Stengel claimed Obama should tout opportunities he's had in U.S. that he would not have had elsewhere -- but he does

Summary: On Morning Joe, Time's Rick Stengel claimed that Sen. Barack Obama "has to say it's a new paradigm of patriotism, it's a kind of post-identity politics patriotism, where, 'I wouldn't have had the opportunities I've had anywhere else in the world. .... And the qualities that make America what America is, what makes America great, is the reason that I've been able to be so successful.' " But Obama has said precisely that.

On the April 3 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, Time managing editor Rick Stengel claimed that Sen. Barack Obama "has to say it's a new paradigm of patriotism, it's a kind of post-identity politics patriotism, where, 'I wouldn't have had the opportunities I've had anywhere else in the world. .... And the qualities that make America what America is, what makes America great, is the reason that I've been able to be so successful.' " But Obama has done just that. For example, in his March 18 speech on race and politics, Obama said that "for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible." Obama made the remark in commenting on his "own American story":

OBAMA: I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I've gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world's poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners -- an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles, and cousins of every race and every hue scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.

Further, in his Pennsylvania TV ad "Opportunity," Obama asserts that "[m]y own story wouldn't be possible if it weren't for the American dream," and that "I've seen the power of opportunity in America when it's working -- I've lived it."

Stengel also asserted that Time columnist Joe Klein "believes, and I don't disagree with him ... that -- that Barack Obama has to be more conventionally patriotic and say, 'Look, I love this country; I wouldn't be where I am or who I am if it wasn't for America.' " In his April 3 Time magazine column, Klein stated: "Patriotism is, sadly, a crucial challenge for Obama now. His aides believe that the Wright controversy was more about anti-Americanism than it was about race." Klein later added: " 'In this campaign, we will not stand for the politics that uses religion as a wedge and patriotism as a bludgeon,' he [Obama] said on the night that he lost Ohio and Texas. But then he added, 'I owe what I am to this country, this country that I love, and I will never forget it.' That has been the implicit patriotism of the Obama candidacy: only in America could a product of Kenya and Kansas seek the presidency. ... But now, to convince those who doubt him, Obama has to make the implicit explicit." Like Stengel, Klein did not note that Obama did make "the implicit explicit."

As Media Matters for America has noted, in his March 6 Time magazine column, Klein claimed that there is a "largely scurrilous" issue of "Obama's patriotism" and later added: "It seemed clear on primary night that Obama was aware of this potential problem, as patriotism replaced hope as a theme of his [March 4] concession speech [in Texas]." As evidence, Klein asserted that Obama "echoed John McCain in citing Abraham Lincoln, and called America 'the last best hope on Earth.' " Klein then falsely claimed: "That was the only 'hope' he mentioned -- a fascinating calibration." In fact, Obama mentioned "hope" at other points in his March 4 speech, and he has repeatedly used Lincoln's "the last best hope on Earth" line during his presidential campaign.

From the April 3 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:

SCARBOROUGH: You know, we were talking to Chris Matthews earlier, and I've been surprised that Barack Obama hasn't more aggressively approached the Reverend Wright issue. Of course, this follows -- you heard Jay Carney --

STENGEL: Right.

SCARBOROUGH: -- of Time talking a couple of days ago, this followed the concerns about Michelle Obama not going far enough on her patriotism. Well, Joe Klein's writing about that this week in Time magazine.

STENGEL: Right. Joe believes, and I don't disagree with him, is that -- that Barack Obama has to be more conventionally patriotic and say, "Look, I love this country; I wouldn't be where I am or who I am if it wasn't for America." And he needs to hit that nail on the head all the time. Because --

BRZEZINSKI: Hmm. Can he do that, though, and still stay true to his African-American --

[crosstalk]

SCARBOROUGH: Well, African-Americans love America.

BRZEZINSKI: I'm not saying they don't. Don't, you know, make it -- I'm saying, though, there's a different outlook.

STENGEL: Well, I think he has to communicate --

SCARBOROUGH: Wait, wait.

BRZEZINSKI: Oh, no.

SCARBOROUGH: I'm confused. What's the different outlook?

BRZEZINSKI: There's a different outlook --

SCARBOROUGH: Are you suggesting African-Americans don't love America?

BRZEZINSKI: No, I'm not. No, I'm not. Don't go there.

SCARBOROUGH: Well, what's the different outlook?

BRZEZINSKI: I think there's a different outlook in terms of how they feel they are treated in this country and how they have evolved over time.

STENGEL: But I think he has to communicate that, it's true --

BRZEZINSKI: Yeah.

STENGEL: -- but I think he has to say it's a new paradigm of patriotism, it's a kind of post-identity politics patriotism, where, "I wouldn't have had the opportunities I had anywhere else in the world."

BRZEZINSKI: That's true, he could do that.

STENGEL: I mean, "Qualities that make America what America is, what makes America great, is the reason that I've been able to be so successful."

BRZEZINSKI: I think that's fair.

SCARBOROUGH: Well, the thing is, again, it almost seems like a tale of two campaigns. In Iowa, New Hampshire, the early primary states, he talked about his love for America, he talked about how, you know, we're one country.

BRZEZINSKI: Yeah, that's fair.

STENGEL: And he needs to talk about that --

SCARBOROUGH: And since the Reverend Wright deal, he's been stumbling over himself a bit more.

STENGEL: But he has to get back on track in terms of addressing that kind of thing.

From Obama's March 18:

OBAMA: This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign - to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together - unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction -- towards a better future for our children and our grandchildren.

This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.

I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I've gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world's poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners - an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.

It's a story that hasn't made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts - that out of many, we are truly one.

—M.G.