Newsweek's Meacham: "{L}ong time" since Dems have let Americans know they share their values

[NNN0LHI]

http://mediamatters.org/items/200704230011



On the April 22 edition of NBC's Meet the Press, Newsweek managing editor Jon Meacham repeatedly suggested that Democrats are out of step with "American value{s}." Meacham claimed that Democrats "are still struggling to find out how do they signal to the broad American public that they share their values ... whether it's religion or guns or life" and that "Democrats are living in terror of ... look{ing} as though they're being unsupportive of the troops, because ... that's an American value." In fact, recent polling indicates that Americans think that Democrats are more in line with their "values" than Republicans.

Following is Meacham's response to host Tim Russert's assertion that "Democrats seem to have been relatively careful in their response" to the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision upholding the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003:

MEACHAM: I think you have Democrats who are still struggling to find out how do they signal to the broad American public that they share their values, that it's a party that understands and believes -- whether it's religion or guns or life -- that they, too, are in tune with the public. And it's -- the Democrats have a long history of being able to do this, but it's been a long time since they have.

Later, Meacham again invoked the idea of "American value{s}" while discussing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) April 19 statement that "the war is lost, and that the surge is not accomplishing anything":

MEACHAM: I think we're in this odd moment where everyone wants to support the troops, but move away from the mission. And the Democrats are living in terror of -- and I think that's the reaction to Senator Reid's comments -- is to look as though they're being unsupportive of the troops, because that is a -- to link all these things together -- that's an American value. That's something we should all share.

[ourbluenation]

1. you meachum...nov 2006 mean anything to ya?

[babylonsister]

2. There's so much wrong with this. Issue #1 is Iraq; we ARE sharing values

by trying to stop this; that's a big reason Dems were voted in.
Towing the party line? or what am I missing?

[CAG]

3. If the MSM keep saying it, it MUST be true!!!

:sarcasm:


I'm so tired of all of these politics-only wonks who think that nobody can ever take a stand for what they really believe. Chris Matthews heads up the crowd.

[Vincardog]

4. Hey Dick Head! Elections have consequences. KKKarl did not steal enough to

Keep your lying corrupt party in power.

Oh yeah

GET OVER IT.

[BeyondGeography]

5. WTF...Is attacking the wrong country under false pretenses

a core American value?

Denying veterans proper health care when they come home from said war?

Ramming every nickle dime and quarter up to the top 1% of the population?

Hiring incompetent toadies instead of the best person for the job?

Treating the constituion as if it were a piece of toilet paper?

Or is this values shit all about race and sexual preference and the Dems are damned no matter what they say and how they govern?

Meacham, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.

[Old and In the Way]

6. Wonder what Party this concern troll supports.

No surprise to me that Newsweek no longer gets brought into my house.

[tularetom]

7. The only Amurkins this asshole ever talks to are clones of himself

So he's just hearing an echo of his own misconceptions. He wouldn't the people he claims to speak for if one of them bit him in the ass.

[Gloria]

8. What, Democrats are some strange alien race dropping by just to screw

America and the world???

This is the sort of crap I detest...broad stroke indictments of people doing what they're supposed to do: dissent.

[VelmaD]

9. somebody tell this fuckstick...

that on "life" the majority of Americans are pro-choice.

[Pierzin]

10. You missed this part - he's a real Tool, this one

I took this straight from the Meet the Press transcript page, but it doesn't give the nuance of the tone in Meachams voice, which is very telling.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18230965/page/8/

This comes right after the quote you gave, NNNOLHI.

MR. MEACHAM: Senator Obama. People don’t want to hear that more than 3,000 American lives have been wasted in a war that, whatever you think about the run-up and the intelligence failures, was undertaken with Congress and with the broad support of the American people and is a grand historical bet. And it’s something that we are not going to know whether it’s worked or not worked for a long time.

It is just stunning. Stunning! It took me a second to look this up when you first posted and when my post did make it, I saw there were already 10 other posts up. We all know how Tim Russert is a 4th rate media whore. It is beyond mind boggling how they can have all these tools on there and hardly any opposition guests, unless you count David Gregory, I thought he was a voice of the opposition, he did not fare well here.

[C_U_L8R]

11. you call yourself a journalist ???

well why don't you wake up and read a newspaper sometime.

and oh btw.. the value sharing is going along swimmingly.

geez.

[Cha]

12. Who is this fuckhead? To say Dems are out of

touch with Americans? A mediawhore?

Dems are Americans ..Americans are Dems. We are here. We have so many real values it would make your fucking head swim more than it looks like it's already Swimmin'.