Jonathan Alter

On Monday’s Last Word, Lawrence O’Donnell started his program with a panel discussing Mike Huckabee’s controversial comments about the Iran deal. Daily Beast columnist and MSNBC contributor Jonathan Alter had harsh words for the Republicans, claiming their rhetoric is far worse when compared to the Democrats: “[T]here's a vileness gap that is developing between our political parties.” The ex-…

Jeb Bush, a convert to the faith, is a bad Catholic who all but denies the dogma of papal infallibility. That's an argument put forward by that eminent Catholic scholar... Jonathan Alter?! Yup, Alter made that argument on the June 19 edition of Now with Alex Wagner as he reacted to the former Florida governor's dismissal of Pope Francis's views on climate change as promulgated in his latest…

MSNBC journalists on Monday reacted predictably to Ted Cruz's announcement that he is running for President. Former Newsweek senior editor Jonathan Alter summed up the Republican's vision by comparing Cruz to Barry Goldwater's 1964 campaign. Connecting the two, Alter concluded, "So, that's the Ted Cruz message, 'extremism is good.'"  

This week, the media’s reaction to the Israeli election seemed indistinguishable from the reaction of the Obama White House. Not only were journalists surprised by Benjamin Netanyahu’s victory on Tuesday (they apparently believed pre-election surveys showing his party trailing by 2 to 4 seats; they ended up winning by 6 seats), but they seemed distressed by the result.

While conceding that Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush are political-dynasty candidates, liberal journalist Jonathan Alter explained on Wednesday's Hardball why he didn't see a one-for-one equivalency between the two. It boils down to this: Hillary Clinton is a woman and Jeb Bush is, God bless him, a decent man but one of mediocre intellect.

Could you use some "Hill-arity" after a long day? On the Ed Show,  Barbara Boxer claimed Republicans are going after Hillary "because they know she's exciting the public."  Right.  For good measure, Boxer said that she "unequivocally" trusts Hillary. David Corn of way-left Mother Jones was surprisingly skeptical, saying that "whether Barbara Boxer trusts her or not," Hillary critics have a…

On Wednesday's Hardball, Daily Beast columnist Jonathan Alter insisted that President Obama's executive amnesty would lead to Latinos being squarely in the Democratic column for decades and even revering the president with portraits in the living rooms, much like white Appalachians in years gone by had hung portraits of FDR in theirs.Tonight on Twitter, Alter rehashed that lame and frankly…

According to Daily Beast columnist Jonathan Alter, President Obama's executive amnesty could so well place Latinos into the Democratic column that Latino homes will grace their living rooms with portraits of the 44th president. 

It's always interesting when liberals and members of the mainstream media think they've caught conservative icon Rush Limbaugh making an inappropriate comment during his three-hour weekday radio program. Even though almost none of them bother to actually listen to his remarks, the outrage flies from online posters and news outlets across the country. This was the case on Tuesday, when…

Ever a good soldier for President Obama, MSNBC political analyst Jonathan Alter defended the president’s actions in securing the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl by exchanging him for five high-level detainees at Guantanamo. Appearing on the June 2 edition of Jansing and Co., Alter said the move was rather, well, routine because, “at the end of the war, prisoner exchanges are common.” Directing…

Now online: the May 26 edition of Notable Quotables, MRC's bi-weekly compilation of the latest outrageous quotes in the liberal media. This week, CNN’s top executive boasts that his network will not be “shamed” into covering congressional hearings about the September 11, 2012 attack in Benghazi, as if engaging in actual journalism is something to be avoided.  Also, the media leap to defend…

Liberal pundit and Obama-chronicler Jonathan Alter received a "Sacred Cat" award last Friday from the Milwaukee Press Club, and while in Brew City, Alter complained that "one of...the limitations of journalism is that straightforward descriptions of reality are seen as being biased." To Alter, one somehow-disputed reality is that Obama's a flexible dealmaker and Republicans are rigid…

Appearing as a panel member on the Sunday, April 20, Disrupt with Karen Finney, MSNBC political analyst Jonathan Alter -- formerly of Newsweek -- asserted that President Obama's move to delay a final decision on the Keystone Pipeline "strongly increases the likelihood that he will rule against the pipeline after the election." He recounted a history of Democratic presidents appeasing liberal…

On Friday morning, CNN host Jake Tapper tweeted “On Hillary Clinton's assertion of media double standard, strongest complaints by her campaign in 2008 were against pro-Obama male journos”. MRC's Dan Gainor alerted me that the responses from other national journalists about Hillary Clinton’s treatment of the press in the ‘08 cycle were surprising. Perhaps this should be a segment on Tapper's…