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The Morning Joe crowd got a big laugh over John Heilmann's seeming word stumble this morning, with Scarborough in particular busting a gut. In the subsequent re-airs, and on the web this part was edited out, as first noted by TV/Newser

via Greg Mitchell

John Heilemann, very early on Morning Joe today, in a discussion about opposition to Susan Rice, suggested that Sen. Lindsey Graham is, essentially, a "woman." This was in the context of Sen. Kelly Ayotte replacing outgoing Joe Lieberman in the "three amigos" grouping (McCain, Graham, Lieberman). Heilemann said that now two of the three are actually "women." Well, Joe Scarb had a good laugh about it right on camera and then they moved on. And, as Mediaite just noted, that bit was pulled when the segment was re-aired after 8 a.m.

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Author and Defense Analyst Thomas Ricks' interview on Fox News this morning was a brief affair. Ostensibly brought on to talk about Benghazi, UN Ambassador Susan Rice, and Republicans like John McCain criticisms of her, Ricks quickly gave his opinion that the matter was "extremely political, partly because Fox is operating as the wing of Republican Party."

And with that Jon Scott abruptly ended the interview, thanking Ricks for coming on.

Fox: When you have four people dead including the first US ambassador in more than 30 years, how do you call that hype?

Ricks: How many security contractors died in Iraq, do you know?

Fox: I don't.

Ricks: No, nobody does, because nobody cared. We know that several hundred died, but there was never an official count done, of security contractors dead in Iraq. So when I see this focus on what was essentially a small fire fight, I think number one, I've covered a lot of fire fights, it's impossible to figure out what happens in them sometimes. And second, I think that the emphasis on Benghazi has been extremely political partly because Fox was operating as a wing of the Republican party.

Fox: All right. Tom Ricks, thanks very much for joining us today.

Ricks: You're welcome.

The Human Rights Campaign began running this tv ad on Sunday.

MORGAN FREEMAN: "Freedom, justice and human dignity have always guided our journey toward a more perfect union. Now, across our country, we are standing together for the right of gay and lesbian Americans to marry the person they love. With historic victories for marriage, we've delivered a mandate for full equality. The wind is at our back but our journey has just begun. Join us."

From The Advocate:

In conjunction with the ad, HRC president Chad Griffin issued the following statement: “This year proved to be a pivotal turning point in the movement for marriage equality, and now we press onward with renewed vigor and public opinion squarely on our side. As we continue the march toward full equality in legislatures and the courts, it is crystal clear that the prospect of an equal future is no longer up for debate; the question now is how soon it will arrive. While we celebrate today, we will keep fighting until full equality has reached every single person in every corner of this vast country.”

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Anyone who thinks Alan Grayson is going back to congress neutered after his loss in 2010 would be sadly mistaken. If anything his activities over Thanksgiving seem to indicate he's more ready to fight than ever.

Video and text by WKMG, Orlando.

ORLANDO, Fla. -U.S. Rep.-elect Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) joined a Walmart worker as she walked off her job in St. Cloud as part of a nationwide protest against the country's largest employer.

Grayson joined Walmart associate Lisa Lopez on Thanksgiving night to protest what employees says is the store's retaliation against workers who speak out for better job conditions.

On "Black Friday," Grayson also joined a walkout at a Walmart in Orlando.

Union-backed groups OUR Walmart and Making Change at Wal-Mart, along with watchdog group Corporate Action Network, are calling on the retailer to end what they call retaliation against employees who speak out for better pay, fair schedules and affordable health care.

Photo of @alangrayson with #WalmartStriker Lisa as she walked out of the store in Orlando, FL tonight. twitter.com/ForRespect/sta…

— ForRespect (@ForRespect) November 23, 2012

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Yes, there is a storm a brewin' out there.

via CBS58.

SOMERS, KENOSHA COUNTY-About 40 protestors walked a picket line outside the Walmart here just as the store opened for Black Friday shoppers.

They are objecting to working conditions and the earlier and earlier hours for Black Friday shopping, which started at 8 p.m. Thursday.

Walmart is not the only retailer to launch Thursday night sales, but its workers have been the most vocal and active in protesting.

CBS 58's John Cuoco said the protestors were not stopping people from entering the store, and the demonstration was aimed at creating awareness over work rules, more than anything else.

In this animated holiday special Sarah Silverman recalls a pivotal thanksgiving in her childhood. Her father disagrees.

