Meacham at the Reagan Library: Big Media loves Big Politics

[BurtWorm]

Jon Meacham is one of the faces of mainstream media, a regular guest on Charlie Rose and a frequent book hustler on CSPAN. This article about a talk he gave at the Reagan Library appeared in the Ventura County Star:

...

“I don’t think Obama is a closet socialist I think he’s a very careful man,” he added. “As a journalist, I did not drink the Obama Kool-Aid last year. I think if he walks across the Potomac, his feet will get wet.”

...

Meacham, the editor of Newsweek since 2006, is also an historian with several well-known books to his name on past presidents and politics. He talked about his admiration for Ronald Reagan.

“I would not be doing what I’m doing, either at Newsweek or with history, were it not for Ronald Reagan. For me, President Reagan made politics appealing and seductive,” he said.

Former first lady Nancy Reagan attended the forum. ... “The United States of America and the world at large owe your husband a debt that cannot be repaid,” he said.

...

“President Reagan inherited the worst economic situation in 40 years,” Meacham said, calling it a severe recession. “By 1983, the policies had kicked in and had begun to work. It set the stage for a remarkable decade of prosperity.”

Personally, I'm baffled as to why a guy like Meacham ever gets involved in journalism or history. Having tried to read one of his histories, I get the sense that he is motivated by a desire to describe events as blandly and superficially as possible, taking conventional wisdom as his gold standard. And this little report makes me all the more certain that I'm reading Meacham right. Seduction is exactly the word to describe what motivates journalitic fools like this guy.