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By Nicholas Fondacaro
 As a sign of friendship, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley invited those members of the United Nations that didn’t vote against the United States on Thursday to a special reception at the start of the new year. On Friday, MSNBC found it comical that the U.S. would thank those who respected its sovereignty and right to choose where to place its embassy and ridiculed the Ambassador and the Trump administration.
“’Exercise our right as a sovereign nation,’ used by Nikki Haley and used against, I guess, the United States. What do you make of all this,” host Chris Jansing asked former Obama State Department Under Secretary turned MSNBC Analyst Richard Stengel.
The Obama administration flack chided Ambassador Haley for attending what he called “the Tony Soprano School of Diplomacy.” “You extort people to get them to go along with your point of view,” he mocked.
Both Jansing and Stengel found the list of countries that supported the U.S. hysterical as they put the graphic on the screen. “That party she’s having, if you look at the nations that actually voted with us, I don’t know if folks have looked at that… Micronesia, Marshall Islands, most people have never heard of them. You can have the party in this room,” he joked as he motioned to their tiny set.
Stengel did admit that the U.N. does target Israel far more than other countries, but didn’t seem to have a problem with their systemic anti-Semitism. “I mean, the U.N. votes non-binding resolutions against Israel like three times a week, that happens all the time,” he quipped.
He also claimed that the U.S. was isolating itself within the elitist body and it could hurt us during critical votes against North Korea:
But what is also bad strategy is next week when Ambassador Haley has to go to the U.N. for support from North Korea, what are they going to do? “Hey, you took our name last week, why should I vote against North Korea?” When she goes to the U.N. in two weeks about, you know, we want to change policy about Iran.
“And by the way, this idea that we give the most money to the U.N., which, of course, we do, that will never stop that will never change that doesn’t change people's behavior,” Stengel sneered. And he wrote off the Trump administration’s threat of withholding foreign aid and some of the over $3 billion the U.S. pays in U.N. funding: “And this, kind of, mafia-esque way of saying we might withhold that money as a threat, people realize is an empty threat.”
Relevant portions of the transcript below:
MSNBC
Andrea Mitchell Report
December 22, 2017
12:32:14 PM Eastern
(…)
CHRIS JANSING: After that stinging rebuke from the United Nations, Ambassador Nikki Haley is throwing a thank you party for those countries that did not condemn the Trump administration for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. NBC News has learned that the eight countries that voted no, the 35 that abstained and the 21 more that didn't show up for Thursday's vote have all gotten this invitation. You see it here, from Ambassador Haley, to a January 3 reception to express gratitude for their friendship.
(…)
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeting: “A resounding global no to Trump regime’s thuggish intimidation at UN.”
(…)
Exercise our right as a sovereign nation, used by Nikki Haley and used against, I guess, the United States. What do you make of all this?
 RICHARD STENGEL: Well, it's all kind of the Tony Soprano school of diplomacy, right? You extort people to get them to go along with your point of view. That party she’s having, if you look at the nations that actually voted with us, I don’t know if folks have looked at that—
JANSING: We have a list! Can we show the list?
STENGEL: Micronesia, Marshall Islands, most people have never heard of them. You can have the party in this room—
JANSING: Canada abstained, so -- they got invited, too.
STENGEL: Well, abstentions—It’s pretty desperate to have a party-- But of course, France, the U.K., Germany, our greatest allies, all voted against us.
(…)
JANSING: This doesn't have any policy implications, really, but is it really a big embarrassment? Does it mean anything?
STENGEL: No, I think we're making a lot more out of it. I mean, there is a lot of hypocrisy to go around here. I mean, the U.N. votes non-binding resolutions against Israel like three times a week, that happens all the time. But what is silly about it from our perspective is the Trump administration acted like this is something new. Like we're going to take names and give you detention after school. The United Nations has been voting against Israel for 40 years and we have been sticking up for it.
