Free Republic

MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell said Tuesday that President Donald Trump's first foreign trip since taking office was being received "very, very well" in the Middle East. "It's actually being received very, very well in this region," Mitchell said on "Morning Joe." "I have to tell you that his scripted speeches, the speech he just gave at the museum, the cultural museum, was very well received in Israeli media, as well as among the people obviously there, the invited guests," Mitchell said. "But he hit all of the notes." Mitchell then spoke of Trump's ties with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before...

Yes, THAT Andrea Mitchell So, did Hillary just squander her final shot at offering the mainstream media a genuine apology? A quick glance at today’s news seems to suggest that may be the case. We’ve already heard from David Axelrod. Now that we have this clip from Andrea Mitchell, I’m starting to think they’ve shifted gears from “tired of Hillary’s garbage” to “completely fed up with her whole shtick.”

n theory, all the Vatican media should work in concert in transmitting to the world the faithful image of the pope. But in practice this is not what happens. The Vatican press office has carefully kept its distance from the recently failed attempt to exploit a private letter from Benedict XVI. It has left in the lurch none but Monsignor Dario Edoardo Viganò, prefect of the secretariat for communications, saved from ruin only thanks to the protection of the pope, who really does not want to be deprived of this disastrous “spin doctor” of his.The pope, that’s just it. Because...

On Friday, addressing mounting concerns about a medical crisis in the U.S., President Obama named the noted epidemiologist Dr. Ronald Klain as the country’s “Ebola czar.” Dr. Klain…. Oh, sorry, that didn’t happen. The new Ebola czar is not an expert in infectious diseases, or in public health, or even a doctor. To Washington insiders, Ron Klain, a high-stakes Democratic Party operative, is most famous for his role in Florida legal challenges surrounding the 2000 presidential election. Those with longer memories remember Klain’s work as the Al Gore aide who labored to raise more than $100 million for the Democratic...

I’ll concede here at the beginning that I’ve never worked on a political campaign. Nor do I have any experience in media relations, publicity, political communication or whatever else flacks do. I don’t know the nuances of trying to defuse controversy with a speech. But I have covered many political campaigns in Texas the past decade, so I know what it looks like when a campaign handles the press well. And the Wendy Davis operation is about the worst at media relations that I’ve ever seen. Her team’s mismanagement of the press is damaging her candidacy. The foul-ups began as...

NEW YORK (AFP) - US Treasury Secretary John Snow said the record US trade deficit was the result of strong economic growth and the United States outpacing the growth of other countries. AFP/DDP/File Photo "The trade gap reflects two things: that our economy is growing at a fast pace and we are growing faster than our trading partners," Snow told reporters. The United States posted a record trade deficit in November, the government said Wednesday. The Commerce Department (news - web sites) estimated that US exports sank 2.3 percent in November, driving the US trade deficit to all-time high of...