt his son.

He predicted that Mitt Romney’s lead would hold in New Hampshire. And he and Mika Brzezinski really doubled down on the Rand Paul point: Mika kept insisting it was “a setup” for Rand’s campaign. He’s also said that a segment with Walter Isaacson and foreign reporting have been among the highest-rated segments that the show’s run, touting it as an indicator of the intelligence of the audience.

NEWS FLASH

‘Morning Joe’ Crew Mocks Perry’s War On Christmas Ad | As if the overwhelmingly negative reviews from YouTube users and some faith-based leaders weren’t damning enough, MSNBC’s Morning Joe hosts ripped apart Rick Perry’s “war on religion” ad, even Googling for stories about the administration’s supposed “special-ops” war against Christmas. “What are they doing,” Scarborough asked, “they’re playing Led Zeppelin songs backwards?” John Heilemann of New York Magazine added: “Clearly, the target that one wants to be going after is gay soldiers who are off serving in our wars and dying for the country, putting their lives on the line.” Watch it:

Politics

Conservatives Slam Rick Perry For Failure To Rebuke ‘Moron’ Pastor Who Called Mormonism ‘A Cult’

By Tanya Somanader on Oct 11, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Robert Jeffress

At the Value Voters Summit last Friday, the First Baptist Church of Dallas’ Senior Pastor Robert Jeffress — who introduced Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) at the event — decried Mormonism as “a cult” that is definitively “not Christianity.” “The decision for evangelical Christians right now is going to be do we prefer someone who is truly a believer in Jesus Christ or someone…who is part of a cult,” he said, seemingly referring to Mormon GOP candidates Mitt Romney and John Huntsman. To Jeffress, Perry is the “genuine follower of Jesus Christ.”

Perry’s campaign first said “the governor doesn’t judge what is in the heart and soul of others,” but then issued a statement that “he does not believe [Mormonism] is a cult.” That bare-bones remark has done little, however, to assuage Huntsman, who flatly called Jeffress a “moron.” “The fact that, you know, some moron can stand up and make a comment like that, you know, first of all, it’s outrageous,” Huntsman told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. When asked how he thought Perry should react, Huntsman declared, “Make an immediate and decisive break. Period”:

HUNTSMAN: Make an immediate and decisive break. Period. This kind of talk, I think, has no home in American politics these days. Anyone who has associated with someone willing to make those comments ought to stand up and distance themselves in very bold language and that hasn’t been done — and Rick ought to stand up and do that.

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Many among the right share Huntsman’s feelings. Joe Scarborough, the former Republican congressman and host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, ripped Jeffress in a Politico op-ed yesterday: “Modern American politics as practiced by Jeffress and his ilk require that Jesus Christ be thrown under the bus with great regularity by the very same people who claim His name.” President George W. Bush’s adviser Karl Rove slammed Jeffress’s comment as “a terrible mistake” that “doesn’t belong in politics.” “I wish Perry was a little bit stronger in denouncing this,” he added, saying it’s fair game to hold candidates accountable for their introducer’s remarks. Former Reagan official and conservative radio host Bill Bennett used his speaking slot at the Values Voters conference to also attack Jefferss’ “bigotry.” Romney has remained silent about Jeffress’s comment.

Perry himself did say that he does not think Mormonism is a cult, but “he did not outright denounce” Jeffress’ comments. Of course, Perry has yet to denounce any of this supporter’s incendiary remarks, including his belief that “Jews, Mormons, Muslims and gays are going to hell” or that Islam “promotes pedophilia.”

In April, Fox & Friends legitimized Jeffress by bringing him on to fan the flames of President Obama’s mythical “war on Easter.”

NEWS FLASH

Scarborough: Rick Perry’s Racist Camp Name Is A ‘Disqualifying’ Offense | GOP presidential candidate Gov. Rick Perry (TX) is taking a beating for the racist rock that displayed the title of his West Texas hunting camp “Niggerhead” for years. Fellow candidate Herman Cain saw Perry’s tacit acceptance of the name as “just plain insensitive towards a lot of black people in this country.” Today, MSNBC’s Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough once again took Perry to task, this time insisting that such a “vile and offensive” name for his camp is not only legitimate news, it shows “such extraordinary racial insensitivity that I think it’s disqualifying” for “any member of Congress or governor or president.” Watch it:

By Tanya Somanader on Oct 3, 2011 at 2:50 pm

NEWS FLASH

Scarborough Knocks Rick Perry For Not Being Able To ‘Complete A Sentence’ | In an interview with former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) this morning, Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough took a swipe at Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s (R) struggles to put together a coherent sentence during an attack on former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) during the Republican presidential debate last week. “Do you think it’s an advantage for your campaign that, unlike Governor Perry, you can complete a sentence?” Scarborough asked. The MSNBC host, however, didn’t allow Huntsman to answer the question, offering a quick, “I’m sorry,” and letting another guest ask Huntsman a question. Watch it:

NEWS FLASH

Scarborough Slams Perry, Romney For ‘Undermining Our President’ On Israel Policy | Yesterday, GOP presidential front runner Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) led a news conference to attack President Obama’s Middle East policies, insisting that “as a Christian, I have a clear directive to support Israel.” Fellow candidate Mitt Romney jumped on the bandwagon, calling for the U.S. to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority and re-evaluate funding U.N. programs if Palestinians gain recognition from the U.N. This morning on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, host (and former Republican Rep.) Joe Scarborough slammed Perry and Romney for “posing for political purposes and undermining our president.” “That is dangerous and it’s not good for our country,” he said. Watch it:

MSNBC’s First Read asks, “If Howard Dean or John Kerry had shown up in New York City while [President George W.] Bush was at U.N. in ’03 — and had accused Bush of ‘appeasement’ (with foreign nationals) at a time of tricky negotiations at the U.N. — wouldn’t that have drawn widespread condemnation?”

By Tanya Somanader on Sep 21, 2011 at 10:50 am

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