But what is also bad strategy is next week when Ambassador Haley has to go to the U.N. for support from North Korea, what are they going to do? “Hey, you took our name last week, why should I vote against North Korea?” When she goes to the U.N. in two weeks about, you know, we want to change policy about Iran.
(…)
STENGEL: And by the way, this idea that we give the most money to the U.N., which, of course, we do, that will never stop that will never change that doesn’t change people's behavior. And this, kind of, mafia-esque way of saying we might withhold that money as a threat, people realize is an empty threat.
(…)
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By Nicholas Fondacaro
 In a Thursday vote that was more for show than for substance, the United Nations General Assembly in a vote of 128-9 (with 34 abstentions) condemned the United States for rightfully declaring Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. And during NBC Nightly News, the network flaunted the decision by the elitist body, touted their rebuke of the U.S., and described the U.S. as somehow acting like a “bully.” All while ignoring the U.N.’s history of targeted anti-Semitism.
“Let's turn now to the dramatic vote at the U.N. delivering a scathing rebuke to the U.S. and condemning President Trump's decision on Jerusalem,” anchor Lester Holt enthusiastically announced at the start of the segment. “The vote in defiance of warnings from Ambassador Nikki Haley who said the U.S. would be taking names of countries who oppose America on this move.”
The network’s Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell, who has a long history of siding with brutal dictators and other radicals, seemed excited to report how the bloated bureaucracy “overwhelmingly condemning the U.S. for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital.” “The only country planning to move its embassy there,” she huffed.
“Countries cheering the final tally, 128-9, including major American allies Britain, France, Germany, and Japan. All opposing the U.S. 35 countries, including Canada, abstaining, but still against the White House decision,” Mitchell continued to hype.
Mitchell was irritated by the Trump administration saying they were taking down the names of those who opposed the U.S., their threats to cut off foreign aid, and the threat to cut most of the over $3 billion in welfare the U.S. spends on the U.N. “Threatening to withdraw American support from countries that voted against us, threatening to take names, it makes us appear as a bully,” former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Nicholas Burns told her.
“So the State Department tonight trying to spin the vote and this rebuke as a victory because the tally could have been worse,” Mitchell Chided as she wrapped up her report.
For all their smears of the U.S. acting like a bully, they failed to mention the U.N.’s long history of singling out Israel as a target for their anti-Semitism. In extremely sharp contrast, CNN’s Jake Tapper alluded to the U.N.’s pervasive anti-Semitism in his truly powerful takedown during The Lead earlier in the day:
But here is a bit of context you might not know: According to U.N. Watch, which monitors the United Nations, the United Nations General Assembly from 2012 to 2015 has adopted 97 resolutions, specifically criticizing an individual country and of those 97, 83 of them have focused on Israel. That is 86 percent. Now certainly Israel is not above criticism, but considering the genocide of the Rohingya people in Myanmar, the lack of basic human rights in North Korea, the children starving in the streets of Venezuela, the citizens of Syria targeted for murder by their own leader using the most grotesque and painful of weapons, you have to ask, is Israel truly deserving of 86 percent of the world's condemnation? Or possibly is something else afoot at the United Nations? Something that allows the representative of the Assad government to lecture the United States for moving its embassy?
NBC’s support of the morally questionable United Nations over the United States was sponsored by Wonderful Halos oranges, T.Rowe Price, and Biotene.
Relevant portions of the transcript below:
NBC Nightly News
December 21, 2017
7:02:40 PM Eastern
LESTER HOLT: Let's turn now to the dramatic vote at the U.N. delivering a scathing rebuke to the U.S. and condemning President Trump's decision on Jerusalem. The vote in defiance of warnings from Ambassador Nikki Haley who said the U.S. would be taking names of countries who oppose America on this move. NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell has details.
[Cuts to video]
 (…)
ANDREA MITCHELL: The warning after the United Nations overwhelmingly condemning the U.S. for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The only country planning to move its embassy there. Countries cheering the final tally, 128-9, including major American allies Britain, France, Germany, and Japan. All opposing the U.S. 35 countries, including Canada, abstaining, but still against the White House decision. The President warning yesterday he's keeping score.
