Brownout

He triggers a strong reaction.



Olbermann reacted to accusations that he smeared Senator-elect Scott Brown (with name-calling and lies) with an attempt at point by point refutation. Watch if you want, and see if he meets your own burden of proof. I think not.

"Morning Joe" Scarborough tweeted: "How reckless and how sad. It is no longer enough to simply disagree with someone. These days some feel the need to call opponents evil. It happens on both extremes. Just as when Beck called the President racist, this sort of rhetorical extremism must be discouraged. It cheapens the debate."

Scarborough has consistently invoked an "Oh yeah? The liberal's did it to Bush!" line when confronting conservatives & Tea Party attacks on Obama and his agenda. Keith called Brown a lot of other things, but not evil... Teabaggers making Hitler comparisons seems closer to calling someone evil, and a person of political integrity should recognize it publicly. Anyone with a law degree should know prior abuse is no excuse... "He did it first" might work on a playground, but is not a valid legal argument.

Those elsewhere who didn't see Senator-elect Scott Brown's trademark truck (200,000+ miles -- impressive in the rust belt) are now witnessing Democrats throwing each other under the bus.

Meanwhile Sarah Palin blogged he was mavericky enough to be ok with her. But Fox News' Neil Cavuto went looking for RINO (Republican in Name Only) turds on the trail of Brown's political past. Glen Beck on radio accused Brown of having the potential lo leave a "dead intern" in his wake and then on TV promised, or threatened, to keep watching like a hawk. And Shep Smith had a picture of a bear with a very long tongue, but blew any chance of a joke by comparing it to the wrong member of Kiss... Sorry, I digress.

So where does the guy with the 90-96% party-line voting record (he voted for Massachusetts healthcare reform when it was Mitt Romney's bill), who revealed his Dick Cheney-like approach to Gitmo detainees, but wouldn't mention the name "Republican" stand? What does his election say about the national electorate beyond Massholes?

Boston area Republican activist Todd Domke and Democrat Dan Payne join Gail Chaddock, Capitol Hill correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor and John Harwood, chief political correspondent for CNBC and a political writer for the New York Times, to take a crack at answering the questions and retiring New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, the ranking Republican on the Senate budget committee, takes a vicarious victory lap.

Audio: BBC, PRI & WBUR's Here & Now, 1/20/10. Host: Robin Young.