Jon Meacham

Meacham: Obama Reminds Me of Carter—'Crisis of Presidency, Not of Country'
By Mark Finkelstein | December 11, 2015 | 7:38 AM EST

Jon Meacham is no conservative. The Pulitzer-winning historian is, after all, a former editor of Time and Newsweek. Which makes his declaration about President Obama that much more damning.

Asked on today's Morning Joe for a historical analogy to Barack Obama, Meacham harkened back to Jimmy Carter: "three years into his administration, [Carter] giving a speech about this very subject, saying that there was a crisis of the American spirit . . . And a lot of people thought that there wasn't a crisis in the American spirit, there was a crisis in the American presidency. And I think that's the analogy that comes to my mind."

Oxymoronic: Hillary's Manufactured Authentic Moments
By Mark Finkelstein | June 17, 2015 | 7:58 AM EDT

Nothing says raw, real and unfiltered like a Hillary moment manufactured by a horde of hacks, handlers and hangers-on. 

On today's Morning Joe, Kasie Hunt observed that in this election cycle, "the demand seems to be for raw, unfiltered, real type of moments. I think that they're trying very hard to create that with her." Jon Meacham—seizing the oxymoronic irony—jumped in: "they're manufacturing it." Bingo. 

Rep. Keith Ellison: Islamist Terrorists Struggle For Democracy Like We Struggle Here For Income Equality
By Mark Finkelstein | January 17, 2014 | 9:11 AM EST

Whatever the question, politicians have a way of working their issue of the day into the answer.  Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota) took that tendency to new heights today.

Asked on Morning Joe to explain the disproportionate amount of terrorism against the United States that emanates from the Islamic world, Ellison, the first Muslim Member of Congress, asserted that it is the struggle for democracy, not the Islamic faith, that motivates the terrorism.  In a giant leap, Ellison then compared people in Islamic countries "who don't want to yield power to the vast majority" . . . to the struggle in the United States over "income inequality." View the video after the jump.

Desperate Mika: If ObamaCare Doesn’t Work, I’ll Throw Myself Off...
By Paul Bremmer | November 12, 2013 | 5:15 PM EST

MSNBC’s Morning Joe sidekick Mika Brzezinski is getting desperate for ObamaCare to succeed, to the point of threatening to jump off of, well, something. On Tuesday’s show, she exploded at the GOP for not falling in line behind the health care law. “[E]very step of the way – every step of the way – the Republicans have tried to undermine this from top to bottom and if anything they probably were part of the problem," she huffed.

Recurring Morning Joe contributor Jon Meacham agreed with Brzezinski’s sentiment. He vented his own exasperation in a forceful way: “That's absolutely true, which makes it even more important to make the damn thing work.”

Lame Analogy: Meacham Says Obamacare Mess Like Declaring Ketchup A Vegetable
By Mark Finkelstein | October 30, 2013 | 9:31 AM EDT

The Hindenburg? The Titanic? Hurricane Sandy on steroids? Any of those might have been a better analogy for the monumental mess that is Obamacare than the lame one Jon Meacham proposed on today's Morning Joe.

The presidential historian somehow sought to analogize the Obamacare fiasco to . . . the classification of ketchup as a vegetable. Huh?  View the video after the jump.

Meacham Lowers Bar For Obama: Country Has 'Unrealistic Expectations'
By Mark Finkelstein | August 28, 2013 | 12:34 PM EDT

Presidential historian Jon Meacham did his best on Morning Joe this morning to lower the bar for President Obama's speech today commemorating the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.  "The country has put an enormous amount of expectation on him . . . since he first came on the stage in 2004 . . . we sometimes have-often have--unrealistic expectations of the office," empathized Meacham.

Nice try.  But wasn't it Barack Obama himself who raised expectations to absurd heights?  Does this phrase ring a bell, Mr. Meacham?: "I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when . . the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal." View the video after the jump.

