Yesterday morning, Trump fumed that the media’s coverage of a new video from an al-Qaeda affiliated group was “disgusting.”
DONALD TRUMP: I watched NBC this morning, and it was a total lie what they said, maybe she was wrong, maybe she was right, because it wasn’t done then. She said it was ISIS, it was al-Shabaab, and of course at some point they’re going to do something, I’m the frontrunner by a lot, so they’re going to do something, what does that mean, we’re not supposed to speak about the enemy, everybody knows everyone is going to be in a propaganda. Her husband is in a propaganda. Part of ISIS’s, I think it’s an ISIS. They put him down as a “degenerate.”
So, you know, its like, one of those things. But it wasn’t ISIS, it wasn’t made at the time. She lied.
But I watched mainstream media — ABC and NBC, and the way they cover it, and frankly, CNN, they covered it so inaccurately, it was disgusting and they should be ashamed of themselves.
A simpler, easier defense of Trump: If ISIS or an al-Qaeda-affiliated group cite an American politician in their videos . . . so what? Since when do we care what these guys think? What, are trying to not offend them?
Trump offends Muslims? Trump offends a lot of people. There was a time when it was okay to say offensive things in the country, before Charlie Hebdo, before the president of the United States stood before the United Nations and declared, “The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam.”
Immediately preceding the video’s use of Trump is a statement from Anwar al-Awlaki, the American terror leader who was killed in a drone strike in 2011. Do you think drone strikes offend or rile up terrorist groups? Should we stop doing those, too?
In the debate, Hillary Clinton said, “I worry greatly that the rhetoric coming from the Republicans, particularly Donald Trump, is sending a message to Muslims here in the United States and literally around the world that there is a clash of civilizations, that there is some kind of western plot or even war against Islam, which then I believe fans the flames of radicalization.”
How can you look at Paris, San Bernardino, or any ISIS video and not think that there is a clash of civilizations, or at least a clash of visions of what civilization must be? On one side, ISIS and al-Qaeda (yes, I know they see each other as rivals); on the other side, the West. Since 9/11, the Muslim world, a billion strong, has split, debated, flipped back and forth, and equivocated.
“Fans the flames of radicalization” — can we please stop blaming ourselves for Muslims’ decision to radicalize? Can we please top believing that somehow we drive them into embracing a philosophy of mass murder? This is not our fault. This is not Donald Trump’s fault. This is the fault of the people who believe that the best way they can practice their faith is to run around killing non-Muslims. Stop letting them off the hook, and claiming that they were somehow forced to commit these atrocities because of something we said or did.
This is classic “empathize with our enemies” thinking . . .
This is what we call smart power: using every possible tool and partner to advance peace and security, and leaving no one on the sidelines, showing respect, even for one’s enemies, trying to understand and insofar as psychologically possible empathize with their perspective and point of view.
Meanwhile, here’s my appearance Sunday morning on Howard Kurtz’s MediaBuzz, discussing Donald Trump, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and whether long-ago sex scandals are fair game.
Rubio: Obama Gave a ‘Despicable Speech’ After San Bernardino
This morning, at an American Legion in Hooksett, New Hampshire, Marco Rubio’s giving what his campaign calls an “Address on National Security in the 21st Century.” (When your guy talks to an audience, it’s giving an address; when the other guy does the same thing, it’s just giving a speech.)
From his advance remarks:
America is in far greater danger today than it was eight years ago. Our president thought he could make America like Luxembourg or Switzerland. But he can’t. We are the United States of America — the highest-profile, most important, most powerful country in the world. And while we may ignore problems that exist far away, those problems do not ignore us.
In the 21st century, there is no such thing as a remote problem. What happens in Beijing or Moscow or Tehran is our business. Our economy and our lives are directly impacted by global events. Foreign policy is now an important part of domestic policy. Yet President Obama willfully ignores this. Instead of shaping world events, he is shaped by them. Instead of a foreign policy based on strategy, his is based on politics.
We saw this clearly with his despicable speech after the terrorist attack in San Bernardino. When America needed a bold plan of action from our Commander-in-Chief, we instead got a lecture on love, tolerance, and gun control designed to please the talking heads at MSNBC.
The result of all of this is that people are afraid. And they have every right to be. To make matters worse, candidates for president in both parties cling to the same plan of weakness and retreat.
On one side of this race we have, of all people, Obama’s former Secretary of State. The very person who stood by while the conflict in Syria became the worst humanitarian crisis in a generation, who pushed the “reset” button with Russia even as Putin assaulted the sovereignty of his neighbors, and who resorted to half-measures in Libya instead of doing what it would take to prevent terrorists from taking hold — terrorists who ultimately took the lives of four Americans in Benghazi.
