MICHAEL MOORE GUILTY OF TREASON?

Joe Scarborough began this segment of his show last night by quoting Michael Moore: "I oppose the U.N. or anybody else risking their[sic] lives of their citizens to extract us from this debacle.  The majority of Americans supported this war once it began and sadly that majority must now sacrifice their children until enough blood has been let that maybe, just maybe, God and the Iraqi people will forgive us in the end.”

JACK BURKMAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST:  "Let's use the T-word.  This is treason.  Michael Moore is stepping over the line.  Yes, First Amendment, say what you want.  We all cherish it, sure.  But he is now, through this film and his other statements, encouraging Baathists and other rebels to rise up and fire on American troops.  And I think that's actionable...How is that different from providing surface-to-air missiles to the Baathists?"

ERIC ALTERMAN, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS:  "I think that gentleman is seriously deranged...If I were Michael Moore, I would sue that gentleman [ed. note: Burkman]for slander and I would sue MSNBC for slander...But, second of all, isn‘t George Bush encouraging Baathist troops to fire on American troops?  George Bush is the person who put all these American troops into Iraq under false pretenses.  He misled the country.  He misled the world.  There was no terrorist threat from Iraq to this country.  There were no connections to al Qaeda.  There were no nuclear weapons.  There were no weapons of mass destruction."

SCARBOROUGH: "Okay, Eric, fine.  OK, I don‘t want to redebate everything about this war."

ALTERMAN:  "I‘m sure you don‘t.  I‘m sure you don‘t.  I don‘t blame you.  I don‘t blame you, because my side is the side that told the truth.  And your side, the president of the United States, is the side that misled the country."

SCARBOROUGH: "We appreciate both of you being with us tonight.  But Eric‘s wrong."

My family was cheering so loudly for Eric Alterman we couldn't hear some of the exchanges, but Eric really made Joe Scarborough and Jack Burkman look like the fools they are -- or if not fools (and Joe seems much more moderate when he appears on OTHER people's shows), wanton opportunists who care little for the welfare of this country when it conflicts with their ratings and donor levels.

The whole transcript is here. Scroll down to near the end.