I am Not That Mad at Halperin

Today MSNBC has suspended political analyst and Time magazine Editor at Large Mark Halperin indefinitely over something he said about President Obama on air. Not really to defend Mr. Halperin but think that an indefinite suspension is pretty much overreacting.

When appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program, Halperin was asked how he felt about the President's press conference Wednesday. He then ask "Are we on the seven-second delay?" Then after getting the green light that he did he responded with "I thought he was a dick yesterday." Now that I do agree that it was inappropriate for morning cable news, I don't think that it calls for a suspension. In our hyper politically correct society I think this a classic case of media overreaction. I have seen his comment referred to as vulgar and vile. I guess I am not that offended.
It wasn't racist, homophobic or promoting violence against the president. He was speaking his mind and maybe went a little too far.

MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines issued this statement,"Mark Halperin's comments this morning were completely inappropriate and unacceptable.We apologize to the President, the White House and all of our viewers. We strive for a high level of discourse and comments like these have no place on our air."

I don't think that MSNBC is that offened because they let the clip play on the Hulu website. They do not edit the clip at all and allow you to hear the word in its entirety. NBC owns both MSNBC and the Hulu site and they made no changes.

The Actual clip to judge for yourself

No whats crazy is that Co-anchor Joe Scarborough says "We have it. We can use it. Go for it. Let's see what happens." Then you see the cameras flashing to the control room. Now I wonder why good old Joe who encouraged this then acted shocked afterwards is not being suspended. Probably because he is the big money show host and did not actually say the remark he is safe.

Halperin's other employer Time Magazine issued a statement saying that "Mark Halperin's comments on air this morning were inappropriate and in no way reflective of Time's views. We have issued a warning to him that such behavior is unacceptable." Because TIME can not associated with such antics.

Because like MSNBC, the people at Time do not want to upset their liberal friends. They can not have the White House mad at them. It is no secret that MSNBC leans as far left as FoxNews leans right.

Really what is all comes down to is that everyone got scared. Like everything in the media this to shall pass. Once somebody says something more important and actually matters then we will forget this and Mark will be back at work.