NEW YORK – After an F-bomb dropped on “Morning Joe,” the MSNBC news-talk show has installed an early-warning system.

A seven-second delay was added with Tuesday's broadcast, to protect against future eruptions such as that of host Joe Scarborough, who seemed to surprise even himself with his verboten utterance.

Scarborough slipped Monday while attempting to describe the rawboned manner of Rahm Emanuel, incoming White House chief of staff for President-elect Barack Obama.

Amid his many on-air apologies, Scarborough said, “My wife is going to kill me when I get home” and spoke of washing out his mouth with soap.

The delay will not be on any other MSNBC programming, according to spokesman Jeremy Gaines. When asked whether it had been ordered up by network brass or requested by Scarborough, Gaines said, “It was a mutual decision.”

Former MSNBC morning host Don Imus aired his show with a similar delay, Gaines noted.

---