Joe Scarborough one-upped

On this morning’s edition of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” host Joe Scarborough was debating Zbigniew Brzezinski on a matter of foreign policy. The subject of the debate was Bill Clinton’s July 2000 attempt to bring about a peace accord between Israel (Ehud Barak) and Palestine (Yasser Arafat) at Camp David.

Happily, I had read Clinton’s personal account of those Camp David sessions in his autobiography, “My Life,” so I was thoroughly enjoying the exchange.

Mika Brzezinski was squirming.

The father of Scarborough’s co-host told Joe that his knowledge of foreign affairs was “so shallow it’s embarrassing.” He added that Joe’s arguments were “stunningly superficial.”

Mika tried to smooth things over by explaining her father’s remarks were aimed at Scarborough’s arguments and not at him personally.

An obviously ticked-off Scarborough said he would throw away all newspapers, ignore all foreign affairs experts and call Dr. Brzezinski when he wanted to know something.

Well, Joe, that’s not a bad idea. This clear-headed 80-year-old won my heart when he wrote in The Washington Post (3/25/07) an opinion piece titled “Terrorized by 'War on Terror:' How a Three-Word Mantra Has Undermined America.” (LINK)

One smart guy.

The remainder of the host-guest exchange was, shall we say, uncomfortable, and Scarborough spent the rest of the program riffing on the “stunningly superficial” remark.

Sorry, Joe, but you were definitely out of your league.