Mika Brezinski Misses Founding Father By Four Score and Seven Years or So

Put a microphone in front of people and they are bound to be caught making stupid comments. Mika Brezinski, of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” proved the point on Jan. 14 by listing “Lincoln” as one of the Founding Fathers.

The "Morning Joe" team was assessing Sarah Palin’s choice of George Washington as her favorite among the Founding Fathers. Mika followed Palin’s video with a sarcastic intro: “Wow, ummm. Wow. I just need to – let me just process. OK. Here now.”

Guest Pat Buchanan said he would have picked Alexander Hamilton, but that Palin had chosen “one of the six.” The panel then chimed in with other names and she named “Lincoln.”

As Don Adams used to say in the TV show “Get Smart,” “missed it by that much.” In this case, close to 100 years. While Lincoln certainly saved the nation during the Civil War, he knew he wasn’t one of the founders. In 1863, two years after taking office, he penned a piece a few have heard of called “The Gettysburg Address.” It began: “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation.” In laymen’s terms, that’s 87 years.

For the record, the six are: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams and Ben Franklin.

Dan Gainor is Vice President of Business and Culture at the Media Research Center and a frequent contributor to the Fox Forum.