It appears likely that the latest cache of government secrets released through Wikileaks comes from 22-year-old US Army Intelligence Analyst Bradley Manning, who was charged earlier this year under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for giving classified material to Julian Assange's controversial media organization.

Manning currently faces a maximum of 52 years in prison if convicted, and on 'Morning Joe' (weekdays, 6 AM ET on MSNBC) Joe Scarborough suggested he serve at least 25 years.

"I'm sure he did it as a matter of conscience," Scarborough said. "I've got to say though, the government needs to lock him up for a very long time." (Mike Barnicle disagreed with Scarborough's assessment of Manning's motives, instead prescribing them to "anger.")

"Other people need to know if I do this, I'm going to go to jail for at least 25 years," Scarborough continued.

What do you think? Is 25 years about the right punishment, if Manning is guilty of what the military is charging him with? Or do you think he should serve more or less time?

Last week, the public learned that a mystery member of Jerry Brown's campaign for California governor had called his opponent, Meg Whitman, a "whore" on a voice mail message.

The delicate situation, which has been dubbed "Whoregate," came up during Tuesday night's debate between Brown and Whitman, and the folks at 'Morning Joe' (weekdays 6 AM ET on MSNBC) expressed the opinion that Brown handled the question exceptionally poorly.

"We've heard no outrage from you about the use of that kind of language," moderator Tom Brokaw said to Brown in a clip from the debate. "Which to many women is the same as calling an African American the N-word. Have you been in charge of the investigation of your campaign to find out who is responsible for using that phrase?"

"I don't agree with the comparison, number one," a surprisingly combative Brown responded, prompting some members of the audience to groan. "Number two, this is a five-week-old private conversation picked up on a cell phone with a garbled transmission. Very hard to detect who it is."

The 'Morning Joe' gang couldn't believe what they had just heard.

"You couldn't handle that more poorly than Jerry Brown handled it," opined Mike Barnacle.

"It wasn't as though it's a trick question or unexpected," Richard Haass added. "He had weeks to prepare for it, and that's his answer? To keep the story not only alive but to make it worse. That is stunning."

After viewing a television ad from SarahPac, Sarah Palin's Political Action Committee, the gang on 'Morning Joe' (weekdays, 6 AM ET on MSNBC) was unanimous in their opinion that the former Alaska governor will be running for president in 2012.

Joe Scarborough, Willie Geist, Mike Barnicle and Harold Ford Jr. all agreed that Palin will take a shot at the White House. Norah O'Donnell then added a twist:

"She will run as part of the Tea Party, not as a part of the Republican Party," O'Donnell predicted.

However, it might be wise to take such predictions with a grain of salt. Since the media -- especially the cable news talkers -- would be the greatest beneficiaries of the madness that would surround a Palin candidacy, talking heads could be engaging in a bit of wishful thinking when they suggest Palin will run.

Joe Scarborough probably owes his political career to Newt Gingrich, as the former-GOP congressman-turned talk show host was first elected to national office during the Gingrich-led Republican revolution of 1994.

But that didn't stop Scarborough from using said talk show, 'Morning Joe' (weekdays, 6 AM ET on MSNBC), to blast Gingrich's latest anti-Obama screed.

Right after Mika Brzezinski read a quote from Gingrich, in which the former Speaker of the House argued that Obama suffers from "a Kenyan anti-colonial world view," Scarborough howled with disapproving laughter.

"Where does (Gingrich) get his material?" Scarborough screamed incredulously. "What is he doing?"

After a brief panel discussion of what Gingrich could possibly have meant by this statement, Mike Barnicle joked that Gingrich was suggesting Obama "went to Kenyon college."

Of course Obama didn't go to Kenyon College, but the panel agreed that was the most logical explanation for Gingrich's hyper-partisan attack.

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 knew that Chris Matthews hadn't been on Hardball for a couple of weeks, but I didn't know the reason: he was hospitalized due to complications from diabetes.

Matthews will be back on the MSNBC show tonight at 7pm, where he will interview former Vice President candidate and probable future Presidential candidate John Edwards at one of those "College Tour" stops, this one at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Various hosts have been filling in for Matthews while he was in the hospital. Andrea Mitchell went in his spot during a panel discussion at the Castle at the Smithsonian at the end of November, and then Campbell Brown filled in on the college tour. For the past several days, columnist Mike Barnicle has filled in for Matthews on Hardball.