Russia

Alexey Eremenko spotlighted "teen weight-lifting wunderkind and ardent Communist" Maryana Naumova in a Tuesday item on NBCNews.com. Eremenko, NBC News's Moscow producer, played up how "sports is only part of Naumova's agenda. As a member of the youth arm of Russia's Communist Party...she tours schools and orphanages across Russia to promote weightlifting." However, the journalist never mentioned…

On Monday, March 9 and Tuesday, March 10, the “big three” (ABC, CBS, and NBC) networks pounced on a letter signed by 47 Republican senators to the leaders of Iran regarding its negotiations with the Obama administration over its nuclear program.

Carol Costello gave an on-air correction on Tuesday's CNN Newsroom concerning an on-screen graphic that aired on the Monday edition of her program: "Yesterday, we ran a story about the debate among Western leaders about whether to send arms to Ukraine. During that segment, our banner mistakenly said, 'Obama considers arming pro-U.S. troops.'"

Should the United States not send arms to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia because our country would be angered if Russia armed Mexico against Texas?  A strange analogy, no?   But it's the one Joe Scarborough made on today's Morning Joe: "what is Vladimir Putin's response going to be to the United States arming Ukraine? Certainly I would guess no better than, you know, the Russians…

The Americans returns tonight with its third season debut at 10 PM EST/PST. While the FX series humanizes undercover KGB operatives working in the U.S., the show illustrates the ruthlessness of Soviet communism and how the American Left in the 1980s advanced Soviet interests. (Four videos below)

Today’s installment of the Media Research Center’s “Best Notable Quotables of 2014,” as selected by our 40 expert judges, the “The Audacity of Dopes Award for the Wackiest Analysis of the Year.”

Wrapping up a report on Friday's NBC Today about CIA Director John Brennan reacting to the Senate Democrats' "torture report" during a Thursday press conference, chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell highlighted: "The unveiling of the brutal tactics gave American adversaries a chance to accuse the U.S. of hypocrisy – on International Human Rights Day, no less."

Liberal filmmaker Oliver Stone, who has previously made sympathetic documentaries on dictators Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, now plans to promote Russia's Vladimir Putin, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The director asserted he "would love to do an interview with [Putin] because he represents a different point of view that Americans don't hear." 

A search at the Associated Press's national site tonight on "Berlin Wall" (not in quotes) returns 14 stories. Changing that search to "Berlin Wall Reagan" reduces that number to one. That single story is a short, seven-paragraph item about sections of the wall which are on display in different parts of the world. Reagan's name gets mentioned as follows:

National Journal’s Ron Fournier was apparently among those who endured President Obama's appearance on "60 Minutes" this evening. Fournier was able to succinctly summarize the contents of Obama's interview with Steve Kroft, the network's designated softball pitcher, in a tweet appearing shortly after its conclusion (HT Twitchy):

Joe Scarborough scoffs at Thomas Friedman's suggestion that the way to confront ISIS is for the US to adopt a carbon tax and permit oil exports.

Rachel Maddow frets about all President Obama has on his plate and concludes: "aren't you glad you're not President?"

Plenty of commentators have predicted that Republicans will pick up seats in this fall’s midterm elections, but haven’t opined whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Then there’s Esquire’s political blogger Charles Pierce, whose gloomy forecast for the midterms is that “the power of the insane party will likely be enhanced.” In a Tuesday post, Pierce lamented the impact of Republican…

On Tuesday's Morning Joe, MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski felt sorry for President Obama and all the crises overseas that he is currently facing: "You look at just the President, and the incoming on foreign policy crises, I think it's possibly unprecedented, except for extreme times of war." Moments earlier, the morning newscast played a montage of video clips looking back at all the tumultuous…