The air was electric on the set of Morning Joe. The show's eponymous host, Jihad Joe is insufferably obsequious towards any Republican, and today was no exception. He was super excited, because his next guest accepted a speaking engagement at the RNC next week. That elevates the affair to slightly-less-embarrassing status.
His affinity for partying with the rich and famous makes Senator 'Tehran' Tom Cotton (R-AR) even more worthy of unctuous fawning. They could totally hang out with the cream of the crop of soulless Republicans in Cleveland.
Cotton explained the basics of his speech.
SEN COTTON: I look forward to talking about our military and our veterans, and what we need to do to make sure that we're serving them so they can serve us.
Joe was a bit perplexed by a N.Y. Times article that heaped praise upon the allied effort at curtailing the power of ISIS. Scarborough asked if this was this at all possible. He knows the rule: Republicans are not allowed to ever compliment this president (or any Democratic POTUS) or any of his policies, they NEVER deserve a scintilla of praise.
Cotton says they are making some headway, but if it were up to him, this would have been done more efficiently and the operation would have been escalated quite massively. Somehow the dangers of overspending and an inevitable recession aren't of much concern to Cotton. Yuge deficits are only an issue during a Democratic Administration. Drumpf's tax plan could more than double our 'outrageous' deficit.
Nicolle Wallace expressed her concern to Cotton about Trump's staggeringly sparse understanding of foreign affairs, especially NATO. The author of the Tehran letter believes that the nations of NATO are guilty of the same thing our president is: THEY NEED TO SPEND MORE MONEY! The North Atlantic Treaty nations should be spending more in blood and treasure because ISIS is the number one bogeyman that motivates American Republicans.
Someone wrote Mike Barnicle an actual substantive question:
BARNICLE: Senator what would you ask your candidate, your Republican candidate for president, to do with regard to Turkey and the volatile issue within Syria and the role that Turkey plays there?
Cotton drops some knowledge on what seemed to be a completely disinterested panel, regarding nations like Syria, Turkey, Libya, Saudi Arabia. He mentions despots like Assad and the migrant problem into Europe. He did, however, express a fairly decent command of some of the problems of that area, and knew how to correctly pronounce the players involved.
Steve Rattner asks a similarly substantive question with regard to Tom's opinions on how President Obama has handled the troop withdrawal/drawdown in both Afghanistan and Iraq and the decision to add an additional 560 troops in Iraq. Surprisingly, he wasn't completely disrespectful to his Commander in Chief. The Senator basically believes he has done an okay job, but he has a few suggestions for President Obama, and they include upping the numbers. Another one of those gripes is that he doesn't listen to the precise recommendations of the generals.
COTTON: ... it is better than nothing though, and it will allow our forces there to continue working with the Afghan National Security Forces and to continue to target the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in Afghanistan.
One can make a few modifications to centuries old sayings and apply them to the Party of Ignorance. In the land of clueless Republicans, Tehran Tom is King.