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When you hear diehard conservatives like Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss talk about raising taxes on the wealthy you know things are getting interesting in Washington. The so-called "fiscal cliff" gives Republicans a golden opportunity to strike a deal which will also include cutting entitlements. The smarter among them realize this and are making their moves. Now, no one has ever accused Saxby Chamblliss of being all that smart but he is at least shrewd enough to figure this out, despite the threat of later being primaried by someone like Karen Handel, disgraced former vp at the Susan G. Komen foundation and a former Georgia Sec of State.

Via WMAZ, in Macon, GA.

Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia said solving the nation's fiscal woes may mean breaking the anti-tax pledge he signed years ago.

Chambliss signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, penned by conservative activist Grover Norquist.

"I care more about my country than I do about a 20-year-old pledge," Chambliss says. "If we do it his way then we'll continue in debt, and I just have a disagreement with him about that." [...]

Now Chambliss says he wants to do what it takes to right the U.S. fiscal ship, even if that means findings ways to raise revenue, which Norquist strongly opposes.

Does Chambliss think Norquist will hold the anti-tax pledge against him during his next re-election bid in 2014? Yes.

"But I don't worry about that because I care too much about my country. I care a lot more about it than I do Grover Norquist," Chambliss says.

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Leave it to the good folks at Fox News to find the humor in trying to survive off food stamps. Stuart Varney brought up the subject after Newark Mayor Cory Booker accepted a challenge to live off food stamps for one week.

STUART VARNEY (HOST): Could you live on $133 per month for food?

TANTAROS: I should try it because do you know how fabulous I’d look? I’d be so skinny. I mean, the camera adds ten pounds, it really does. I’d be looking great.

h/t Think Progress

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West made his announcement early this morning via media release. He later went on Fox & Friends for a more formal announcement.

via Politico

Florida Rep. Allen West — the tea party pugilist and face of the class of House Republicans that stormed to power two years ago — conceded Tuesday to 29-year-old construction executive Patrick Murphy in one of the nation’s highest-profile congressional races.

After two weeks of battle with St. Lucie County elections officials — and a recount of early votes that wound up extending Murphy’s lead — West acknowledged that he couldn’t surmount his 1,904-vote, or 0.58 percent, deficit. That difference was just outside the 0.5 percent threshold to automatically trigger a recount of all votes.

So the brash conservative opted to bow out rather than wage a long and costly court battle he was unlikely to win.

“For two weeks since Election Day, we have been working to ensure every vote is counted accurately and fairly. We have made progress towards that goal, thanks to the dedication of our supporters and their unrelenting efforts to protect the integrity of the democratic process,” West said in a statement to POLITICO.

“While many questions remain unanswered, today I am announcing that I will take no further action to contest the outcome of this election.”

West congratulated Murphy, saying, “I pray he will serve his constituents with honor and integrity, and put the interests of our nation before his own.”

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It's not often we see someone in the progressive media blast an establishment Democrat, and one with national aspirations, as completely and as thoroughly as Chris Hayes did this weelend with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

CHRIS HAYES: So what do we know that we didn’t know last week? We now know that Democrats cannot count on New York’s supposedly Democratic governor as an ally and every Democratic primary voter in the country should know that too. We already knew that in the run up to the election, Andrew Cuomo, whose aspirations for national office are well-known, did essentially nothing to aid the Democratic Party in its quest to take back the the State Senate from Republicans.

Hayes then lists some reasons to be wary of Cuomo, who he believes is putting his personal ambitions above his constituents wishes. The strange case of Simcha Felder, elected to the New York Senate as a Democrat but who recently announced he would caucus with Republicans instead, is for Hayes more damning evidence.

Despite the fact that he’s the leader of the Democratic Party in the state, and wishes someday to be the Democratic nominee for President, Cuomo has refused to intervene with Felder, saying he won’t insert himself into the controversy. Watching all this unfold, one can’t help but suspect Andrew Cuomo actually does not want a Democratic majority in the State Senate because a Republican majority gives him more of an opportunity to burnish his bipartisan compromiser bona fides before launching his presidential campaign. And much, much, much more insidiously, we suspect he doesn’t want a Democratic majority because said majority stands ready to pass a whole raft of incredibly important, ground-breaking progressive legislation, including public financing for elections, marijuana decriminalization and a minimum wage hike, among others. The governor says he favors all those policies, but in this case, he sure is not acting like it. We’re almost entirely sure that very soon Andrew Cuomo will be coming before many of the people watching this show, asking for your support in a Democratic primary race to be the next president. You should remember this remarkably cynical display when he does.

(h/t Politicker for the transcript.)

If, as expected, Cuomo does run in 2016 for the Democratic nomination he would likely be the leading candidate if Hillary Clinton doesn't run. He would also be able to raise a ton of money, far more than anyone else. And if Republicans can no longer win the presidency a moderate, business-friendly Democrat might suit them just fine.