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NYT Reporter: I Would Get in Trouble for Noting Aimless Syria Policy

by | Jun 29, 2017 |

Here's a revealing exchange I heard on a podcast from The New York Times, on the issue of Syria. Michael Barbaro (host): So by successfully--in some ways--starting to defeat ISIS in Syria, the United States' presence there is becoming more focused and, I guess, more adversarial with Assad. It's like, as if, when one mission ends, another one may even kind of accidentally begin? Helene Cooper (NYT's Pentagon reporter): Wow, I would get in so much trouble if I said that because the Pentagon would start screaming at me and saying, you know,  "Absolutely, we're not there to fight the Syrian...

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Good News on Russia News, Maybe

by | Jun 27, 2017 |

According to The Hill, CNN has announced an interesting new policy when it comes to bold, anonymously sourced accusations regarding the Trump Administration and Russia. In an internal company email, Executive Editor Rich Barbieri said, "No one should publish any content involving Russia without coming to me and Jason [Farkas]...No exceptions." The move comes after CNN recently published a Russia story that was apparently so baseless that they issued a complete retraction. Thus, it would appear to that CNN is attempting to exercise more editorial restraint and avoid a similar...

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NYT Op-Ed: Let’s Not Get Carried Away on Trump-Russia

by | Jun 21, 2017 | ,

The New York Times published a remarkable op-ed on Tuesday by David Brooks, entitled "Let's Not Get Carried Away". The topic of the column is the Trump-Russia collusion investigation, and its apparent purpose is to tell everyone to calm down. As Brooks puts it, "it is striking how little evidence there is that any underlying crime occurred — that there was any actual collusion between the Donald Trump campaign and the Russians." Rightly, Brooks is open to the possibility that new evidence could emerge that reveals a true scandal along these lines. The issue is that we should not "assume this...

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Teen Convicted of Manslaughter for Text Messages

by | Jun 20, 2017 |

In Massachusetts, a teenager was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for sending a malicious text message to her ex-boyfriend. Over at Reason.com, Sarah Rose Siskind has the story. The victim in the case was Conrad Roy III, 18, who killed himself by locking himself in a running car and inhaling carbon monoxide fumes. His ex-girlfriend, Michelle Carter, 17, had sent him a series of goading text messages leading up to the suicide, telling him he just needed to do it. This is not what Carter was ultimately prosecuted for, however. During Roy's suicide attempt, he apparently got out of the...

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Don’t Blame Political Opponents for Crimes of an Individual

by | Jun 19, 2017 | ,

On Wednesday morning, in the suburbs of Washington, DC, a gunman opened fire on a group of Republican Members of Congress. The Republicans were reportedly holding baseball practice for the annual charity game, and the shooter opened fire while they were on the field. The incident ended after the gunman was shot by Capitol Police, and the shooter later died of his injuries. Multiple people were wounded in the attack, including Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), but fortunately none of the victims had died as of this writing. Of course, it is still early in the investigation, so the details...

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Good News on North Korea; Rodman Is Returning

by | Jun 13, 2017 |

Former NBA basketball star Dennis Rodman is on his way to North Korea to meet with Kim Jong Un. That's good news for Kim, since he's a fan. It's also good news for fans of peace. According to Bloomberg, the trip is going to be Rodman's fifth to the country, and he has met Kim previously. Rodman is also personal friends with President Donald Trump, which could put him in a unique position to be a liaison. Officially, Rodman is going as just a private citizen rather than as part of some formal diplomatic mission. And the experts consulted in the Bloomberg piece expressed doubt that Rodman is...

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More Foreign Policy Continuity as Trump Affirms NATO Mutual Defense

by | Jun 12, 2017 |

Last Friday, President Trump reaffirmed the US commitment to Article 5 of NATO, which commits the US to come to the defense of any other NATO member. Trump's decision is in keeping with the US's traditional position on the topic. However, it is somewhat at odds with the position advanced by Trump when he was a candidate. On the campaign trail, Trump often criticized NATO and suggested it was obsolete. However, his criticism was not grounded in principle; instead it often centered around the idea that other countries weren't paying their fair share. At one point in the campaign, Trump implied...

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Key Takeaways from the Comey Senate Testimony

by | Jun 9, 2017 |

The Comey Senate hearing has finally come and gone. And from a quick look at the media headlines covering the story, it appears just about everyone got what they were hoping for--namely more support for whatever conclusion they previously held. Here's a quick round-up of the leading stories from last night: Washington Post: Comey: White House lied about me, FBI New York Times: Comey Bluntly Raises Possibility of Trump Obstruction and Condemns His ‘Lies' Reuters: Comey says Trump fired him to undermine Russia investigation CNN: Comey came ready to unleash on Trump (this was the initial splash...

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Eric Schuler

Eric Schuler is a contributor to The Libertarian Institute, with a focus on economics and US foreign policy. Follow his work here and on Twitter.


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