MSNBC’s Richard Wolffe: Colin Powell a ‘National Treasure’
By Paul Bremmer | August 23, 2013 | 5:45 PM EDT

Nothing warms the hearts of the liberal media more than a Republican who criticizes other Republicans. Perhaps it was no surprise, then, when MSNBC political analyst Richard Wolffe called retired General Colin Powell a “national treasure” on Friday’s Morning Joe.

The entire Morning Joe panel was praising the former secretary of state for speaking out against North Carolina’s strict new voter ID law in Raleigh recently – and in front of Governor Pat McCrory (R), no less. Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson lamented Powell as a sort of voice crying out in the GOP wilderness:

Imus Tells Alter ‘Shove it,’ Calls Fineman ‘Sniveling Little Weasel’ and Meacham ‘Phony Bastard’
By Noel Sheppard | June 6, 2013 | 5:56 PM EDT

Fox Business’s Don Imus had a delicious trifecta Thursday trashing three perilously liberal journalists in less than 90 seconds.

After telling Jonathan Alter to “shove” his request to come on the program and hawk his new book, Imus called Howard Fineman a “sniveling little weasel” and Jon Meacham a “phony bastard” (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Another Day, Another All-Liberal Lineup at Morning Joe
By Mark Finkelstein | April 9, 2013 | 11:42 AM EDT

On a day largely devoted to remembering Margaret Thatcher, one of the 20th century's greatest conservatives, would it really have been too much for Morning Joe to have had on at least one conservative guest to discuss her legacy?  Apparently, yes.

Morning Joe's lineup of political guests today leaned 100% left: Jon Meacham, Al Hunt, Cokie Roberts, Sen. Tim Kaine, former Obama aides Robert Gibbs and Melody Barnes, Tony Blair, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Mayor Michael Nutter, Eugene Robinson, Maureen Orth and Joe Klein.  Joe Scarborough sometimes like to boast in such circumstances that his presence more than counterbalances the liberal avalanche.  But on the major political issue of the day, gun control, Scarborough was just one more voice among many ripping Republicans for their opposition to President Obama's proposals. More after the jump.

Meacham On Drone Kills: Obama Acting Like 'American King'
By Mark Finkelstein | February 6, 2013 | 7:41 AM EST

Barack The First? Wow: who would have thought that perhaps the strongest statement yet in condemnation of President Obama's self-arrogated right to kill Americans abroad would have come from Jon Meacham?  Yet on today's Morning Joe, historian Meacham—who knows something about the use and abuse of presidential power—criticized Obama for ignoring the "rule of law" and actually described Obama as acting like "an American king."

Joe Scarborough seconded Meacham's surprising statement, adding that had this come to light under George W. Bush, impeachment would be in the air.  View the video after the jump.

Morning Joe: 'Ignore' Rubio's Remarks To Rush—Just Taking Care of Base, Saving Face
By Mark Finkelstein | January 30, 2013 | 8:45 AM EST

Marco Rubio's tough talk to Rush Limbaugh yesterday about no immigration deal being done unless certain language on border security, etc. is included?  Ignore it.  Just Rubio taking care of his conservative base—and saving face.  In the end, Rubio will likely give Obama his vote on immigration reform.  It's all about finding an out for Republicans when it comes to winning back a decent share of the Latino vote. And conservatives will be willing to take the deal.

Such was the collective wisdom of Morning Joe today, as enunciated by Jon Meacham and seconded by Joe Scarborough.  View the video after the jump.

Former Newsweek Editor: 'I Learn a Lot More From Sinners Than I Do From Saints'
By Noel Sheppard | November 19, 2012 | 5:04 PM EST

Pulitzer Prize-winning former Newsweek editor Jon Meacham on Monday marvelously defined liberalism.

In a discussion about the failings of the Founding Fathers on MSNBC's The Cycle, Meacham said, "I certainly learn a lot more from sinners than I do from saints" (video follows with transcript and commentary):