Last night, Jon Stewart took Joe Scarborough's whining about the media coverage of Mitt Romney's La Jolla home to discuss what is and isn't "fair game", according to the media.
Of course, motivation is not the only parameter for attacks. Political fairness also mandates that you can only look so far back into a candidate's history.
CHUCK TODD (5/10/2012): What's fair game? High school, it's always been this line, right? It always... what's fair game here?
SEAN HANNITY (4/11/2011): Do you think it's a question that is worth asking? In other words, show the birth certificate, or do you think that's out of bounds?
ANDERSON COOPER (4/23/2012): This comment to The Daily Beast, saying that Mitt Romney's family comes from a polygamist commune in Mexico, is that fair game? I mean, is that fair to talk about?
I mean, Mitt Romney's great-great-great-, I mean, many great-grandparents were evicted from their home for nudity and grand theft apple. Is that fair game?
![](http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z152/UCLABruinKid/FairGame-AdamEve.jpg)
If only the news networks had access to experts with a selfless interest in discerning the fairness of various campaign tactics.
MEGYN KELLY (5/2/2012): Is it fair game? I mean, putting the killing of bin Laden in a political ad, and then taking the additional step of suggesting Mitt Romney would not have given the kill order?
BRAD BLAKEMAN, REPUBLICAN (5/2/2012): Absolutely not.
ROBERT GIBBS, DEMOCRAT (4/29/2012): That's fair game.
Well what do we do now?
I'm beginning to think this whole media "Isn't it fair?" conversation is a time-killing circle jerk! But that would be a disservice to circle jerks, because even circle jerks end with some kind of tangible conclusion! (audience laughter)
Oh! What if, instead of asking if politicians' attacks are fair, maybe you could find out if they're true, or accurate, or relevant?
Video and full transcript below the fold.
But let's begin tonight with the morning. Specifically, Morning Joe, whose host, one Joseph P. Morning, was a bit upset about an article he had seen in today's New York Times' Home section, detailing the construction at Mitt Romney's rather opulent La Jolla home, and what Mr. Morning felt was an unfair attempt to smear Mr. Romney as rich, and elitist, out of touch.
JOE SCARBOROUGH (6/7/2012): Did the New York Times ever dispatch reporters to John Kerry's homes, because John Kerry's worth a lot more money, obviously, than Mitt Romney. ... If you or anybody else out there can show me this type of spread from four years, ah, from eight years ago on John Kerry and his massive accumulations and on Teresa Heinz Kerry....
Wow. Well, I guess if the New York Times did do something like that, it would totally take the wind out of this man's complaint. But there's no way to find out, it's a live television show, everybody's working. And that's... what's that Willie Geist guy who sits next to Mr. Scarborough and has access to the Internet?
WILLIE GEIST (6/7/2012): I've got a piece for you from October 10, 2004, in the New York Times. It talks about how the perception of John Kerry's elitism.... The couple have an 18th century townhouse ... the kitchen was two stories high ... an 88-acre Pittsburgh-area estate, a private Gulf Stream jet ... in winter he goes helicopter skiing while staying at his wife's Idaho retreat, a 15th century farmhouse transported from England, and reassembled on the banks on the Big Wood River....
He also had 15th century serfs cloned and reanimated by scientists.
![](http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z152/UCLABruinKid/FairGame-serfs.jpg)
But so what? So the latte leftists at the Times once buried a Kerry elitism story on page...
![](http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z152/UCLABruinKid/FairGame-A1.jpg)
A1 of the popular Sunday edition, just four weeks before the national election.
How does that match up to the Romney story in the New York Times' famed Home section? Known throughout the world as, "The New York Times has a Home section"?
But that's not the point. (ponders) What's the point again?
JOE SCARBOROUGH (6/7/2012): It's proportionality. It's all about proportionality. ... If it were the National Enquirer, and they were doing this to both candidates, I wouldn't say a word. I'd say, you know what? It's fair game.
Fair game. Right. It's about fair game. Fair game is a big issue that the media seems to be talking about, about whether or not it's fair game for other people to be talking about these big issues.
DAVID GREGORY (5/27/2012): Now this battle over Bain, what is fair game?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN (5/22/2012): ... attacks on Mitt Romney, the businessman, and whether or not that is in fact fair game ...
THOMAS ROBERTS (5/10/2012): Was that fair game, and a successful strategy for the Democrats to use Romney's business record against him?
