My thoughts about Joe on Morning Joe

[mobeau69]

He did a pretty good job. But I think he would have better served himself to not feel like he needed to say anything when there was dead air after Mika asked a question and he answered it. So many people being interviewed feel that it's their obligation to add something to a "yes" or "no" answer if there's dead air after answering yes of no. Fuck that. It's up to the interviewer, Mika in this case, to fill the dead air with another question. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think it was Sen. Stuart Symington that answered yes or know questions with a yes of no and that was it. No need to say anything else.

Mika: Did you assault her?

Joe: No.

Dead air created by Mika so Joe would say more and he should have resisted the feeling that he needed to add anything else.

Not "no, never, it did not happen". Just "no".

Again, this is going back to the 60's and I was just a kid but I think it was Symington and I remember my dad always getting a kick out of his simple yes or no answers without any equivocation when he appeared on Meet the Press with Lawrence Spivak.

I'm pretty sure it was Symington.

[Frasier Balzov]

1. I didn't mind a little emphasis on Biden's part.

It shouldn't come across like he was trying to pass a lie detector test.

He needed to serve up some blend of sympathetic indignation toward his accuser and bewilderment at the accusation.

And, as importantly, Joe seemed sharp of mind. That's the other bugaboo he is trying to combat. When he said that he "didn't remember" any formal complaint having been made, I thought he might be wandering into a trap of his own making.

But he did fine.

And David Axelrod's remarks later in the day were very reassuring that such a skeleton in Joe's closet could never have gotten past the Obama campaign team.

[mobeau69]

2. Economy of language is a rare commodity but always

refreshing. Lincoln was the master of this skill. He knew how to make his points with as few words as possible.