Be a patriot, support impeachment? MSNBC is currently running a new ad, set to the tune of America the Beautiful. As images of our founders and impeached (or almost impeached) presidents like Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton appear, audio of John Meacham (originally from the October 4 edition of Morning Joe) insisted, “We have nearly two and a half centuries of examples where checks and balances of the constitutional system have worked. The framers designed the government for a moment like this.”
The commercial continued, “We weren’t supposed to just give a pass to somebody whose team we decided to be on. We were supposed to actually think for ourselves. That’s why we fought the Revolution, that’s why we’ve struggled again, again and again to make real those promises.”
The irony of staunchly Democratic MSNBC suggesting that “we weren’t supposed to just give a pass to somebody whose team we decided to be on” shouldn’t be lost on anyone.
A 2016 MSNBC ad proclaimed the network “seeks different perspectives.” The condescending commercial lectured, “We break news. Yeah. But we do more than that. If all you want is headlines, check your Twitter feed.” The announcer smugly continued, “We go beyond the sound bites.”
A 2017 commercial hyped its “love for country” which translates to “tough love for Trump. Interspersed with clips of hosts Lawrence O’Donnell, Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes and Chris Matthews, an unidentified voice hailed, “Tough on dishonesty.... Love for country.... Love for our ideals.... Tough love, administered nightly.”
Where was all that “tough love” when Obama was president? Maybe it’s the same issue with The Washington Post and “democracy dying in darkness.” Apparently, democracy was just fine prior to January 20, 2017.
Here’s a transcript of the MSNBC ad.
Aired on 11/25/19 during Morning Joe
6:49 AM ETJOHN MEACHAM: We have nearly two and a half centuries of examples where checks and balances of the constitutional system have worked. The framers designed the government for a moment like this. We weren’t supposed to just give a pass to somebody whose team we decided to be on. We were supposed to actually think for ourselves. That’s why we fought the Revolution, that’s why we’ve struggled again, again and again to make real those promises.