DONALD TRUMP: We're watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We'll save a lot. We don't care.
MITCHELL: Haley herself sending a letter to diplomats that the President and the U.S. take this vote personally. Raising eyebrows by tweeting, the U.S. will be taking names.Protests throughout the Muslim world ripping the President's decision, fearing it could end hopes for peace talks despite U.S. denials. Already Palestinian leaders telling Vice President Pence he is not welcome in Bethlehem for planned meetings.
NICHOLAS BURNS: Threatening to withdraw American support from countries that voted against us, threatening to take names, it makes us appear as a bully.
[Cuts back to live]
MITCHELL: So the State Department tonight trying to spin the vote and this rebuke as a victory because the tally could have been worse. Still, U.S. Officials, multiple officials telling NBC News tonight that the President's long-awaited Middle East peace plan is now going to be delayed for months.
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By Curtis Houck
MSNBC’s Hardball host Chris Matthews spent Thursday’s show doubling down on his clownish tirades from the night before, suggesting this time that the GOP’s tax reform celebration at the White House was akin to “a North Korean parade” led by a President similar to Ethiopian dictator Haile Selassie.
In a tease for a segment on tax reform, Matthews continued to melt down over “the pig-out” supposedly given to only the rich even though “Republicans had no problem lavishing praise on this President....like lemmings.”
“Are they going to back him on the — on firing Mueller? Look at them. Looks like a North Korean parade,” Matthews boasted.
After a commercial break, Matthews laid out another comparison for the White House event: “It was like a scene out of Julius Caesar yesterday on the south lawn of the White House. One by one Republican leaders lined up to praise his eminence, the imperious Donald Trump.”
Matthews couldn’t seem to settle on one comparison, so the scatterbrained host told his panel a few moments later:
You know, I don't know where to start except I remember Haile Selassie used to get the Lion of Judah and these incredible praises. He seems to believe them, but yet, Orrin Hatch who is a man who believes what he says gives him this almost religious kind of tribute. Trump says good pr, like great stroke there. What do you think of that, Ryan? He undercut the guy's honest tribute. He doesn't even know how to take praise properly.
For those not aware, Selassie ruled Ethiopia with an iron fist from 1930 to 1974 and, like most African dictators, was accused of committing human rights abuses and ethnic cleansing. He was worshipped by those who subscribed to the Rastafari movement as God and the Messiah alluded to in the Bible.
Matthews dredged up North Korea when talking to anti-Trump/Jen Rubin Republican Charlie Sykes, wondering “[w]hat was that photo op about” with Republicans looking “like North Korean soliders.”
“Look at all the smiles in unison, synchronized swimming. There’s Roy Blunt. There’s Al — the guy from — Young from Alaska and Vice President Pence. They're all there just grinning exactly the same, proper Republican way,” he added.
Sykes responded with his typical form of smugness and disregard for civility:
But why do you actually have this ritualized fluffing of the Orange God King? I mean and I also understand this is an interesting, you know, tactic. You know, to keep him in line, but I had the feeling as I was watching this, like, do you understand you're doing this in public, we can see what you're doing here? I mean, this is great. Paul, you got your tax cuts, but have a little pride. Just a little bit of dignity left when all this is over.
The MSNBC Republican added that the party will “never” turn their backs on Trump and Wednesday illustrated how they “[took] the knee for — for — for Trump and I don't think they're going to back away from that.”
Matthews ran out of gas as the segment went along, but not before he could reiterate how “astounding” Wednesday was in the amount of “genuflection” towards Trump.
Once again, Matthews didn’t get the memo that he should sit out any debate over whether a person or group of people are sycophants considering his undying infatuation with Barack Obama.
