I like to watch Morning Joe. There are a lot of reasons I could name, but the most powerful reason is the simplest: it’s on for three hours every day, and I like shows that don’t require me to change the channel. If I watch a network that’s showing a 30-minute segment of something I’m interested in, chances are I will have to switch to something else when the next thing comes on and it’s something I find grating or terrible. I love marathons and long shows, and Morning Joe is something I can watch for hours in the background of whatever else I’m doing without ever desiring to change the channel.

Aside from that, it’s a good show. I like unscripted rambling-fests; such things don’t usually make it onto prime time TV, which is why 6am is the best time for such a program. Morning Joe is very low-key with lots of laughter and interruptions and fumbling because hey, they’ve got three hours to cover everything. No big hurry.

There are definitely some downsides to this format, though. And host Joe Scarborough just found that out on Monday.

I actually saw this. I was in the kitchen at the time, doing some straightening-up before bed. (Yes, I go to bed in the morning. What of it?) And dimly, in the back of my head, I heard someone say “f*** you.”

Now, I watch a lot of premium cable, so at first, it didn’t register. Then, a split second later, I turned to see my husband with an utterly astonished look on his face. I said: “Did I just hear what I think I heard?”

Disbelievingly, he replied, “…yep.”

(In case you can’t figure this out, the following video contains the F-word. Do not watch if you are elderly, infirm, or an infant.)

Really, this shouldn’t be too much of a big deal. He’s on cable, which means there will be no fines, only complaints from viewers and advertisers. But leave it to Salon.com to dig up some comments Scarborough has made in the past about T.V. censorship.

Scarborough led the lynch mob over the 2004 Janet Jackson halftime show on CBS — demanding that the FCC impose massive fines against CBS and MTV, among others — and has railed against “rock stars” and entertainers who use, as he used to call it (before this morning), “the F word.” Indeed, Scarborough even expressed outrage over the fact that the Government would even consider refraining from imposing substantial fines on ABC when Bono, on a live awards show, used the “F word.”

In fairness to Joe, he has typically referred only to obscenity on network TV, which is something the FCC regulates (unlike cable television). But in making it into a moral outrage, he’s blurring the arbitrary distinction between broadcast T.V. and cable. So many families now pay for their T.V. that there is almost no distinction between the two, and I’m sure most parents don’t think to supervise their kid’s exposure to morning political shows on MSNBC.

True, hearing the f-word isn’t going to permanently damage anyone. And that’s exactly what Joe needs to acknowledge, rather than setting a double standard for the rest of the world.

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