Not only is Hillary Clinton incompetent, she’s also a liar. While she was leading the public and the families of the fallen to believe the attack in Benghazi happened because of a YouTube video, we now know she was admitting in private emails that it was the result of terrorism. She lied to our faces. No one in the mainstream media has the courage to call her out for it. If I am our nominee, voters will be reminded of it time and time again.
Ben Carson: An Army of One . . . Because His Team Walked Away from Him
What’s that, you say? Ben Carson’s presidential effort is being run aground in part because of the candidate’s excessive faith in his longtime friend Armstrong Williams, and Williams’s heavy-handed, clumsy way of handling the media?
Several top aides to Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson resigned on Thursday, citing frustration with the influence of the retired neurosurgeon’s business manager and questioning his readiness for the White House.
Barry Bennett and Doug Watts, both seasoned political operatives, stepped down with less than five weeks before voters in Iowa begin the nominating process with the state’s Feb. 1 caucuses.
Bennett was Carson’s campaign manager. Watts was communications director. But Bennett said Carson’s longtime business manager, Armstrong Williams, is the adviser who has Carson’s ear, even though Williams does not have a formal role in the campaign.
Carson is “one of the smartest men I’ve ever worked for,” Bennett said, but added that he believes Carson has become Williams’ “script reader.”
Bennett said that made it difficult to advise Carson and raised questions in his mind about what kind of president Carson would make if elected.
“You have to surround yourself with good people,” Bennett said. “And he hasn’t demonstrated that he can do that. No one wants Armstrong Williams anywhere near the Oval Office.”
Gee, who saw this coming? No, really, who was reporting about Williams’s refusing to allow access to Carson to answer questions about his past paid speeches back in January 2015?
I can hear Carson fans now: Jim, this is just more of your usual bashing of the good Dr. Carson. All campaigns go through shake-ups.
Uh-huh: “Carson’s 2016 presidential bid was thrown into chaos on Thursday when his campaign manager and some 20 other staff members quit amid infighting, dropping poll numbers and negative media coverage.”
How often do you see 21 staffers quit one month before the Iowa caucuses?
One note of sympathy for Carson; he’s an accomplished, decent man who is stumbling amidst a “brutal process“ (his words). This is one of the reasons political neophytes and outsiders encounter skepticism. Yes, sometimes long-time veterans of politics, who have won multiple statewide races, jump in the presidential pool and find they can’t swim — Jeb Bush, George Pataki, Jim Gilmore. But that speaks to the difficulty of the task. A successful presidential campaign is like winning the Super Bowl, and you very rarely see rookie quarterbacks getting to the Super Bowl, much less winning it.
ADDENDA: For everyone tired of me talking about the New York Jets on Twitter… Jim of Monday travels back in time to speak to the Jim of Saturday.
Saturday Jim: So, how did our new superstar quarterback do?
Monday Jim: Not too well. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two touchdowns, but also three interceptions, one in the end zone.
Saturday: Really?
Monday: Of course, he wasn’t helped by our Pro Bowl receiver Brandon Marshall dropping a pass, Eric Decker dropping a pass, Quincy Eunewa dropping two passes, Kenbrell Thompkins letting a huge bomb go through his fingers right at the end . . .
Saturday: Wow, must have been windy. At least we could run the ball, right?
Monday: Chris Ivory breaks a really long run early, but for some reason we keep giving the ball to Stevan Ridley and he goes nowhere.
Saturday: Wow, I guess it’s on the defense to win the game.
Monday: Well, our $16 million superstar cornerback Darrelle Revis can’t cover Sammy Watkins at all.
Saturday: WHAT?
Monday: I don’t think the Jets sacked Tyrod Taylor once, or if they did, it didn’t make much of a difference . . .
Saturday: Wait, our great line, eating up all that salary and cap room, doesn’t get any pressure?
Monday: Well, the Bills Offense converts more than half of their third downs . . .
Saturday: (stunned silence)
Monday: It really went wrong after a shanked punt gave the Bills the ball at the Jets own 25, without a return . . .
Saturday: But . . . this was such a huge game . . .
Monday: And then the kicker missed a 40-yard field goal . . .
Saturday: Wait, all of this mess happens when they need to win to make the playoffs?
Monday: Oh, wait, I forgot to mention all of the stupid penalties . . .
(Saturday Jim loses interest in football)