Iran

Iran Deal: Andrea Mitchell's Mushy Softball to Kerry About Vietnam
By Mark Finkelstein | July 17, 2015 | 8:29 AM EDT

Andrea Mitchell had the chance to ask John Kerry, on live national TV, any question she wanted about the Iran deal. She could, for example, have confronted him over the lifting of the conventional arms and ballistic missile embargoes that were included as a nice little parting gift to Iran.

Instead, in a moment of media malpractice, Mitchell lobbed up the mushiest of softballs on today's Morning Joe, asking Kerry "what that moment meant to you" when at the final negotiation meeting, he reminisced about going to Vietnam as a 22-year old "and that you never wanted to go to war without having exhausted the diplomacy."  A shame Andrea and John weren't in the same room so they could have exchanged a heartfelt hug.

Iran Nuke Deal: Israel PM Urges Viewing of Prophetic Opening Scene of 'The Dictator'
By P.J. Gladnick | July 16, 2015 | 4:01 PM EDT

Did it seem to you as if the Iranian negotiators and leaders were laughing at the naiveté of the Obama administration in accepting their claim that they only wanted to develop nuclear energy for just peaceful purposes? Well, that barely surpressed laughter was foretold in 2012 in the prophetic opening scene of "The Dictator" as the main character had great difficulty maintaining a straight face while making the same claim about their nuclear energy program.

Although comedic that opening scene was such a powerful argument against allowing Iran to further develop nuclear energy that the Prime Minister of Israel is urging everyone to share the video of that scene according to the Israel Video Network.

MSNBC’s O’Donnell Hails Obama Presser: ‘More Confidence...Than Any President’
By Jeffrey Meyer | July 16, 2015 | 11:18 AM EDT

On Wednesday night, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell began his show by cheering President Obama’s news conference performance and declared he “demonstrated more confidence at the podium than any president in the history of televised presidential press conferences, more even than Kennedy.” 

NBC Cheers ‘Unfiltered’ and ‘Unplugged’ Obama ‘Taking on Critics’
By Kyle Drennen | July 16, 2015 | 11:13 AM EDT

At the top of Thursday’s NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie hailed President Obama’s Wednesday press conference: “Unfiltered. President Obama launches a vigorous defense of his controversial deal with Iran.” Introducing a report on the topics minutes later, Guthrie proclaimed: “...a news conference some are calling unplugged. During a more than hour-long session with the reporters, the President was as emotional as we’ve seen him...”

CBS’s Charlie Rose to Colleague: Any ‘Second Thoughts’ Over Obama Question?
By Jeffrey Meyer | July 16, 2015 | 9:52 AM EDT

After CBS’s Major Garrett sharply questioned President Obama about the fate of four Americans held captive in Iran during Wednesday's news conference, on Thursday’s CBS This Morning, rather than defend his colleague’s tough question, co-host Charlie Rose chose to ask if he had any regrets or “second thoughts" surrounding his actions.

Networks Promote Obama’s ‘Spirited Defense’ of Iran Deal; He’s ‘So Intent on Making His Case'
By Curtis Houck | July 16, 2015 | 12:39 AM EDT

The major broadcast networks continued their defense on Wednesday night of the Iranian nuclear arms agreement and specifically President Obama’s press conference from hours before, ruling that the President was “on offense” in providing “a spirited defense” of the “history-making deal.” While all three network anchors interviewed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it was CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley who hounded Netanyahu on the deal and encouraged him "to talk things over" with Iranian President Rouhani in Tel Aviv.

CNN, Leftist Hacks Attack CBS's Major Garrett For Asking Obama Tough Questions
By Tom Blumer | July 15, 2015 | 8:28 PM EDT

Journalists and lefitsts (but I repeat myself) are hopping mad.

They're not mad at President Obama for failing to make freeing American hostages held by Iran an issue in negotiations with that nation. Instead, they're furious at Major Garrett of CBS News for daring to ask Dear Leader a question about it, even though in the process Garrett got a clearly irritated Obama to make news by admitting, and then trying to justify, his team's failure to make such an effort.

MSNBC's Lawrence O’Donnell: Neocons ‘Wrong About Every Single Thing’ This Century
By Connor Williams | July 15, 2015 | 5:00 PM EDT

On Wednesday afternoon, MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell slammed neoconservatives who voiced their opposition to President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. Appearing on MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts, O'Donnell lashed out at opponents of the deal: “Well, look, they are on a straight line of being wrong about every single thing that's come up in the 21st century in foreign policy.”

NBC's Engel: Very Possible Iran 'Gamble' Could Begin Mideast Arms Race
By Randy Hall | July 15, 2015 | 4:26 PM EDT

Soon after President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday morning that the government of Iran signed a nuclear arms treaty with the United States and a coalition of allies, Richard Engel -- NBC's chief foreign correspondent – stated on MSNBC's Morning Joe program that the deal was “a gamble” for the U.S. that “very possibly” could lead to a new arms buildup in the Middle East.

Later that day, Engel told Chris Matthews, the host of the weeknight Hardball program, that people were filling the streets of Tehran -- the capital of Iran -- because “they see this as a real moment to celebrate, a moment of renewal, of hope when they could maybe improve their lives, their freedoms, their financial freedoms, their ability to live a decent life.”

Major Garrett Confronts Obama, Demands Answers on U.S. Prisoners
By Scott Whitlock | July 15, 2015 | 3:44 PM EDT

CBS journalist Major Garrett on Wednesday grilled Barack Obama, demanding answers to why a deal with Iran didn't include the freeing of four U.S. prisoners in the country. While Garrett and ABC's Jon Karl pressed the President on his negotiations with Iran, there were still plenty of softballs.  Garrett solemnly lectured, "...There are four Americans in Iran, three held on trumped up charges, according to your administration." The reporter demanded, "Can you tell the country, sir, why you are content, with all the fanfare around this deal, to leave the conscience of in this nation, the strength of this nation unaccounted for in relation to these four Americans?"

Flashback: Networks Hailed Clinton’s 1994 Nuclear Deal with North Korea
By Jeffrey Meyer | July 15, 2015 | 2:04 PM EDT

The “Big Three” (ABC, CBS, and NBC) networks have hailed the “historic” deal with Iran which was a described as a “major victory” for President Obama. The media, however, have a poor record when it comes to U.S. negotiations with rogue nations seeking nuclear weapons. In 1994, President Bill Clinton agreed to a deal with North Korea, an agreement which the networks at the time hailed as a sign that “the Cold War is really over.” 

In Interview With Iran's Zarif, MSNBC's Mitchell Rolls Her Eyes As She Discusses Netanyahu
By Tom Blumer | July 15, 2015 | 1:20 PM EDT

In an extraordinarily and inappropriately indulgent interview with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif yesterday, MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell rolled her eyes as she mentioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's position that the "deal" between Iran and an alliance led by the U.S. is a "mistake of historic proportions."

Immediately after doing so, she refocused her attention on Zarif, smiled and batted her eyelashes as she finished her question. The video which immediately follows the jump was posted at Digitas Daily (HT PJ Tatler via Ed Driscoll at Instapundit):