Although he didn't dare mention him by name, there's little doubt that Joe Scarborough had Mark Levin—who has taken strong shots at Scarborough's criticize-conservatives-first approach—in mind as a radio talk show host who is "jealous" of him and for whom Scarborough feels "sorry."
On today's Morning Joe, James Carville told Scarborough that the hard core of the Republican party does not consider him one of them. Scarborough defended himself, claiming that whereas some basement-dwelling, underwear-clad bloggers and a couple of "jealous" radio hosts might not like him, Republicans regularly come up and hug him, proclaiming "thank God!", when he's out in public. Let's review the record: Mark Levin is the author of The Liberty Amendments, a current #1 New York Times bestseller. He hosts the the fourth most popular radio show in America that is #1 in its slot in several major markets. Perhaps most importantly, Levin can put his head on the pillow every night knowing he hasn't sacrificed his principles. Raise your hand if you think the Great One is jealous of Scarborough. Bueller? Bueller? View the video after the jump.
So . . . who do you think is jealous of whom?
JAMES CARVILLE: These guys do not consider you one of them. I'm talking about the hard-core out there, which is a big part of your party.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Have you--you should read the end of To Kill a Mockingbird, if you've walked a mile in my shoes, James Carville, you haven't. I can tell you, there are a couple of Cheeto-crunchers in basements, in their underwear in their mom's basements on blogs, that may not care for me. But I can tell you when I walk through airports, I can tell you when I go to Little League ball games, I can tell you when I go shopping, let me finish, when I'm at book events, I've got Republicans coming up to me hugging me going, thank God, thank God!
CARVILLE: I'm telling you that there is a hard, hard-core part of that party that says our problem is we're conservative enough. See, Erick Erickson at Red State and these guys.
SCARBOROUGH: See, Erick likes me. You just named a guy that likes me, says it publicly and hugged me. Rush Limbaugh! I got to admit: there are a couple of guys on radio that are jealous. You know what, I let them--you know what, I feel sorry for them. I let them scream and yell because it makes them feel better about themselves when --
CARVILLE: This is going to ruin you with everybody, but I happen to like you.
