Tom Brokaw and Colin Powell were on Morning Joe yesterday, and all were waxing poetic (and getting all teary-eyed, too) about the upcoming inauguration. Here’s a portion of what Brokaw had to say:

BROKAW: He is comfortable in his own skin, to use that phrase, he had the self-confidence. It was not overbearing and could laugh at himself easily. They could hammer him and be critical of a quote. At one point he burst out laughing, I was in the middle of reading back one of these things. “Some people said nice things about me as well.”

Listen, I just want to say one thing. Having been in the South in the ’60s and Los Angeles, in Watts and northern urban areas, when we were evolving as a country, I’m thinking of all the bigots and rednecks and all the people I met along the way. I’m saying to them, “Take this.” You know?

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: I like that thought. I think you might be right.

Tom Brokaw getting all misty-eyed is early in the clip, and him calling out all “bigots and rednecks” is toward the end. Oh, geez, Tom… get over yourself.