TVSquad

Have you been wondering where Joe Scarborough has been on Morning Joe the past few weeks? The titular star of the show has been off the air, missing all the doings with Senator Hillary Clinton suspending her campaign for president and Senator Obama Barack becoming the presumptive Democratic candidate.

For months and months of the primaries, Joe and the Morning Joe team were in the thick of it every morning ... and then Joe was gone.

Well, the reason for Scarborough's absence is due to a family illness. In May, Joe's wife Susan gave birth to their son Jack. Unfortunately, Jack wasn't due to arrive until August. He was severely premature, weighing just 2 lbs., 3 oz. He had to be kept at the hospital in an incubator and fattened up. As of this Monday, his weight was up to 4 lbs., 10 oz. and the doctors declared he was ready to go home.

Morning Joe regulars Willie Geist and Mika Brzezinski went on the air Tuesday with the story and assured viewers that Joe will be back on camera soon. I wish the Scarboroughs well and hope baby Jack continues to thrive.

I also want Joe Scarborough back on his stool and back in the loop. I never thought I'd say this, but I missed his contribution to the discourse. This morning, for instance, had me yelling at the screen. I mean it, I was furious! Guest Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of GE -- MSNBC's parent company -- was agreeing with CNBC stock expert Lawrence Kudlow (host of Kudlow & Company) on the subject of Richard Grasso.

Grasso, who was CEO of the New York Stock Exchange from 1995-2003, had won a suit to retain a $140 million deferred compension package that then New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer brought against him because the NYSE was a non-profit institution during Grasso's tenure and $140 million was well beyond the amount most CEO's receive in similar situations.

Well, Kudlow and Welch (who's worth $720 million himself), were cheering for Dick Grasso, saying he was vindicated. It actually took conservative pundit Pat Buchanan to remind them that $140 million was excessive.

When Kudlow and Welch contended that Grasso's efforts to re-open the NYSE just 10 days after the attack on 9/11 was heroic and reason enough for him to get his pay, Buchanan countered that the heroes of 9/11 were the people pulling the bodies out of the wreckage. Kudlow seemed unaware that many of those in the rubble were volunteers. He said that those at Ground Zero were paid to dig out the dead.

That was when I started screaming at the screen! Whether I agree or disagree with the ruling in Grasso's favor, to equate his efforts to re-open the stock market with that of the people who risked their lives breathing in God-knows-what down and searching through molten metal and body parts is just wrong.

I believe that if Joe Scarborough had been there, he would have spoken up for the regular Joes, instead of money guy Kudlow and millionaire Welch exulting another money guy/millionaire for netting $140 million. Ms. Mika seemed ineffectual and afraid to speak up to her former boss, and Mike Barnicle was more interested in insulting Spitzer than agreeing with Buchanan.

So, Joe, come back soon.