Is it fair to judge job applicants on prior work experience? "It says here you have no experience in cardiovascular surgery, and that you are not even a doctor. But in the spirit of fairness, welcome aboard, new Chief of Surgery. Now go scrub up! Them heart valves ain't gonna replace themselves!"
And the media's not just concerned about the fairness of that issue, it's every issue!
CHRIS WALLACE (5/6/2012): The President's decision to launch the raid to kill Osama bin Laden.... Was that fair game?
MARTIN BASHIR (4/17/2012): Religion and the race for 2012, what's fair, what's out of bounds?
MEGYN KELLY (2/28/2012): Are you fair game if you come out and criticize the President?
SEAN HANNITY (11/12/2011): Is it fair game to attack him with the most vitriolic type of names?
ROBIN ROBERTS (10/26/2010): The issue of motherhood, is it fair game?
"Should our flag have 50 stars when some countries' flags only have ten?"
But while the fairness of a variety of political tactics would seem to exist almost purely in the realm of the subjective, well, there are time-worn methods the news media has to adjudicate these matters. For instance, in your attack, what is the motivation?
LZ GRANDERSON (5/22/2012): There is a difference between attacking Mitt Romney's record as fair game, and attacking Mitt Romney's record in terms of political gain.
Thank you! You may attack him, that's fair game. But not if it's for political gain. You may attack a politician's record, if you're trying to make yourself look like a big man at your high school reunion. Fair game. You can attack a politician's record, because you're unsure if that politician's tear ducts are clogged, and you want to see him weep. Fair game!
But you may not attack a politician if you are looking to just stop him from beating you in an election. Not fair game. And if you're attacking him after giving him a half-hour head start in a jungle compound, that... (turns to different camera) is the most dangerous game of all. (shocked audience laughter) I never should have read Hunger Games!
Of course, motivation is not the only parameter for attacks. Political fairness also mandates that you can only look so far back into a candidate's history.
CHUCK TODD (5/10/2012): What's fair game? High school, it's always been this line, right? It always... what's fair game here?
SEAN HANNITY (4/11/2011): Do you think it's a question that is worth asking? In other words, show the birth certificate, or do you think that's out of bounds?
ANDERSON COOPER (4/23/2012): This comment to The Daily Beast, saying that Mitt Romney's family comes from a polygamist commune in Mexico, is that fair game? I mean, is that fair to talk about?
I mean, Mitt Romney's great-great-great-, I mean, many great-grandparents were evicted from their home for nudity and grand theft apple. Is that fair game?
![](http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z152/UCLABruinKid/FairGame-AdamEve.jpg)
There's gotta be a more attractive picture of the two of them.
If only the news networks had access to experts with a selfless interest in discerning the fairness of various campaign tactics.
MEGYN KELLY (5/2/2012): Is it fair game? I mean, putting the killing of bin Laden in a political ad, and then taking the additional step of suggesting Mitt Romney would not have given the kill order?
BRAD BLAKEMAN, REPUBLICAN (5/2/2012): Absolutely not.
ROBERT GIBBS, DEMOCRAT (4/29/2012): That's fair game.
Well what do we do now?
I'm beginning to think this whole media "Isn't it fair?" conversation is a time-killing circle jerk! But that would be a disservice to circle jerks, because even circle jerks end with some kind of tangible conclusion! (audience laughter)
Oh! What if, instead of asking if politicians' attacks are fair, maybe you could find out if they're true, or accurate, or relevant? Unless you've got some sort of scientific empirical way of calculating the fairness of something that I am unaware of.
BRET BAIER (9/29/2010): Text your answer to "36288". Type "SR1" for "fair game", "SR2" for "dirty politics".
Texting! No better way to solve politics than the same method we use to distribute pictures of our genitals. We'll be right back.
He then
compared the amounts of soda and marijuana he'll soon be allowed to have in New York.
Meanwhile, Stephen found there's corruption
going on in Pakistan's version of "Sesame Street".
He then took on the
New York Times'
hit job on Mitt Romney's expensive home, and found partisan politics even in the viral video of that
teacup pig.
Jon then had on former managing director at Bain Capital,
Edward Conard. This of course went long, with Jon asking quite a few pointed questions, so here's the whole unedited interview in three parts.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Stephen then had on singer/songwriter Regina Spektor, who performed "Small Town Moon" on the show, and "Ballad of a Politician" exclusively online.