John Bolton

Fox News Alone Covers Hillary's High-Level Private-Server Libya Emails
By Tom Blumer | June 18, 2015 | 3:24 PM EDT

2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, as seen in this March 10 Associated Press report, has claimed for several months that "No Classified Material (was) Sent via Her Personal Emails" from a home-based server she said "would remain private."

That claim, like so many other representations Mrs. Clinton has made, fell apart earlier this week, when, as Fox News reported, it was learned that Mrs. Clinton "used her personal email account to handle high level negotiations in 2011 for a no-fly zone to help topple Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi." Only Fox considers this a story. Apparently, the fact that icky Fox has reported it means that no one else in the establishment wants to. Video and the Fox story follow the jump.

Not News: Obama Admin's 'Lying Weasels' Delisted Iran and Hezbollah As Terror Threats
By Tom Blumer | March 22, 2015 | 10:37 AM EDT

From all appearances, only Fox News, CNS News, and a few Israel-based outlets and U.S.-based center-right blogs care about the fact, acknowledged by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, that Iran and Hezbollah, in the words of Fox's Greta Van Susteren, "are suddenly MIA from the U.S. terror threat list."

DNI apparently has no plans to change its report, having told CNS News that “This year’s Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. intelligence community report was simply a format change,” while contending that "There is no ‘softening’ of our position." DNI's excuse-making tacitly acknowledges the absence of Iran and Hezbollah from this year's terror threat list.

Hairy Hang-Up: New York Times Reporter Revels in Shallow John Bolton Bashing
By Clay Waters | June 19, 2014 | 10:04 AM EDT

As Iraq descends once more into chaos in the wake of Obama's withdrawal of U.S. troops, New York Times reporter Jennifer Steinhauer took a lazy, snarky tone in a Thursday news profile  of "neoconservative" John Bolton, he of the "sea-otter mustache" (and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations) who has been outspoken against Obama's foreign policy: "Former Envoy Pipes Up in Conservative Chorus of ‘Told You So’ on Iraq."

Steinhauer's lead priorities were revealing:

Imagine That: 'U.S. Warns on Egypt Travel, Moves to Reduce Presence'; Protest Sign: 'Obama Supports Terrorism'
By Tom Blumer | June 28, 2013 | 8:10 PM EDT

(UPDATE: "Obama Supports Terrorism" sign obtained at Twitchy.com)

This "Arab Spring" update comes from the Associated Press: "The Obama administration on Friday warned Americans against all but essential travel to Egypt and moved to reduce the official U.S. presence in the country amid fears of widespread unrest." No one could possibly have predicted this type of crisis would be a likely outcome of Hosni Mubarak's overthrow -- ahem, except former U.S. ambassador John Bolton and other people considered ignoramuses by the diplomatic elite.

Conditions on the ground reflect the growing tolerance of a diverse ethnic, religious, and democratically inclined leadership. Uh, actually not at all, as a separate AP report about today's events reveals (excerpts are not intended to describe the entire situation; reviewing the entire report and others from elsewhere will be needed for a fuller understanding):

State Dept. Official Who Altered Benghazi Talking Points Promoted; Only Fox Covered
By Nathan Roush | May 24, 2013 | 4:49 PM EDT

News broke late Thursday afternoon that President Obama had made his selection for the appointee to the position of Assistant Secretary of State to Europe and Eurasia, Victoria Nuland. Normally, that's a snoozer of a nomination unworthy of national media coverage but in this case, it should have garnered media attention. 

If the name vaguely rings a bell, it is because Nuland was the spokeswoman for the Department of the State during the Benghazi attacks, and was at the center of the controversy surrounding the watering-down of the administration’s talking points concerning the attack. But it seems that of national television media outlets, only Fox News devoted a significant amount of time to the reporting of this story. 

