In his latest column for The Daily Beast, Mike Barnicle applies some movie analogies to the latest absurd remarks made by Dr. Ben Carson, the perplexingly popular Republican presidential candidate. “His supporters list several reasons why they would consider voting for him: ‘He seems like a nice man. He speaks softly. He is a fine Christian. He speaks his mind.’ He is also a few quarts short of a gallon,” writes Mike. “When it comes to Ben Carson’s preposterous campaign, count me in with Chauncey Gardiner who said in ‘Being There.’: I like to watch.”
Read the whole column here.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/11/ben-carson-gives-new-meaning-to-crazy.html
Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle tells Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton how to improve her campaign.
Read his recommendation here in The Daily Caller.
“It seemed like the welcome mat to 2016 was rolled out for the grieving Vice President this week. Will he go for it?,” ponders Mike Barnicle in his latest column for The Daily Beast. Following a moving and insightful interview on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” this week, Barnicle continues to cover the topic of whether or not Vice President Joe Biden will decide to run for the presidency in 2016. “The Vice President of the United States is an unusual man in a sour business spoiled by oceans of money, colossal egos, politicians who lean on pollsters and handlers before uttering a single sentence rather than rely on their own soul or common sense. He is, despite the trappings of his office, an actual human being,” writes Barnicle of VP Biden. Read the full column here and learn more about why Barnicle believes the Vice President and his politics of personal tragedy stand out in a positive light as Biden considers whether to jump into another presidential race and challenge—and contrast—Hillary Clinton.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/13/what-will-joe-biden-do.html
In his latest column for The Daily Beast, Mike Barnicle reflects on the current immigration crisis across the Mediterranean and Europe—embodied by the recent image of a three-year old boy from Syria lying dead on the beach—and questions whether the U.S. could still be considered a guiding light for the most persecuted and endangered people in today’s world. “In the United States, the calamity consuming Europe is so far just another clip… We have our own problems and our own politicians either trying to light fires or put out one blaze after another over the issue of our own recent immigrants, many here illegally for years without papers. The solutions range from the absurd to the impossible because our politics have become so damaged by fear, demagoguery and a fierce focus on ideology rather than the possibility of agreeing on something that works,” says Mike of the U.S. approach to immigration. Read his entire column here and Mike’s recollection of the hope and opportunity America used to symbolize to those who, also driven by wars and poverty, were forced to “risk death where they were born or risk death trying to escape.”
In his most recent column for The Daily Beast, Mike Barnicle reflects on violence across this country—from this week’s shocking murders of journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward during a live morning newscast to the unending homicides witnessed in America’s harshest neighborhoods every day, year after year. “There are blocks upon city blocks where the sound of gunshots and the sight of someone down, dead in the street, is simply part of everyday life. Their very own deadly and daily reality show,” writes Mike. As a reminder of how little has changed in the 25 years, Mike shares one of his heart-rending columns from 1988—another election year in which the focus was far from the streets where gun violence abounds. “We do not know mothers, terrified to let children play on a sidewalk or sit on a stoop in front of their own building. We do not know the 7 and 8 year olds who regard the sound of gunfire as common as the sound of music. We don’t know the grief felt by a parent when a son is shot to death over a pair of sneakers, the color of his cap, a glance, a grudge or just because,” continues Mike. Read his entire column here.
In the latest column for The Daily Beast, Mike explains Donald J. Trump’s familiarity, contrast with fellow candidates, and accessibility with voters, all of which continue to fuel his campaign for President of the United States. “Donald’s success isn’t that much of a mystery. He says a lot of outrageous things along with some truly absurd things but when you throw his nouns, verbs, adjectives, accusations and attacks into the home blender you come up with a heaping glass full of the frustration cocktail Americans have been served over the past decade,” writes Mike of “the world’s most famous landlord.” Read Mike’s column here to learn his opinion on the likelihood of Trump becoming the Republican nominee.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/16/sorry-folks-donald-trump-is-for-real.html
Amid new speculation that Vice President Joe Biden will make another run for the presidency, Mike Barnicle’s latest column for The Daily Beast takes a close look at VP Biden’s character—one forged by tragedy, loss, family, and faith—and contrasts it with that of Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton. “He is, perhaps, the least complicated man in public life. It’s all right there, on display, for anyone and everyone to hear and see, to criticize or applaud. There is no filter, sometimes to his detriment. There is never any pretense. There is never, not ever, any attempt to hide or even disguise an emotion. Nobody wonders who Joe Biden is,” writes Mike of the Vice President. In contrast, Mike sums up the question nagging Hillary Clinton: “…it hovers above Hillary Clinton like a crop duster with a full tank of gas. It’s been there for nearly three decades. It’s always there, won’t go away and seems as if it’s never really fully answered and it is this: Who is she? Really, who is she?” Read the entire column and Mike’s profile of Joe Biden here.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/02/who-would-president-joe-biden-be.html
In Mike Barnicle’s latest column for The Daily Beast, he describes the Special Olympics World Games Los Angeles 2015 and the jubilant, all-too-rare example it provides of seeing the world coming together for a common good. Mike reminds us that the greatest disability is fear: “…there were the Iraqis and the Americans, the French, and athletes from Congo, India, Canada, Mexico, Japan… a world of people with intellectual disabilities who seemed to understand the concept of togetherness, inclusion, equality, diversity, fearlessness and courage far better than those who loudly proclaim their own partisan views and narrow politics that have so divided this country and others too.” Read the entire column here.
