Entries from Feb 2018
Is POTUS prepared to protect us?

“There’s another elephant in the room that you just mentioned, and it is the Constitution of the United States and the oath that a President of the United States takes before assuming office: To preserve, protect and defend the Constitution against the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic. So, do you know, do you have a sense of what the morale is within the NSA, within the CIA, within the Defense Department sworn to protect and defend the United States?” Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle asks of Jeremy Bash, former chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Defense and the CIA. Listen to Bash’s response here.

Jared Kushner: Status in question

Listen in on the Morning Joe panel discussion among Joe Scarborough, Mike Barnicle and Obama administration car czar Steven Rattner about how unprecedented it is and what the ramifications might be surrounding President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner loss of his top security clearance. Only on MSNBC.

Midterms 2018

As the Morning Joe panel analyzes a poll that indicates Democrats are more enthusiastic than Republicans to vote in the 2018 midterms, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle comments: “They have intensity, they have enthusiasm, they have millennials, they have women — all geared to get out and vote for a Democrat. But if they make the mistake of running on a constant basis, 24 hours a day, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump — it’s not going to be that easy.” Listen to more of the discussion here with Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist. Only on MSNBC.

Clues to the Parkland Massacre

While the Morning Joe panel discusses what happened leading up to, during and now the aftermath of the Parkland high school massacre, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle says: “The day of the shooting, whether it was one deputy or four deputies outside the school, not going into the school, that is actually now the off lead of this story. The lead of this story is months and months, multiple 911 calls describing what the shooter had in his home, describing the weapons, describing the thought process, describing his mindset – and nearly all of it, all of it, ignored.” Listen to more on the situation here.

What’s wrong with the Republican Party?

During the Morning Joe discussion about the state of conservatism and the Republican Party in the era of President Donald Trump, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle says: “You have in the rear-view mirror the shadow of what was once the Republican party. And you have people wondering, ‘what is wrong with that party?’.… It’s as if the Republican Party has lost its mind.” Listen to more of the conversation here.

How to make schools safer

Parkland high school shooting survivor David Hogg joined Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Mike Barnicle to discuss how he hopes gun laws will stiffen and schools will become safer as a result of the horrific high school massacre on February 14th that claimed 17 lives. Watch the interview here.

For The Daily Beast: Teachers Belong in ...

In his latest column for The Daily Beast, Mike Barnicle, son of a teacher, weighs in on the national debate over whether teachers should be allowed to carry firearms in the classroom. “Teachers belong in classrooms, teaching. Not in coffins, another casualty of a political culture and a Congress so lacking in courage and character that it continues to bury common sense each and every day, living with more fear of losing an election than any fear of losing another student or now perhaps a school teacher thought to be ‘adept’ with a gun.” Read the full column here.

Teachers Belong in Classrooms, Teaching

https://www.thedailybeast.com/teachers-belong-in-classrooms-teaching

For The Daily Beast: President’s Day 201...

In his latest column for The Daily Beast, Morning Joe regular Mike Barnicle writes about the “increasingly deranged” tweets of President Donald Trump and a country let down by the inaction of the country’s chief executive. “This is the first time across all the dust-covered years of our history, centuries filled with courage and honor, that the elected commander-in-chief chose to tweet instead of plan to defend the country.” Read the entire column here.

President’s Day 2018: "We do not have a true and trusted President"

https://www.thedailybeast.com/another-presidents-day-without-a-president?via=ios

Final thoughts: The Soul of America

As the Morning Joe panel shares its final thoughts for the day, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle says: “I would just urge people to think about the soul of America. Think about the inability to get a vote on the Dreamers this week. Think about the President of the United States not mentioning gun this week. Think about the soul of America and ask yourself: Is this who we are? is this who we want to be?”

Weapons against the NRA

Listen in as Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle and Donny Deutsch talk with NBC News political analyst Anand Giridharadas, Republican strategist Susan Del Percio and former Marine and TV personality Montel Williams about the possible ways to save lives and battle the powerful gun lobby in this country. “The weapons we have to go against the NRA are multiple. We have the vote, which unfortunately, too many Americans don’t use. We also have three really great Americans, three former presidents: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama,” says Barnicle, who suggests a new organization called National Safe Gun Association. Click to hear more.

