Did 'Morning Joe' throw Mark Halperin under the bus?

Less than a week after TIME magazine's Mark Halperin called the President a term never before used on national television to describe our Commander-in-Chief, and was indefinitely suspended by MSNBC for doing so, a cry for fairness is being raised on his behalf.

CNN's Reliable Sources offered some support for Halperin this weekend;

An impartial judge would likely see that Mr. Halperin was goaded by his hosts (Joe and Mika) as well as the director who held up the "seven second delay" button, convincing their guest that, no matter how offensive his words would be, they would not be heard on air.

But Halperin's crude comment was heard, millions of times. What the Time editor honestly believed would only be seen and heard at the annual MSNBC Holiday Party (that's typically when the crew plays the blooper reel for the staff), suddenly became the hottest clip on the Internet. And he paid a price for it.

The very next day, "Morning Joe" did not address the Halperin situation. Instead, they opened the program by replaying a crude joke from Jon Stewart's "Daily Show." This one took aim at Mitt Romney and included a hacky, incest component.

There still is no news from either MSNBC or Mark Halperin on just how long his suspension will last, but given the treatment he received from his "pals" on the set of "Morning Joe" you might wonder if the TIME editor might be better served taking his skills elsewhere in the cable news universe.

What do you think?

H/T to Business Insider for highlighting CNN's coverage.