Here’s the relevant transcript from MSNBC’s Hardball on December 21:
MSNBC’s Hardball
December 21, 2017
7:40 p.m. Eastern
 CHRIS MATTHEWS: Up next, could yesterday's display at the White House, the pig-out over the tax cut — trouble — be trouble for the Russia investigation? Republicans had no problem lavishing praise on this President with those same — look at them all up there like — like lemmings. Are they going to back him on the — on firing Mueller? Look at them. Looks like a North Korean parade. Anyway, you're watching Hardball.
(....)
MATTHEWS: Welcome back to Hardball. It was like a scene out of Julius Caesar yesterday on the south lawn of the White House. One by one Republican leaders lined up to praise his eminence, the imperious Donald Trump.
(....)
MATTHEWS: You know, I don't know where to start except I remember Haile Selassie used to get the Lion of Judah and these incredible praises. He seems to believe them, but yet, Orrin Hatch who is a man who believes what he says gives him this almost religious kind of tribute. Trump says good pr, like great stroke there. What do you think of that, Ryan? He undercut the guy's honest tribute. He doesn't even know how to take praise properly.
(....)
MATTHEWS: Charlie, what was that photo op about? Why did they — look at the faces. They were like North Korean soldiers. Look at all the smiles in unison, synchronized swimming. There’s Roy Blunt. There’s Al — the guy from — Young from Alaska and Vice President Pence. They're all there just grinning exactly the same, proper Republican way.
CHARLIE SYKES: I get that they were excited. I get that they liked tax cuts.
MATTHEWS: That’s what excitement looks like.
SYKES: But why do you actually have this ritualized fluffing of the Orange God King? I mean and I also understand this is an interesting, you know, tactic. You know, to keep him in line, but I had the feeling as I was watching this, like, do you understand you're doing this in public, we can see what you're doing here? I mean, this is great. Paul, you got your tax cuts, but have a little pride. Just a little bit of dignity left when all this is over.
(....)
 SYKES: These guys never going to push back. They're never going to turn on Trump. I think that was obvious. I think there was some speculation once they got their tax bill then they could throw him under the bus. No. What you saw then was — what you saw was really the taking the knee for — for — for Trump and I don't think they're going to back away from that.
(....)
MATTHEWS: This is astounding. I'll tell you, I don't understand it. I still have been watching the Republican Party since I was born practically. I don't get this genuflection.
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By Geoffrey Dickens
 As 2017 comes to a close, this week NewsBusters is recounting the most obnoxious liberal bias of the year. Today’s installment: the most outrageous examples of journalists fawning over liberal or left-wing icons, including Barack Obama who MSNBC’s Chris Matthews swooned over: a “fine case of that fine man” that was a “fine president.”
His colleague Rachel Maddow called Obama a “top ten” president of all-time who saved us from another Great Depression, while former disgraced Today show host Matt Lauer admitted he “burst out crying” over Obama and Joe Biden’s final moments.
And of course, there was also praise for the defeated presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who was hailed by reporter Ami Parnes from The Hill: “She will always be the smartest woman in the room.”
In upcoming days, we’ll be showcasing the most horrendous anti-conservative quotes of the year, the worst freak-outs over Donald Trump, the stupidest analysis of the year, and the most obnoxious celebrity quotes of 2017.
MEDIA HEROES
One Final Obama Thrill for Chris...
“I think he’s [Barack Obama] a fine man. I think he’s been a fine president....Let me finish tonight with the American president we’re about to lose. Barack Obama is, above all, a fine man. Just look at him. Is there a husband, a father that we would wish more as a model for our sons, for our sons-in-law to have and raise our grandchildren? Is there anyone who carries himself better in word, in sentiment, in temperament, in optimism? Hope. That was the word on that poster. It’s the feeling he exemplified in his last press briefing....To say that no person can make a difference, I give you the fine case of that fine man, Barack Obama.”
— Host Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball, January 18.
...But Discovering a New Thrill
“Your speaking ability is really thrilling...It’s damn good political salesmanship. It’s rhetoric of the best political kind. You get your audience riled up and you get them roused up. They’re happy. As, Mario Cuomo used to be able to do this, you leave people upbeat about what they can get done at the end of the speech. It’s not eating spinach. It’s not the stations of the cross. When they’re done with you, they’re happy and they go out and fight.”
