At the top of NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, host Chuck Todd dismissed security concerns over terrorism as nothing more that bigotry: “How will the ISIS threat and the politics of fear impact the 2016 campaign? Also, Syrian refugees and America, are there legitimate reasons to slow the process or is this just Islamaphobia?” Teasing the upcoming segment later in the show, Todd proclaimed: “...the Republican presidential candidates have been playing on the politics of fear in an extraordinary way.”
Foreign Policy
By Kyle Drennen | November 22, 2015 | 11:18 AM EST
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh blasted President Obama for treating Republicans as a greater enemy than ISIS terrorists: “Barack Obama's number one enemy is the Republican Party and the conservative movement. You see he gets animated, he doesn't need cue cards, he doesn’t need Teleprompter when he starts ripping into them.”
By Tom Blumer | November 22, 2015 | 10:38 AM EST
In the wake of the Paris terrorist murder sprees, a media narrative that the U.S. is somehow less vulnerable to terrorist attacks than countries in Europe has arisen.
The reasons given for this contention would be uproariously funny if the stakes weren't so serious: "Geography and strict travel restrictions." Additionally, according to the report where the meme appears to have originated, there is "one measure" which makes the U.S. "arguably" more vulnerable: guns.
By Mark Finkelstein | November 21, 2015 | 12:17 PM EST
I turned on MSNBC this morning in the admittedly masochistic hope of seeing Melissa Harris-Perry, only to find Harry Smith--of all people--hosting continuing coverage of the Paris attacks and related issues.
After running clips of Ted Cruz, Ben Carson and Mike Huckabee questioning the admittance into the US of Syrian refugees, Smith immediately displayed on screen and read the passage of Matthew 25 that begins "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat . . . I was a stranger and you invited me in," etc. Smith then turned to the Rev. Jacqui Lewis, pastor of the hyper-liberal Middle Collegiate Church in NYC's East Village, and asked this hyper-leading question: "is this as important a piece of the New Testament as exists?" Surprise! Lewis agreed that it "absolutely" is.
By Tom Johnson | November 21, 2015 | 11:56 AM EST
President Obama deserves high marks for his ISIS policy only if you’re grading on a curve and the other students are Republicans who “can't be bothered to take any of this seriously,” suggested Kevin Drum in a Thursday post.
Drum charged that GOPers “blather about Obama being weak, but when you ask them for their plans you just get nonsense…Obama's ISIS strategy has [not] been golden. But Republicans make him look like Alexander the Great. They treat the whole subject like a plaything, a useful cudgel during a presidential campaign. Refugees! Kurds! Radical Islam! We need to be tougher!...That isn't leadership. It barely even counts as coherent thought. It's just playground jeering.”
By Matthew Balan | November 20, 2015 | 5:30 PM EST
On Friday's CNN Newsroom, Carol Costello badgered Democratic Rep. Kurt Schrader over his vote in favor of additional scrutiny for Syrian refugees applying to enter the U.S. Costello spotlighted how "some on Twitter have not been kind — calling you a traitor to Oregon and...xenophobic," and how "some say the intent of this bill is to really create so many checks that it will be impossible for any Syrian refugee to come into this country any time soon." She later touted how "some say that's just one part of what some call what's becoming a disturbing climate in America."
By Michael McKinney | November 20, 2015 | 3:07 PM EST
On Friday, Sally Kohn took to The Daily Beast to argue that we should all be heartened by the fact that “The Religious Fundamentalists Are Losing.” In making her case, Kohn compared Christian ‘hardliners’ – you social conservative ones who are pro-life and pro-traditional marriage – with DAESH, or ISIS as many in the West know it.
By Matthew Balan | November 20, 2015 | 1:01 PM EST
Friday's CBS This Morning hyped that "thousands on the government's terrorist watch list...bought firearms in the last decade...and all of the sales were legal." Nancy Cordes played up that a bill to "close that loophole" that has been introduced for eight straight years has "gone nowhere" due to opposition from the NRA and congressional Republicans. Cordes later hinted that House Speaker Paul Ryan and his GOP caucus had a double standard on national security, for opposing closing the "loophole," but supporting a bill to "beef up screening of Syrian refugees."
By Kyle Drennen | November 20, 2015 | 1:00 PM EST
On Friday, NBC’s Today lambasted Republicans for daring to oppose President Obama on the process of accepting Syrian refugees into the U.S. Co-host Savannah Guthrie proclaimed: “Defying the President, the House on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to impose stringent new screening rules.”
By Curtis Houck | November 20, 2015 | 12:25 PM EST
On the heels of news that he’s slipped to third place in the network late night comedy show ratings due to his alienation of right-leaning voters, Late Show host Stephen Colbert proved why it’s the case on Thursday as he accused Republicans of not being Christians for wanting to put a hold on the U.S. accepting Syrian refugees, contending it's comparable to the KKK as an example of Christians committing acts of terrorism.
By Mark Finkelstein | November 20, 2015 | 7:22 AM EST
Joe Scarborough opened today's Morning Joe with coverage of the unfolding terror attack in Mali, and promptly turned to Ayman Mohyeldin for a report.
The very first words out of Mohyeldin's mouth were "it's important to emphasize we still don't know the identity of these gunmen who have taken the hotel hostage." Great point, Ayman. I mean, sure, they were yelling Allah Akhbar, and released hostages who could recite passages from the Koran. But can anyone prove they're not a bunch of Yale frat boys on early Spring Break wearing hideously inappropriate Halloween costumes? Or perhaps some insufficiently sensitive Mizzou administrators invading the safe space of the hotel guests?
By Curtis Houck | November 19, 2015 | 9:13 PM EST
NBC Nightly News lashed out at conservatives and Republicans on Thursday for creating an “ugly” and “angry debate” with President Obama over whether to accept Syrian refugees while gushing how Hillary Clinton was “[g]oing against the tide” of a bipartisan majority of voters and members of the House in backing the President.