MSNBC Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough still thinks of himself as a conservative and defender of constitutional norms. On the Thursday run-up to Attorney General William Barr's press conference and the release of the Mueller Report, the self-appointed defender of true conservatism managed to play both a Democratic communications strategist and call for a change in the Constitution, because Barr is Roy Cohn reincarnated.

Scarborough gave Democrats some free messaging advice towards the end of the opening segment. He encouraged at least some Democrats to stay in Washington during the Easter weekend to "own Saturday and Sunday" to ensure there is "an explosion of news on Saturday that completely dominates the cycle Sunday and leading into next week." He declared, "They need to hold press conferences, they have to prepare to get the big Easter morning headlines by what they reveal on Saturday, which will actually hurt Donald Trump."

Earlier in the lengthy opening segment, Scarborough began by declaring that Barr's press conference has, "So many problems, obviously with an Attorney General who is supposed to be a neutral arbiter and not a Roy Cohn-type figure."

Scarborough then said that Barr had "shot" and "sullied" his reputation for his actions as AG and that he won't get it back. He accused Barr of willful malpractice, "He knows what he's doing is wrong." He tried to compare Barr briefing the White House to the infamous tarmac conversation Loretta Lynch had with Bill Clinton, but of course, Clinton was not heading the Executive Branch in 2016.

He then dismissed anybody who does not agree that Barr is acting as Trump's wingman by holding a press conference or saying there was not enough evidence to support an accusation of obstruction of justice as "far right-wing" or "some sad, pathetic Trump apologists." The self-styled defender of the Constitution then told BBC Washington anchor Katty Kay that, "I think Barr may be the person ultimately responsible for changing the way we choose our attorney generals, because we've seen the breaching of Constitutional norms for the past two-and-a-half years and political norms and it seems bizarre at this point that a President should be a able to select their own attorney general."

Barr and Trump have, "shown us a flaw, a significant flaw in our constitutional system of checks and balances," Scarborough asserted. He added: "This is not the way America is supposed to run." All of it as if he was saving checks and balances while saying that they should be destroyed. Nothing is an antithetical to Constitutional norms as "independent" departments or agencies. The DOJ is held accountable by the voters through the election process, if the voters do not like Trump's AG, his DOJ, or the Senators who voted to confirm him, they can vote them out. An actual conservative would understand that and be wary of giving bureaucrats more power.

Here is a transcript for the April 18 show: