The context for Joe Scarborough's "bitch-slap" comment this morning:

Shortly after 6 a.m. this morning, Scarborough was teasing Lawrence O'Donnell who was criticizing Palin and said that Pat Buchanan wouldn't like it. He then said, "Pat's . . . going to bitch-slap you."

Although it was very audible, he said it rather softly as if he was making a smart-assed crack under his breath that he knew only the people at the table would hear.

The following is paraphrasing:

O'Donnell then said, "Can you say that in the first hour of Morning Joe?" Mika and Joe said it was no problem and Mika said, "Oh - I call Joe an ass all the time."

At that point, Mark Halperin said to O'Donnell, "They have a 7-second delay so no one will hear it." Scarborough said, "Like Imus had that big button. We still have that 7-second delay, don't we? No? Oops." At which point he and Mika both looked totally busted, but stammered their way into another conversation, clearly trying to change the subject.

It was stunning. One thing that was particularly striking about it was how casually everyone seemed to treat it and the ease with which they talked to one another about how it was no big deal. To them, the problem was not that Scarborough said it but that someone outside of the studio would KNOW he said it.

THAT's the context.

letters@msnbc.com

I'm guessing not.

I didn't get a response in the original thread asking for content and context so I could write MSNBC.

How anyone here expects us to write letters and NOT provide the exact info to write an intelligent letter is beyond me:shrug:

Now I will know how to frame my letter to MSNBC.

:hi: