micro-targeting. >> frank bruni joins us. watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks.ssenger ford c-max hybrid. when you're carrying a lot of weight, c-max has a nice little trait, you see, c-max helps you load your freight, with its foot-activated lift gate. but that's not all you'll see, cause c-max also beats prius v, with better mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid. in the middle of the night it can be frustrating. it's hard to turn off and go back to sleep. intermezzo is the first and only prescription sleep aid approved for use as needed in the middle of the night when you can't get back to sleep. it's an effective sleep medicine you don't take before bedtime. take it in bed only when you need it and have at least four hours left for sleep. do not take intermezzo if you have had an allergic reaction to drugs containing zolpidem, such as ambien. allergic reactions such as shortness of breath or swelling of your tongue or throat may occur and may be fatal. intermezzo should not be taken if you have taken another sleep medicine at bedtime or in th

joining the table, columnist, frank bruni. >> from washington, columnist for the "washington post" andanalyst, eugene robinson. good to have you on board this morning. >> you love frank's column with cruz. he's moved onto the pope but you want to stay with cruz. >> sure. i'll read it. all right. i will do it again because it's so good. i'm reading it. i want to. yes. when the soviets like john mccain tells you you belch too much, soak and spew too much fire, you know you've got a problem. >> she likes it. that's a bad day. that's a bad day. >> this is not painful for her. >> like three, four days later, she's still laughing. >> when someone says something about you, that's a bad day. ted cruz, a republican freshman in the senate out front and center in his republicans' efforts to josh chuck hagel has a problem. he's an honoree piece of work, just six weeks from arrival, he's already known for nay saying and his nitpicking and his itch to upbraid lawmakers who are vastly senior to him who have sacrificed more than he has and who deserve a measure of respect. or at least courtesy that is

frank bruni says, the church leaders preach a purity that its own clerics can't maintain. they cast stones and are so very far from blameless. but before we range across that sadly familiar terrain, let's give a moment's thought to loneliness and longing. and this, the pledge of celibacy that the church requires of its servants and is often cruel and corrosive thing. it runs counter to nature and asks too much. >> father, do you think it asks too much? do you think if the church asked those not to be celibate? >> those are two different questions. i think there have been some cardinals that have talked about married priests and we have married priests but frank's piece, nothing against frank but i thought that was -- there's a lot of sexual abuse in families but no one says that marriage leads to sexual abuse. there's a lot of sexual abuse within schools but no one says that being a teacher leads to sexual abuse. i think it was a ridiculous article and kind of offensive. i'm a celibate male, i'm not a pedophile and one thing does not lead to the other and i think that need

. >> frank bruni's was pretty good, too. >> it was great. >> it was great. >> he said the corpulence. >> he has a book -- i mean, he's gone way beyond. >> his book was great. the image i have is him continuing to eat cheeseburgers as a 2-year-old until he threw up. >> that was a hard time for him. >> i'm still doing that. what? >> frank is very fit now. >> he is. whew! here we go. by the way, you notice she always defends "the new york times" column. i bring up krugman. you bring up bruni, he's very fit now. you are the protector. that's great. everybody should -- everybody needs a protector like you. >> they don't need protecting. they are -- >> see, there you did it again. >> look at you. >> it's reflective. that's fantastic. >> here we go. your latest column, you focused on new jersey governor chris christie and his weight. and you write, in part, "there is a national accord that thin is generally better than fat. however, it's hardly the biggest issue when you're picking a governor. there are citizens all over the country who would trade their more compact leaders for christie in