Best and Worst of the Chiefs of Staff

Where does Trump Administration Chief of Staff John Kelly rank? Listen in on the conversation among Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough, Mike Barnicle and Vanity Fair writer Chris Whipple, author of the book “The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency,” about the immense power of the position of Chief of Staff and the very best and worst of whom have sat in that seat.

Barnicle: Vote instead of bitching

“America gives us gifts of liberty, independence of thought and travel. It gives us so many gifts, but it gives us one gift that the majority of citizens refuse to take advantage of – and it’s called voting. So, vote instead of bitching,” said Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during a wide-ranging conversation about gun control in the wake of the Florida school massacre and the plea deal with special counsel Robert Mueller’s office being finalized by former Trump campaign adviser Rick Gates. Listen in here.

Russian trolls flood Twitter

“This week began with the heads of every intelligence agency in the United States of America – CIA, FBI, DNA, NSA – standing before the United States Senate saying, basically Dan Coats, the Director of National Intelligence, saying: ‘We’re under attack.’ The President of the United States disagrees with every intelligence agency. That’s not normal. None of this is normal,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as the Morning Joe panel talks about reports that Russian-linked Twitter accounts flooded the social media platforms immediately following the Parkland school massacre with tweets using popular hashtags like #parkland, #guncontrolnow and #florida. Listen to more on the situation here.

Congress: How do you go to work today?

“We know it’s long past the time for flowers and yellow ribbons and prayers from presidents…. What we don’t know is…in the wake of all of these shootings: How do 535 members of Congress, in good conscious, go to work today?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle on Morning Joe during the conversation about school shootings in the wake of the tragic massacre at a South Florida high school, where 14 students and 3 adults were shot dead and more than a dozen injured. Hear more of the discussion here.

Barnicle: Why so many mass shootings?

“People wonder: `Why so many mass shootings? Is it contagion? Is it the culture? Does it have something to do with the lack of respect for life around us, or frustration, or mental health, or all of those issues wrapped into one? What do you think?” asks Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) during a conversation about the tragic, heartbreaking school massacre in a South Florida high school. Listen to Bennet’s response here about the lasting impact of this kind of terror in our country. Only on MSNBC.

Congress: Lack of courage

“The lack of courage and character in this Congress and past congresses is astounding,” says Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during the conversation about gun control as it relates to the Parkland school massacre that took 17 lives and left more than a dozen people injured. Listen in on the conversation between Barnicle and Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT).

Congress v. Kids

While the Morning Joe panel talks about the tragic, heartbreaking incident where a gunman opened fire at a South Florida high school, leaving 17 people dead and more than a dozen injured, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle explains: “You can boil it down to one essential fact that ought to be repeated each and every day on every news program in this country – local and national – and it is this: Children die in schools because the vast majority of members of Congress are afraid to lose their seats. Children lose their lives because politicians are afraid to lose their seats. We are four percent of the world’s population, and yet we own 42 percent of the world’s guns.” Listen to more of the discussion here.

Constitution 101

“Jonathan, let’s stick with the Constitution. What’s your view? Can the President of the United States, can any president of the United States be indicted?” asks Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University. Listen to Turley’s response here.

John Kelly calls Dreamers ‘lazy’

During the Morning Joe discussion about White House Chief of Staff John Kelly publicly suggesting that some Dreamers are “too lazy” to sign up for DACA, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle responds: “John Kelly is a good man. What he said was terribly unfortunate, terribly sad and not accurate because it costs $500 to apply for a DACA card. That’s a lot of money.” Listen to more of the discussion on MSNBC.

The new energy crisis

During a Morning Joe discussion with NBC News national politics reporter Alex Seitz-Wald, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle comments: “Older Democrats seem to be concerned a bit, maybe more than a bit, about the emphasis on identity politics of the younger Democrats running—figuring that they have no discipline, and that you’re going to fracture the party with the different variations of identity politics.” Hear the conversation on Morning Joe about the new energy flooding the Democratic Party and what it might mean heading into the 2018 midterm elections.