Latest Blogs

As the police shootout and standoff early Wednesday morning in the Paris suburb of Saint Denis, France was in its contentious moments, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour and guest Julien Theron couldn’t help but fret about how the standoff was helping to “literally stok[e] the fires of the far right, anti-immigrant, anti-immigration, xenophobic parties” in Europe.

In a welcome change of pace for MSNBC programming on Tuesday night, liberal primetime host Rachel Maddow was given the night off in favor of NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel, who anchored the network’s 9:00 p.m. Eastern coverage of the Paris Islamic terror attacks and closed with a brief but astute commentary on how it’s doubtful that Paris will change the global ISIS strategy.

Suggestion for John Kerry: if traveling makes you so tired that you say things undermining the war against radical Islamic terrorism, do us all a favor—stay home on Nantucket and conduct your diplomacy by Skype . . .  On today's Morning Joe, here's how Mark Halperin explained Kerry's despicable statement about the "legitimacy" and "rationale" of the Charlie Hebdo attacks: "Secretary Kerry has a…

In the Fresh Off the Boat episode "Huangsgiving," recurring gay character Oscar Chow brings his new boyfriend Michael to the Huang's Thanksgiving dinner. He excitedly introduces him to Jessica, saying, "Michael listens to NPR!" - and he proudly displays the tote to prove it. 

Michael Weiss and Justin Miller at the Daily Beast are apparently really proud of themselves. They're claiming that because a passport found on one of the terrorists involved in last Friday's terrorist murder spree was a fake, it "means the (U.S.) governors’ freakout over refugees was based, at least in part, on a lie." Based on their headline ("GOP Guvs Rely on ISIS Lies to Reject Syrian…

After seven years of media adoration, President Obama was stunned and prickly. At a press conference in Antalya, Turkey, American reporters kept asking him why he was declaring his anti-ISIS strategy was working, when clearly it isn’t. NBC’s Chuck Todd found Obama “extremely defensive and almost not yet realizing that many of the reporters in that room, they're channeling the public in this case…

In a combative exchange that aired on the Tuesday edition of ABC’s World News Tonight, chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl hinted to Republican Senator Ted Cruz (Tex.) that he was “un-American” for suggesting that only Syrian refugees who are Christian should be admitted the United States while a moratorium would be placed on those that are Muslim.

Last week, ex-Bill Clinton adviser Paul Begala snarked on CNN that during the most recent Republican presidential debate, the candidates mentioned Hillary Clinton so often that they came off as “creepy…in a stalker sort of way…Maybe it's affectionate…Maybe they’re like junior high schoolboys.” Vox's David Roberts has joined Begala in likening the GOP contenders to middle- or high-schoolers, but…

On Tuesday night, the “big three” networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC saw no reason to inform their viewers of Secretary of State John Kerry’s assertion that he could recognize there having been a “rationale” and “particularized focus” for Islamic terrorists to carry out the January attacks in Paris on the offices of Charlie Hebdo but not for the “indiscriminate” attacks that occurred in the very same…

So, this happened. During an international soccer match between Turkey and Greece (I won’t use the term friendly, for reasons you’re about to see and hear. In addition to the fact that Turkey and Greece hate each other) a moment of silence was called for, to remember the victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris.Only one problem. There was very, very little silence as Turkish fans started booing.

As Politico reported earlier today, Secretary of State John Kerry seemed to see a "rationale" in the deadly terrorist attacks on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper office back in January, unlike target pattern in Friday's coordinated terror strikes in Paris. Reporter Eliza Collins posted her story at 4:14 p.m. Eastern, about 3 hours prior to MSNBC's Hardball went live on the air. That's plenty of time…

The Republican feared most by liberals? The one described with the most overwrought hyperbole. Yes, some things never change. According to ex-MSNBC pundit Cenk Uygur (pronounced Jenk U-gur), that Republican is none other than Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. Should he learn this, Cruz will presumably take it as a badge of honor.  

Mike Huckabee might be down in the polls, but he's still up to throwing a good political punch.  On this evening's MTP Daily, Chuck Todd suggested, by way of advocating the admission of Syrian refugees, that the US is better than Europe at "assimilation." Retorted Huckabee, speaking of one of the Boston bombers, "he really assimilated, until he blew up the Boston Marathon with a pressure cooker…

Republican Gov. Rick Snyder's position on halting Syrian refugees in light of the Paris terrorist attacks is "A gut punch to Syrians in Michigan," according to a headline for a Washington Post story in today's paper which was thoroughly one-sided on the issue.