— Host Chris Matthews to Sen. Elizabeth Warren on MSNBC’s Hardball, May 2.
One of the Best Ever
“I think he’ll go down in history as both a consequential and excellent president, viewed from the beginning of the country until now. I think that his economic record alone, in terms of saving us from the Great Depression, if that’s the only thing you knew, even if he hadn’t been the first African-American president doing it, that alone will put him in the top ten presidents in U.S. history. And nothing else that anybody says about him or nothing else that happens by his successor will ever change that.”
— Host Rachel Maddow during MSNBC’s live coverage of Barack Obama’s farewell address, January 10.
Matt Can’t Hold Back the Waterworks
“Not sure if you saw this, but there was something special in Washington yesterday. It’s getting a lot of attention. President Obama surprising his vice president, Joe Biden, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom....So I’m glad there were no cameras in my apartment yesterday because I was just sitting there weeping. I just burst out crying when I saw that moment. It was incredible.”
— Co-host Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today, January 13.
Saint Obama vs. Heathen Trump?
“It’s very hard to set the Barack Obama standard. In my mind, he’s like Dwight Eisenhower. He is almost unimpeachable. He has governed with such honesty and integrity, and he’s not only leaving with that 60 percent we keep talking, but a growing reputation. And the legacy of having eight scandal-free years is going to look larger and larger in history because we’re already looking at the bog of what’s going to happen in the first months of Trump’s presidency. I’m not saying Donald Trump may not be a very successful President, but when you rank Presidents on ethical standards, Barack Obama’s the highest. He’s up there with some of our really great American leaders.”
— CNN presidential historian Douglas Brinkley on CNN Tonight, January 19.
“What’s helping Barack Obama’s legacy with the press is Donald Trump. By comparison, he’s like St. Augustine up there talking to the flock.”
— CNN presidential historian Douglas Brinkley on CNN Tonight, January 18.
“Here’s my prediction: America and the world will soon be craving that Obama Cool again....Trump may dismantle ObamaCare and pull out of the Paris climate accord. But he cannot undo Obama’s legacy of dignity and old-fashioned virtue, and the impression he made on all of us. And if, as I fear, we see the White House transformed into a bog of scandals flowing from an unprincipled narcissist, we as a nation will be more appreciative of a first family that set an impeccable example for all the world.”
— New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof in January 19 article “Missing Barack Obama Already.”
“Smartest Woman in the Room” That Still Lost?
“She’s [Hillary Clinton] one of the smartest people, she will always be the smartest woman in the room, I think.”
— The Hill reporter Ami Parnes on PBS’s Charlie Rose, May 3.
Wouldn’t We Be Better Off If Hillary Won?
“In terms of protecting democracy, protecting respect for the Office of the Presidency and protecting our image abroad, is it possible in your mind to consider that it would have been better if Hillary Clinton won this election?”
— Co-host Matt Lauer to Sen. Jeff Flake on NBC’s Today, October 25.
“I was positive you were going to win. Everyone was. Then when I saw that you weren’t, we showed a picture. I went into mourning. I had a veil....People were crying. It was like at a certain moment we were on the air when I realized you were not going to win. I felt like I had lost a friend or something....Did you cry? Did Bill cry?”
— Co-host Joy Behar to Hillary Clinton on ABC’s The View, September 13.
McCain’s “Moral Courage” Moment of Maintaining ObamaCare
“In the well of the Senate, it came down to one very dramatic moment. Senator John McCain walks in, asks to be recognized, raises that right arm broken three different places in North Vietnam, a quick indicator with a thumbs down....Seven years of talk about repeal and replace done in one hand gesture....Charlie, much was made of that moment, a moment of moral courage, a man staring down his own mortality yet again, not the first time in his life.”
— Host Brian Williams on MSNBC’s The 11th Hour, July 28.
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