Opining on HBO’s Real Time on Friday’s Islamic terror attacks in Paris, former MSNBC host and liberal activist Dylan Ratigan explained that the reason Islamist extremists despise the United States and Western Civilization (and thus carry out attacks) is due to U.S. “financ[ing] the capital flow into Saudi Arabia” that cause poor Muslims to commit such atrocities against innocent people in the West.
Government & Press
Thursday at the end of Morning Joe, the roundtable invited Darcy Olsen of the free-market think tank. the Goldwater Institute. to discuss Gov. Jerry Brown's veto of “Right to Try” legislation in California. The discussion centered on the book “The Right to Try” and the legislation surrounding the effort. Mika Brzezinski began by inquiring of Olsen "why is it so hard? What gets in the way?"
On Wednesday night, NBC Nightly News neglected to inform its viewers of a new report concerning the scandal-ridden Department of Veterans Affairs and the $142 million it paid out in bonuses to employees (including some who were facing discipline and/or recently fired). Compiled by the House Veterans Affairs Committee, the report stated that some of those who received bonuses still got them despite the fact that “several of them were under investigation or accused of mismanagement.”
Veteran MSNBC watchers have surely noticed the Obama-loving network's extreme hostility to black Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson. These attacks and the pressure against Carson, compared to other Republicans in the race, has been intense. As a black conservative, Dr. Carson has taken extreme criticism and scrutiny for his words.
Morning Joe Tuesday featured a discussion with Bill Nye, known as the Science Guy from his television days, and his new book, “Unstoppable.” The book is about getting America to lead on fighting Climate Change, particularly in transitioning from fossil fuels to wind and solar energy. Scarborough on Climate Change, threw to Nye, about the signficance of China and other developing countries on carbon emissions, and how America can affect their contributions, not just our own.
Even Joe Scarborough, who according to the National Review's Elaina Plott has a "vehement" dislike of Marco Rubio, thinks there's nothing to the Florida Republican Senator's credit card issue.

The political definition of Cronyism is: government policy that favors one or more specific beneficiaries - at the expense of everyone else. To wit: $80 billion of the 2009 “Stimulus” was wasted on “green energy” companies - 80% of whom were Barack Obama donors. Amongst the parade of horribles contained therein: the government took money from energy companies - to fund competitors to their energy companies.
Sadly, a $3.5-trillion-a-year federal government budget is filled to the rafters with nigh-endless Cronyism. There’s so much to undo - one must triage and prioritize. And while we work to reduce and eliminate, we most certainly should not create a whole new Cronyism - that will dwarf all the others combined.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) late last week gave us a quintessential example of aiming at the tiny - while they have for years championed the huge. Behold:
On Friday night, two of the three major broadcast networks saw no interest in telling their viewers that the Supreme Court of the United States had decided to accept another major case on the future of ObamaCare as the high court will hear arguments pertaining to the law’s contraception mandate. Surprisingly, NBC Nightly News not only covered it, but offered a full, one-minute-and-21-second report from Justice correspondent Pete Williams.
Thursday’s CBS Evening News led with the severe weather threatening those in the Midwest, but in addition to looking at the storm track and damage thus far, the storms were hyped as a consequence of global warming. Anchor Scott Pelley ruled in an opening tease that “[t]ornadoes in Texas” struck “on the same day that a new study blames climate change for a surge in severe storms and wildfires.”
Thursday’s Morning Joe featured a discussion on the Iranian deal and hostages in Iran. Late into the segment, Mika Brzezinski inquired of Vali Nasr on whether he was surprised the hostages weren't part of the deal. Nasr, who served as a State Department official in the Obama administration, and Karl Vick, of Time Magazine, both expressed a lack of surprise for getting the hostages. Joe Scarborough, infuriated by the lack of suprise, began to criticize the idea of dealing with the Iranians.
The day after voters in Houston, Texas defeated a measure dubbed by many to be “the bathroom bill” aimed at “protecting” gay and transgender people from discrimination, Wednesday’s CBS Evening News lit into those who overwhelmingly opposed the measure by touting fears of Houston businesses being boycotted and even the 2017 Super Bowl being moved out of the city due to this measure’s failure to pass.
After heavily promoting on Tuesday the Ohio ballot initiative to legalize marijuana before the polls closed, NBC Nightly News offered an about-face of sorts on Wednesday and refused to acknowledge the fact that measure was soundly defeated. Hailing it as “high stakes” in the Buckeye State, anchor Lester Holt hyped in a tease on Tuesday’s newscast: “Legalized pot on the ballot tonight in the biggest swing state of all. Is it a tipping point for the nation? A big money fight with a famous singer caught in the middle.”