MSNBC's Hayes: 'Far-Right Fringe' NRA 'Might Be Spelling Their Own Demise'
By Brad Wilmouth | May 6, 2013 | 2:40 PM EDT

On Friday's All In show, with the words "The Sickness" displayed on screen behind him, MSNBC host Chris Hayes began the show with a commentary in which he tagged the NRA as a "far-right fringe organization" that "might be spelling their own demise" by celebrating the defeat of the universal background check proposal. Hayes:

Maddow Blames Beck and Other Conservatives for Her Getting Duped by Satirical Website
By Noel Sheppard | February 2, 2011 | 12:18 AM EST

As NewsBusters previously reported, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Monday got duped by a satirical website quoting from their spoof article about Sarah Palin advocating an attack on Egypt as if it was a serious commentary.

On Tuesday, proving once again that it takes a lot of rationalizations to be a liberal these days, Maddow blamed her mistake on Fox News's Glenn Beck and other prominent conservatives (video follows with partial transcript and commentary):

Open Thread: Judge Napolitano and Amb. Bolton Debate WikiLeaks
By NB Staff | December 2, 2010 | 9:30 AM EST

The libertarian truther vs. the hawkish former Bush official. Who gets the best of this debate?

Also, where do you stand on the central disagreement of this exchange? Does the physical defense of the nation take primacy over strict adherence to its laws given the chaotic nature of the international community?

John Bolton After Maher's Audience Applauds Him: 'You Let Republicans In'
By Noel Sheppard | May 1, 2010 | 3:15 AM EDT

Former United Nations ambassador John Bolton had one of the best lines on Friday's "Real Time" when after he got some scattered applause from the typically liberal audience in attendance, he said to Bill Maher, "You let Republicans in."

As the subject turned to America's military operations abroad, the HBO host told his guest, "You can't really believe that radical Muslim terrorists...need Afghanistan to launch an attack on us."

"I think there are plenty of alternative places," replied Bolton. "And I would say the bigger strategic interest going forward is keeping those nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists."

This produced some scattered applause from the crowd leading Bolton to marvelously say, "You let Republicans in" (video follows with transcript and commentary): 

Bolton Slams Olbermann on Pantybomber Conspiracy Theory
By Lachlan Markay | January 11, 2010 | 11:50 AM EST

Former American Ambassador to the UN John Bolton took MSNBC's Keith Olbermann to task last week for accusing US intelligence agencies of deliberately ignoring red flags that led to the failed Christmas day bombing plot (h/t Johnny Dollar).

Olbermann suggested that the CIA and other agencies might have been engaged in some sort of turf war, and allowed the plot to move forward. He insinuated that there was "at least a possibility somebody understood how serious this could be and yet withheld information to make some other part of the counterterrorism system look bad".

Bolton, speaking on the late night Fox News show Red Eye, said Olbermann was making accusations of attempted murder against American intelligence officials. He noted that Olbermann carefully crafted his accusations to avoid legal complications, but that the libtalker's point was quite clear.

Matthews: Cheney 'Bath-Tub Ring' Of Bush Administration
By Mark Finkelstein | December 21, 2009 | 8:23 PM EST

Bear this one in mind next time you hear a liberal bemoaning that conservatives show insufficient respect for Pres. Obama and VP Biden . . .

On this evening's Hardball, Chris Matthews called Dick Cheney "the bath-tub ring of the Bush administration."

Chris' calumny came in reaction to the news that the estimable Human Events magazine has named the former VP Conservative of the Year.

Obama's 2005 Daily Kos Post : Tone It Down, and Usher in a New Progressive Era
By Kerry Picket | October 30, 2008 | 7:58 PM EDT
Barack Obama sent a letter to the Daily Kos which was posted back in 2005 to talk strategy and "change" to the Kossacks. Obama was very serious about toning down the rhetoric only until it was safe enough to "enforce a more clearly progressive agenda.” (h/t to Gateway Pundit for bringing this back through Sweetness and Light) (my emphasis added:)

I thought this might be a good opportunity to offer some thoughts about not only judicial confirmations, but how to bring about meaningful change in this country.

Maybe some of you believe I could have made my general point more artfully, but it’s precisely because many of these groups are friends and supporters that I felt it necessary to speak my mind.

There is one way, over the long haul, to guarantee the appointment of judges that are sensitive to issues of social justice, and that is to win the right to appoint them by recapturing the presidency and the Senate.