Foreign Policy

Vox Writer: When GOP Candidates Talk About ISIS, They Sound Like ‘Status-Obsessed, Chest-Beating Adolescents’
By Tom Johnson | November 17, 2015 | 9:27 PM EST

Last week, ex-Bill Clinton adviser Paul Begala snarked on CNN that during the most recent Republican presidential debate, the candidates mentioned Hillary Clinton so often that they came off as “creepy…in a stalker sort of way…Maybe it's affectionate…Maybe they’re like junior high schoolboys.”

Vox's David Roberts has joined Begala in likening the GOP contenders to middle- or high-schoolers, but his concern is aggression, not affection. In a Monday series of sixteen tweets later collated and posted on the magazine’s site, Roberts argued that when the candidates talk about how they’d deal with ISIS, they sound like “insecure, hormone-ridden teenage boy[s]” and “status-obsessed, chest-beating adolescents.”

Networks Ignore John Kerry’s Suggestion of a ‘Rationale’ for Charlie Hebdo Terror Attacks
By Curtis Houck | November 17, 2015 | 8:52 PM EST

On Tuesday night, the “big three” networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC saw no reason to inform their viewers of Secretary of State John Kerry’s assertion that he could recognize there having been a “rationale” and “particularized focus” for Islamic terrorists to carry out the January attacks in Paris on the offices of Charlie Hebdo but not for the “indiscriminate” attacks that occurred in the very same city on Friday.

MSNBC's Matthews Ignores John Kerry Seeing 'Rationale' In Charlie Hebdo Terror Attack
By Ken Shepherd | November 17, 2015 | 8:50 PM EST

As Politico reported earlier today, Secretary of State John Kerry seemed to see a "rationale" in the deadly terrorist attacks on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper office back in January, unlike target pattern in Friday's coordinated terror strikes in Paris. Reporter Eliza Collins posted her story at 4:14 p.m. Eastern, about 3 hours prior to MSNBC's Hardball went live on the air. That's plenty of time to work the stunning gaffe into the broadcast. But, alas, host Chris Matthews failed to do so.

Huckabee Blows Up Chuck Todd's Claim US Better at Assimilation
By Mark Finkelstein | November 17, 2015 | 7:26 PM EST

Mike Huckabee might be down in the polls, but he's still up to throwing a good political punch. 

On this evening's MTP Daily, Chuck Todd suggested, by way of advocating the admission of Syrian refugees, that the US is better than Europe at "assimilation." Retorted Huckabee, speaking of one of the Boston bombers, "he really assimilated, until he blew up the Boston Marathon with a pressure cooker." Boom!

WashPost Devotes 26 Paragraphs to Blasting GOP Michigan Gov. Snyder's 'Gut Punch to Syrians'
By Ken Shepherd | November 17, 2015 | 6:52 PM EST

Republican Gov. Rick Snyder's position on halting Syrian refugees in light of the Paris terrorist attacks is "A gut punch to Syrians in Michigan," according to a headline for a Washington Post story in today's paper which was thoroughly one-sided on the issue.

CNN's Bash Badgers Cruz on Obama's 'Shameful' Attack on GOP Candidate
By Matthew Balan | November 17, 2015 | 5:37 PM EST

CNN's Dana Bash hounded Senator Ted Cruz on Tuesday's New Day over President Obama slamming the Republican presidential candidate at a press conference earlier in the day. Bash touted how "President Obama called you out...and he said it was shameful for saying that there should be, effectively, a religious test for refugees — especially since...your family benefitted from the policies of America — allowing refugees in."

Shepard Smith Denounces ‘Political Extremists’ Objecting to Syrian Refugees
By Kyle Drennen | November 17, 2015 | 1:59 PM EST

In a tirade on Monday, Fox News anchor Shepard Smith dismissed legitimate security concerns in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks as a “collective freak-out” that was potentially “dangerous.” He then proceeded to condemn anyone opposed to bringing thousands of Syrian refugees to the United States as “extreme forces within our own political system” that lead us “towards self-destruction.”

Mika Brzezinski: There Is Vetting Despite No Records to Verify
By Michael McKinney | November 17, 2015 | 1:56 PM EST

Morning Joe featured on Tuesday, an interview with Congressman Peter King. Early into the segment, Mika Brzezinski began a war of words with Congressman King. After Brzezinski introduced the topic, King stated, “I'm extremely concerned because what the President is telling us is not true.” Brzezinski interrupted the Congressman, saying that “there is vetting,” and arguing that he was wrong. What followed was a tense segment where the Morning Joe crew questioned King on his statements and his argument’s credibility.

Geraldo Denounces 'Squishy' Obama's 'Malignant Wishful Thinking'
By Matthew Balan | November 17, 2015 | 12:18 PM EST

Fox News Channel's Geraldo Rivera unleashed on President Obama on Monday's Hannity, after the American leader doubled down on his strategy against ISIS at a press conference earlier in the day. Rivera bluntly stated that "the President's feelings are way too squishy for me," and that "this is malignant wishful thinking on the President's part." He later contended that "to compare them to any organization, other than the Taliban before 9/11, is really sophomoric."

Mika Attacks ‘Hateful’ ‘Stupid’ GOP Governors for Questioning Syrian Refugees
By Jeffrey Meyer | November 17, 2015 | 10:06 AM EST

On Tuesday’s Morning Joe, co-host Mika Brzezinski went off on a number of governors who have vocally expressed their opposition to allowing Syrian refugees into their state without a proper vetting process, calling their views “hateful” and “stupid.”

Barnicle Frets Creating NATO Force Would Fuel ISIS Recruitment
By Mark Finkelstein | November 17, 2015 | 7:58 AM EST

If Mike Barnicle were around at the beginning of WWII, perhaps he would have written "we better not fight back. It might make Hitler mad."     

On today's Morning Joe, the cringing former Boston Globe columnist, second-guessing a united front against terrorism, worried "wouldn't . . . creating a NATO force just add fuel to the recruiting fever that ISIS employs within Europe?" Maybe Mike should start referring to ISIS as Borg. After all, he apparently believes that resistance is futile.

Only NBC's Hallie Jackson Notes New Hampshire's Dem Gov Also Says 'No' to Refugees
By Ken Shepherd | November 16, 2015 | 10:02 PM EST

All three of the major broadcast networks' evening newscasts tonight covered the largely-Republican pushback against President Obama's plan to move 10,000 Syrian refugees on to American soil. But only NBC's Hallie Jackson noted that the move by state governors was bipartisan, with first-in-the-nation primary host New Hampshire's Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) objecting to the Obama administration placing refugees in the Granite State.