Morning Joe remains the home of the overwhelming ratio of liberal to conservative guests. Even so, in recent weeks a narrative unflattering to Barack Obama has emerged around the table: Obama doesn't like his job. He doesn't particularly like people and is in the wrong line of work.
An even more damning appraisal was offered today: Obama doesn't think he has failed America. He thinks America has failed him. Or as Joe Scarborough encapsulated the concept, Obama believes our version of democracy is a "stumbling block to his greatness." Video after the jump.
The panel was reacting to President Obama's 60 Minutes interview with Steve Croft that aired last night. Mike Barnicle kicked things off. Scarborough and Meacham ran with the ball. After Meacham's "commensurate" comment, Scarborough essentially suggested that Obama finds democracy itself a hindrance.
Watch the panel nail the vainglorious current occupant of the White House.
MIKE BARNICLE: I think he is stunned, given his gifts, at his inability to get anything really done in Congress. I think he's stunned by it.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: But he doesn't look at it as his inability. Jon, he is stunned that those that are fortunate enough to work with him are not helping him pass legislation to make history.
JON MEACHAM: I think it's, if you think about it from a biographical point of view, it's his thinking the system, and really the country, is not commensurate with his gifts. That's a harsh thing to say, but I have a feeling that in the dark night of the soul, that's what he feels. I think he thinks that this is a 18th-century constitutional republic that needs significant updating. I think he sees the reflexive opposition—a culture that Gingrich helped build—as one huge stumbling block. He sees all of us [Ed.: presumably a reference to the media] as another huge stumbling block.
SCARBOROUGH: And let's just say, he sees elected leaders from across the country as a stumbling block. He sees democracy, he sees this version, as you say, this government as a stumbling block that's getting in the way of his greatness.
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http://m.newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2011/12/12/morning-joe-obama-believes-america-not-commensurate-his-gifts
