It seems that while I was working on emptying all my chambers into cable news professionals for letting two-bit crank cult leader Terry Jones get so popular and powerful that it required the Secretary of Defense to enter into negotiations without preconditions, MSNBC was attempting to atone for what it had done. Jim Newell at Gawker chronicles the bizarre scene this morning, as Terry Jones was invited onto "Morning Joe" so that Jon Meacham could lecture him on religion. (Was Sally Quinn not available to teach Jones how to serve high tea? Two birds, one stone, right?)
Jones was not offered a chance to speak. This is precisely what should have happened in the first place, but in this instance, it's not just too-little-too-late, it's a titanically self-indulgent display of cartoon self-righteousness.
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MSNBC is billing this as "'Morning Joe' refuses to interview pastor, gives him peaceful message," because they are proud -- I guess? -- of this moment of "journalism," which strongly resembles a scene from a cheap melodrama. It's really all for naught, because as Newell points out, the "burn a Quran for some attention" craze is spreading, maybe to a town near you!
Meanwhile, isn't it amazing to think that all this time, we could have been marshaling an army of former employees of failing magazines to testify the Word of God to all the crazy people in America. Imagine how awesome things would be!
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