Penn Jillette Makes Hillary "White B*tch" Joke On MSNBC, Joe & Mika Condemn Him

This morning on MSNBC, magician Penn Jillette repeated an admittedly "cheesy" joke that performed really well on a recent tour — that Barack Obama did well in February because it was Black History Month and Hillary Clinton did well in March because it was "White Bitch Month."

Jillette used the joke to underscore his point that there is a huge reserve of hatred out there for Hillary, but anchors Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough were not amused and did not appreciate his comment. Watch as he repeats the joke and then is condemned by Mika and Joe, with Mika saying, "I didn't think it was funny, and I gotta tell you, with all the work Hillary Clinton is doing, I'm insulted, actually."

From MSNBC, 5/6

Comments

[pithymaxim]

tasteless and mean

[clintfatigue]

Penn Gillette, YOU RULE!

[strifeknot]

It was a lame joke, but Mika's uptight, snippy reaction turned it into a funny one.

[sharonh]

You don't have to be a feminist to see this for what it is, just switch it around.

Clinton did well because it was "Female History Month", and Obama did well because it was "Black Prick Month". Still funny?

Anybody, regardless of gender, who does not see the misogyny in this campaign is just not looking.

[BOBZILLA]

And still no discussion about wheter or not she IS a bitch... just outrage that someone had the nerve to point it out.

[sharonh]

There's no outrage. Should we have the discussion about whether or not he is a prick?

[sharonh]

there's no outrage, now shall we discuss whether or not he is a prick?

[gluvox12]

or grasping far enough.

[Nopes]

Not funny, because it has nothing to do with reality. She is a bitch and he is not a prick. Got it now?
A joke must be rooted in reality. If you call Obama a fatso it's not a joke. It's nonsense. "Pansy" would be another thing.
So "switching it around" doesn't work here.

[kdublya]

sharonh,

What's funny?

You started off right: you can't pick either side and win.
But in the end, you still choose misogyny.

If your goat gets had , you become the punchline.

Choose neither.

[Darsan54]

Penn G. thought it was safe to make an insulting bad joke in bad taste because he's an entertainer. That's what they do and it brings in an audience. He is not creditable for political commentary. He can only make jokes. Yes, yes First Amendment and all that, but that just means people should tell him when he's crossed the line of good taste. Lots of issues to be angry with Sen. Clinton about; being an ambitious woman, not one of them.

[cla62]

Oh no, fire him, kick him off his radio show. Oh thats right, he doesn't have one. I guess we can always just smear him. The post is great at that!!

[aperezfl]

What about bitch is the new black? No? Not appropriate now? What about bitch meaning woman power last week?

[BOBZILLA]

Shhhh, don't interrupt Misogyny Fest 2008.

All the neo-feminists are in a feeding frenzy because someone correctly described Hillary.

[stevejbons]

Any time a right wing pandering media hack like Joe is able to muster any sort of deference toward the Dems - hell, I'll take it. Crocodile tears, sure, but its better than the hit job they continue to do to Obama, Hillary, Pelosi, Ried, Dean and every other Dem they can target.

But enough about that - let's resume the media love affair with John McSame and his plans to drive the country further down the road to ruin by continuing the disastrous Bush-Cheney doctrine.

[sleeperd]

There's another word for the "hit job' you lament: it's called the TRUTH.

The American people are going to be so sick of whining, wrangling, phony, lying democrats by this fall that McCain wil win in a landslide.

[CompliantMedia]

Isn't it time we had a national discussion about sexism in America – especially in the media including talk radio.

Let's begin with MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, as we already know that Joe Scarborough, Pat Buchanan and Chris Matthews are indisputably sexist. Olbermann is much more subtle.

Mr. Olbermann (who I generally like) all too often seems to be summoning his good ol' boys locker room sexism from his days working in sports departments. His persistent disdain for Hillary is but one example. Did you see him go off on Ellen DeGeneres for breaking down on the set about the misfortune that befell the little dog? He mocks American Idol because he knows full well it is a program viewed primarily by women. He called Rita Cosby dumber than rocks. Come on!

Each of these taken individually might be defensible. But taken collectively it makes you wonder.

Have you noticed that most females on FNC are not nearly has harsh or as intense with their dislike of Hillary. Even the dreadful Ann Coulter said (albeit with a touch of sarcasm) that she preferred Senator Clinton over Senator McCain.

I suppose there will be those that take issue with some of my assertions. That is fine. But let’s not overlook my broader point that there is a lot of sexism out there in the male-dominated media. Some if it is quite overt (e.g. Chris Matthews), but much of it is subliminal and quite deceptive – if not occasionally deceitful.

[Cardboardurinal]

While I don't necessarily disagree with your larger point...you are making a mountain out of a molehile. Just because Olbermann has made fun or lashed out at some women doesn't make him a sexist. If that were the case, what would it say that he is constantly attacking white males? Is he one of those self-hating white men as well?
But this is just what we have come to expect from Clinton supporters...anyone who doesn't support her unquestionably is a sexist. Give it up, it is a fallacious argument!

[CompliantMedia]

"But this is just what we have come to expect from Clinton supporters...anyone who doesn't support her unquestionably is a sexist."

Not true.

I am an Obama suppoter.

Although you are partially correct in that I voted for Hillary in the Califonia primary and would not jump off a bridge if she was elected president. As for McCain, not so much!

