Good Morning America reporter Jon Karl on Thursday marveled that Republicans would dare “defy” Barack Obama on letting Syrian refugees into the country. ABC censored the news that only 28 percent of Americans support the current refugee program. Instead, Karl announced, “The House is expected to defy the President today by voting to temporarily prevent the administration from allowing more Syrian refugees to come into the country.”
Barack Obama
By Tom Blumer | November 19, 2015 | 10:48 AM EST
Several times in the past, we've heard President Barack Obama, and occasionally his press secretary, tell America that the nation's commander-in-chief learned about certain events the same way many of the rest of us did: by seeing them on TV or reading newspaper accounts. A Republican or conservative president hauling out this excuse even once would face endless outrage and ridicule, respectively, from the news and entertainment divisions of the establishment press's networks.
Former CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson, who is now an independent investigative journalist, has revealed one reason why Obama's level of claimed ignorance has been so high. It's because he won't look at information he doesn't like, or which doesn't conform to his preconceived notions — even in very serious matters relating to national security. It seems highly unlikely that Attkisson is the only reporter in the nation who has learned this.
By Curtis Houck | November 19, 2015 | 7:02 AM EST
Roughly 30 minutes after (perhaps appropriately) ripping into the media for their labeling of ISIS terrorist Abdelhamid Abaaoud the “mastermind” of Friday’s Islamic terrorist attacks in Paris, MSNBC’s Last Word host Lawrence O’Donnell struck out against Republican Senator Ted Cruz (Tex.) for engaging in “predictable, childish bluster” by responding to President Obama’s denouncement of his stance on Syrian refugees.
By Tom Johnson | November 18, 2015 | 11:25 PM EST
Almost two years ago, in an interview with The New Yorker’s David Remnick, President Obama drew one of the worst sports-related analogies ever when he likened ISIS to a JV team. Last month, Obama sat for an interview with an actual sportswriter, Bill Simmons, who pretty much pitched batting practice, thereby minimizing the chance of presidential gaffes, sporting or otherwise. The Q&A appears in the new issue of GQ.
Simmons, the former ESPN and Grantland personality who’s developing a show for HBO, set the highly deferential tone in his introduction, declaring that Obama “carries himself like Roger Federer, a merciless competitor who keeps coming and coming, only there’s a serenity about him that disarms just about everyone…He casually compared himself to Aaron Rodgers, and he wasn’t bragging. Obama identified with Rodgers’s ability to keep his focus downfield despite all the chaos happening in front of him. That’s Obama’s enduring quality, and (to borrow another sports term) this has been his ‘career year.’”
By Curtis Houck | November 18, 2015 | 10:40 PM EST
Following the Wednesday morning newscasts in which ABC, CBS, and NBC praised the “outraged” President Obama for “slamming” Republican wanting to restrict Syrian refugees, the “big three” were back on the case Wednesday night in spinning for the President. However, CBS and NBC did make time to include how polls now show a majority of Americans want to put a moratorium on refugees for the time being, but ABC's World News Tonight ignored the sentiment.
By Mark Finkelstein | November 18, 2015 | 9:35 PM EST
I took some flak awhile back for saying that--his liberalism notwithstanding--Chris Matthews had a patriotic streak.
More evidence for that notion on this evening's Hardball, as Matthews twice derided President Obama's response to ISIS as "dainty," and kvetched that "I don't see us doing anything."
By Ken Shepherd | November 18, 2015 | 9:33 PM EST
When your most worshipful devotee in the liberal media thinks you're acting in an unpresidential manner, you know you've gone too far.
By Matthew Balan | November 18, 2015 | 3:12 PM EST
On Wednesday's New Day, CNN kept up their skepticism of the Obama administration's talking points on ISIS. Chris Cuomo noted that "the word from the White House is...that we are having success....How does that make sense, given...we just saw what happened in Paris?" Christiane Amanpour threw cold water on John Earnest's claim that there wasn't a military solution for the terrorist group: "You have to eradicate ISIS, and that's not going to happen with some nice de-radicalization programs."
By Scott Whitlock | November 18, 2015 | 11:22 AM EST
All three network morning shows on Wednesday hyped Barack Obama’s “outrage” at Republican governors and presidential candidates, “slamming” them for opposition to Syrian refugees coming to America. On Good Morning America, Jon Karl parroted, “Overnight in Manila, President Obama expressed outrage at Republican calls to keep Syrian refugees out of the United States.”
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."
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."
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.