Europe

Michael Moore: The Republican Party Is ‘Dead,’ and Self-Righteous America Needs a ‘Timeout’
By Tom Johnson | December 28, 2015 | 10:06 PM EST

In his new documentary, Where to Invade Next, Michael Moore jaunts around Europe showcasing what he deems enlightened social and economic policies, including Italy’s lengthy paid vacations, Norway’s treatment of prison inmates, and France’s school-lunch program. New York Times reviewer Stephen Holden observed that Moore’s “examples…are cherry-picked to make American audiences feel envious and guilty.”

On Monday, Salon ran an interview with Moore in which he talked about the movie as well as the U.S. presidential campaign. One of his comments: "I also think it’s a little gauche for Americans to point out to anybody in the world what their problems are at this point…I think we need a little time in the timeout room, you know what I’m saying? A little chill-down from running around the world: ‘You need democracy! Now you need democracy!’”

NPR’s Inskeep Rules Obama’s Trashing of Media on Terrorism Was ‘Not a Very Outlandish Idea’
By Curtis Houck | December 22, 2015 | 4:18 PM EST

NPR’s Steve Inskeep continued his media tour on Monday promoting his fawning sit-down interview with President by appearing with CNN Tonight host Don Lemon and, when asked about the President attacking the media for supposedly overhyping threats posed by ISIS, Inskeep stood up for the President by suggesting that it was “not a very outlandish idea that he's putting out there.”

Brit Hume Unloads on Obama over Cable News/Terrorism Comment; Seems ‘Impatient’ with Americans
By Curtis Houck | December 20, 2015 | 3:49 PM EST

Commenting on how The New York Times removed a phrase from a Friday article explaining how President Obama told a group of columnists that he hadn’t consumed enough cable news to fully understand the anxieties of Americans over terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Fox News Sunday panelist Brit Hume lambasted the President for his “snark” and frame of mind that makes him “impatient with the American people.”

Networks Censor NYT Deleting Obama Quote Saying He Didn’t ‘Appreciate the Anxiety’ Post-Terror Attacks
By Curtis Houck | December 18, 2015 | 9:29 PM EST

The major broadcast networks on Friday morning and evening showed no interest in reporting to viewers that The New York Times had scrubbed from an article on its website that contained a quote from President Obama telling columnists that he did not watch enough news coverage of the Paris and San Bernardino terror attacks to truly grasp the anxiety of the American people. 

ABC’s Moran Lumps UK’s Farage In with Trump Despite Rebuke; Canada’s Trudeau Offers ‘Sharp Relief’
By Curtis Houck | December 13, 2015 | 3:49 PM EST

Reporting on Sunday’s This Week about foreign reaction to Donald Trump’s candidacy and proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the U.S., ABC News chief foreign correspondent Terry Moran compared Trump to U.K. Independence Party (U.K.I.P.) leader Nigel Farage despite his firm denouncement of Trump. Moran cheered new leftist Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as providing “sharp relief” to Trump as he publicly “greeted a plane load Syrian refugees” on Friday.

Time Names Merkel 'Person of the Year,' Lauds Her 'Leading From Behind'
By Tom Blumer | December 9, 2015 | 11:58 AM EST

In an announcement which deservedly carries far less weight than it has in the past, Time Magazine (1997 circulation, 4.2 million; current circuation, 3.3 million) has named German chancellor Angela Merkel its 2015 Person of the Year.

The stated reason for her selection: "Not once or twice but three times this year there has been reason to wonder whether Europe could continue to exist, not culturally or geographically but as a historic experiment in ambitious statecraft." Time believes that Merkel saved the day each time. It seems highly unlikely that she would have risen to the top of the pack without the third item the magazine's Nancy Gibbs cited, namely Merkel's open-borders acceptance of migrants erroneously described as "refugees" dozens of times in its various supporting articles.

CNN's Costello Badgers Pro-Gun Guest, But More Polite to Gun Critic
By Brad Wilmouth | December 3, 2015 | 8:09 PM EST

CNN host Carol Costello showed a blatant double standard in her treatment of a pro-gun guest in contrast with a gun control advocate on Thursday's CNN Newsroom between two segments featuring gun expert John Lott of the Crime Prevention Research Center -- author of More Guns, Less Crime -- and Dan Gross of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Matthews: Mass Shootings Don't Happen in Europe; When Reminded of Paris, Says That Was Terrorists, Not 'Locals'
By Ken Shepherd | December 1, 2015 | 8:20 PM EST

In an interview with GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum on the December 1 edition of Hardball, MSNBC's Chris Matthews insisted that mass shootings don't happen "all over Europe." When an incredulous Santorum reminded Matthews about the November 13 Paris terrorist attacks, Matthews shot back that the Paris perpetrators were terrorists and not "locals."

NYT's 'News' Bias Boils Over at Paris Summit: 'Why Do People Question Climate Change? -- Hint: Ideology'
By Clay Waters | December 1, 2015 | 6:12 PM EST

The New York Times' coverage of the international climate change summit in Paris remained on an aggressive boil, as Coral Davenport and Gardiner Harris' report from France Tuesday, "Citing Urgency, World Leaders Converge on France for Climate Meeting," hit the same set of alarmist notes Davenport did in her previous story from Paris. And Justin Gillis, the paper's most alarmist environmental reporter, accused libertarians and conservatives of bad faith, taking funding from Big Oil, and "cherry-picking" data under the headline "Why do people question climate change? -- Hint: ideology."

Scorched Earth: Networks Evening Shows Spend 15 Minutes Hyping Climate Change Agenda, Summit
By Curtis Houck | November 30, 2015 | 9:56 PM EST

Seeking to boost President Barack Obama and backers of the Paris climate change summit, the “big three” networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC devoted on Monday night over 15 minutes of airtime across six segments touting the summit, a Discovery Channel documentary on climate change, a hashtag campaign, and climate scientists in the Arctic Circle -- to name a few examples. CBS anchor Scott Pelley: "President Obama warned that the world is fast approaching the hour when it will be too late to save the planet from climate change."

Overheated New York Times Warns of 'Catastrophic Events' if Paris Climate Talks Fail
By Clay Waters | November 30, 2015 | 8:39 PM EST

Hyperbole much? The New York Times brought predictably alarmist and overheated coverage to the climate talks in Paris, while lauding President Obama's attempt to make a legacy fighting "global warming." Environmental Reporter Coral Davenport gushed: "On Sunday night he arrives in Paris, hoping to make climate policy the signature environmental achievement of his, and perhaps any, presidency." In a later story she warned "If the talks fail...then nations will continue on a trajectory that scientists say locks the planet into a future of rising sea levels, more frequent floods, worsening droughts, food and water shortages, destructive hurricanes and other catastrophic events."

ABC’s Stephanopoulos Praises Obama’s ‘Forceful Rhetoric’ on ISIS, Paris Attacks
By Curtis Houck | November 25, 2015 | 1:43 PM EST

While awaiting President Barack Obama’s remarks on Wednesday concerning national security as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, ABC News chief anchor, former Clinton staffer, and Clinton Foundation donor George Stephanopoulos couldn’t help but repeatedly gush over the President’s supposedly “forceful rhetoric” on ISIS following the Paris terror attacks.