[BOBZILLA]

Good points.

In reading the many posts on this topic one can't help but notice a recurring tactic.

Anyone who makes ANY criticism of Hillary, or even a position of hers, is immediately labeled a misogynist. It’s a classic logical fallacy and the accusers use it to attempt to redirect attention from the original point and put the critic on the defensive.

In this particular case someone made a joke in which Hillary was referred to as a “bitch”. It should be a simple matter to argue whether she really is “a malicious, unpleasant, selfish person”, as the word is defined.

Rather than make a case that she is or isn’t a bitch, the prevalent response from Hillary’s supporters is to accuse the critic (or in this case- comedian) of hating women.

It’s almost as if these folks who feign such outrage are malicious, unpleasant and selfish.

[nolabels]

Olbermann doesn't have to like or agree with any "women-centric" topics. American Idol? Come on? He is really supposed to like American Idol to not be sexist? He enjoys sports and doesn't like that Ellen cries on her show over some personal drama. So what?

[grayforester]

He sure digs Rachel Maddow (rhymes with shadow, for pete's sake). Think it's just the femme ones he doesn't respect?

[fair1234]

EVERYBODY THAT HAS A COMPLAINT FOR NBC MSNBC, CHRIS MATTHEWS SHOW, DAN ABRAMS SHAMEFUL WRIGHT STORY PLEAS CALL [phone]. ASK TO BE SENT TO THE VIEWER LINE FOR HARDBALL, RACE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE..... ANY NBC VIEWER COMMENT LINE AND LEAVE YOUR MESSAGE. I AM SO SICK ABOUT HEARING ABOUT REV WRIGHT THAT I AM READY TO LEAD A MARCH TO THE WHITE HOUSE. THIS IS SHAMEFUL NEWS REPORTING AND OBAMA HAS ALREADY CUT TIES TO THIS MAN SO WHY ALL OF THE STORIES? FORWARD THAT PHONE NUMBER TO EVERY WEB BLOGG AND EMAIL AND MAKE SURE YOU CALL AND LET THEM KNOW REV WRIGHT STORIES ARE RACE BAITING AND WE WANT IT TO STOP. THEY ARE TRYING TO PLAY ON THE FEARS OF WHITE PEOPLE BUT AMERICA MUST LET THEM KNOW WE WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS!!!

[ankjack]

Not a swell idea to get laughs with a gender bias. It's a lot like using voters' latent racism - or excusing it like Ed Rendell did - to encourage an ethnic bias. The joke was inappropriate, and I'm glad my mother's not alive to see it, but I think Jillette was suggesting that he was seeing evidence that Clinton wasn't as popular as everyone thought she was.

[newpotusplease]

This was a set up-

Scarborough knew his guest was going to say this and that it would piss off female voters who go to the polls today--

thus Joe is fulfilling his dittohead duties i.e. helping to encourage and move people to vote for Clinton out of sympathy and outrage and thus weaken the Democratic party.

The Republicans know if they go against Obama that can't use their usual dirty tricks book and still claim their lineage to being "the party of Lincoln"- when are folks going to wake up?!

[ankjack]

The reason the Republicans want Clinton to win is because she HASN'T been fully vetted, so I agree with your point that Morning Joe could have plausibly set Penn Jillette up - which wouldn't be too hard, given Jillette's well-known big mouth.
But I disagree with you that the GOP wouldn't stoop to using race to win this election.
I think the fact that CNN gives Glen Beck and Lou Dobbs a platform from which to spew anti-Hispanic hate, not to mention the fact we've entered a struggling economy, might embolden a racist sentiment among white voters. Certainly, Bill Clinton's dismissiveness of Obama's victory in South Carolina by comparing him to Jessie Jackson, then accusing Obama of using the race card on HIM, coupled with Ed Rendell's prediction that Pennsylvania whites "would not vote for a black man," has given white people permission to vote on ethnicity rather than issues. Long story short, if the Dems are willing to make race an issue, The GOP definitly will.

[RobtBrock]

Isn't MSNBC the Obama network?

[DesertLight]

It is but Scarborough for sure is claiming he's for Hillary. The guy makes me want to puke.

[Mollye]

Poor baby.

[ankjack]

They gave him a break for a while, but the only one who's been holding Hill's feet to the fire for the past two months has been Olbermann. If you watch Hardball or David Gregory, they went on about the Rev. Wright issue ad nauseum (Gregory covered it for four nights straight), to the point where Rachel Maddow refused appearances on any of the pundit shows until they shut up about it.

David Gregory, when asked in an email, why no one had mentioned Barbara Reynolds' arrangement of Rev. Wright's appearance at the National Press Club (given her connection to Clinton) rolled his eyes and dismissed the question as a conspiracy theory. Matthews cut a pundit off to prevent him from exposing Bill Clinton's authorization of the sale of Magnequench (Villaparaiso, IN), that sent 200 jobs to China. If the latter story had broke nationally on Friday, no amount of beer guzzling, gas pandering or gun-toting would have saved her.

So who is MSNBC favoring?

[DesertLight]

Why is this here and how did it get 600 plus posts. Scarborough ...never mind!

[IowaKid]

I'm not saying it was right but it's not hard that MSM is Hillary Clinton biased.

[DesertLight]

MSNBC's version of dumb and dumber.