Conservatives Have a New King of Bergdahl Hypocrites: Joe Scarborough

The past several days have brought out the absolute worst in flip-flopping hypocrisy over the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, tirelessly chronicled by the likes of Majority FM producer Matt Binder and our own Bob Cesca, as conservatives went from wailing about forgotten hero Bowe Bergdahl to having him shot against a wall with President Obummer. On Thursday morning, though, Joe Scarborough became the One Ring to Rule Them All, the Elvis Presley of Bowe Bergdahl fuckery.

Before I get to that, though, I’d like to dispose of a narrower bit of dumbshittery that’s getting tossed around, because it pertains directly to my beat. Scarborough specifically criticizes the President for making the announcement in the Rose Garden, because it’s “the President’s trophy case,” a place where only the most “momentous events” occur. This is a line of attack I’ve hear elsewhere, including on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper, where National Journal‘s Ron Fournier called the Rose Garden a “sacred spot,” and referred to Saturday’s announcement as a “ceremony.”

This talking point is part of a mainstream media narrative trying to sell the Obama administration as somehow celebrating the service of Bowe Bergdahl, of overhyping the release, and now, of facing an unforeseen backlash. It is bullshit. Here are some of the “momentous events” the President has held in the “sacred” Rose Garden recently:

• THE PRESIDENT makes a personnel announcement: his intent to nominate current HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan as OMB Director and San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro to replace him.
• THE PRESIDENT is interviewed by local and national meteorologists participating in “Weather from the White House”
• THE PRESIDENT hosts a Cinco de Mayo reception
• President Obama to Pardon National Thanksgiving Turkey

You get the idea. The Rose Garden is the place where the President announces things if the weather is nice. Most Rose Garden events are poorly attended by the press, but still chock-full of video and still photographers, which are tougher to cram into the briefing room. Still, maybe Fournier and Scarborough are suggesting that Obama should have used the east Room, where the President handles little shit like this. Wonder how that would have gone over.

The return of Sgt. Bergdahl, despite the controversy surrounding his disappearance, is a genuinely momentous event, newsworthy because it kept the promise we make to all of our servicemembers, but also because it has implications beyond Bergdahl’s family, beyond that sacred promise. The return of our last POW paves the way for political reconciliation in Afghanistan, and clears the consciences of those military commanders and servicemembers who would not have felt comfortable leaving a man, any man, behind as we withdraw. The President defended the announcement this morning during a joint press conference, offering “no apologies”:

Back to Morning Joe, though, where things got so crazy that…READ MORE

By: Tommy Christopher

Tommy Christopher is The Daily Banter's White House Correspondent and Political Analyst. He's been a political reporter and liberal commentator since 2007, and has covered the White House since the beginning of the Obama administration, first for PoliticsDaily, and then for Mediaite. Christopher is a frequent guest on a variety of television, radio, and online programs, and was the villain in the documentaries The Audacity of Democracy and Hating Breitbart. He's also That Guy Who Live-Tweeted His Own Heart Attack, and the only person to have ever received public apologies from both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.