In Mike Barnicle’s latest column for The Daily Beast, he shines a spotlight on Secretary of State John Kerry’s outrage over Donald J. Trump‘s charge that Senator John McCain is not a war hero. Quoting a conversation with Kerry, Mike writes: “John and I have some serious differences on a lot of things but he is nothing other than a hero and a good man. Where was Trump when John got shot down over North Vietnam? In school? At a party? Where was he?” Continues Mike: Trump’s assault on McCain evoked immediate anger in Kerry because it resurrected feelings within him that are always there, certainly beneath a surface calm but always, always there: A long gone war called Vietnam. Read the whole column here.
In Mike Barnicle’s latest column for The Daily Beast, Mike writes of riding the subway train in New York City: “In addition to being the quickest way to travel to different neighborhoods, (it) is also the ultimate democracy,” Mike also points out the dangers faced by subway passengers on any given moment and the uncertainty of our actions (or inactions) once the doors close, as is the case with the recent, brutal slaying of Kevin Sutherland aboard one of Washington D.C.’s Metro trains. “From a comfortable seat in front of their laptop or using their unthreatened fingers on a smart phone, hundreds weighed in on what they would have done. The reality is that nobody knows how they would react in a similar situation,” writes Mike of comments made after news of the senseless murder spread across social media. Read Mike’s take on subway commutes here and learn what he believes is the big question not too many people are asking in what could have been a preventable tragedy.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/12/the-heroes-and-villains-of-subways.html
For The Daily Beast today, Mike Barnicle references the forgiveness offered by Nadine Collier to the South Carolina church shooter who took the life of her mother. He writes, “It is easier in many places to get a gun or an assault rifle than it is to obtain a credit card or a driver’s license. And it is not much of a problem to get a broken leg fixed but it is really difficult to get help for a mind on the verge of collapse.” Mike calls on Washington politicians to step up and do the right thing for their constituents. “Nobody knows if history will offer forgiveness or even understanding to those public people who have dropped their duty to a country in need of many things but perhaps most of all, simply a dose of common sense,” Mike writes.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/20/faith-and-grace-in-the-face-of-hate.html
In his latest column for The Daily Beast, Mike Barnicle captures the spirit in which many mourners came out to support Vice President Joe Biden and his family as they grieve the loss of son Beau Biden. “He is a family man who knows what it’s like to lose something you love in life. I’ve always loved him. He’s one of us. He’s a normal person, not just a politician and I’m proud to be here,” a mourner told Mike. Read Mike’s entire column here.
In his latest column for The Daily Beast, Mike Barnicle juxtaposes the lives and death sentences of Pfc. John Hart, 20, killed outside Baghdad, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the now convicted and sentenced Boston Marathon bomber. Unfortunately, it will be Tsarnaev’s name in the news over the next few years, when our focus should be on remembering and honoring Pfc. Hart, his life, and his service.
Read his column here.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/17/dzhokhar-tsarnaev-a-death-deserved.html
Writing for The Daily Beast, Mike tells us more about Baltimore prosecutor Marilyn Mosby, who Friday announced that six Baltimore police officers would face felony charges in the death of Freddie Gray. The young lawyer’s own cousin, Diron Spence, was gunned down more than 20 years ago on the street in Boston. Spence and Gray, both young black men, were not safe, as Mike says, on streets that were – and continue to be – paved with danger for America’s poor. Read his column here.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/03/when-marilyn-mosby-s-cousin-was-killed.html
Writing for The Daily Beast from Nashua, New Hampshire, Mike juxtaposes the priorities of the GOP presidential hopefuls in town for the Republican Leadership Summit with those of some local residents hopeful for a more optimistic future.
For The Daily Beast, this Easter Mike ponders why so many Republicans are hopping mad. “The fury of some like Ted Cruz is understandable. It’s fueled by his massive ego and outsized ambition along with his personal belief that he is so smart and the rest of us are so pedestrian that he can manipulate opinion to win the Republican nomination for president with the support of the mentally ill wing of his party.”
For The Daily Beast, Mike weighs in on the tragic shooting of a decorated Boston Police Department (Official) officer this weekend by a career criminal and how the gunfight is viewed by bystanders, despite the camera that captured it all. “The truth today is that one young police officer, brave and without fear, fights for his life in a hospital while another man, a wrecking crew all by himself, is dead.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/29/a-boston-cop-shooting-and-our-post-truth-era.html
In his latest column for The Daily Beast, Mike tells the moving story of one marine who knows all too well the long road President Barack Obama was referring to in his speech yesterday marking the the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/08/watching-mlk-from-vietnam-s-rice-paddies.html
From the battle to fund the Department of Homeland Security to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech and the far-right future of the Republican party, Mike Barnicle tries to make sense of the inner turmoil swarming around Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH). “Boehner isn’t crazy. He’s just scared and powerless. He’s frightened [House Republicans] will lead a charge on his job, and if he had the clout to stop them—unlikely—he’s either afraid to use it or doesn’t know how,” says Mike. Read Mike’s column on The Daily Beast.
Mike’s latest article for The Daily Beast. He writes about former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his recent self-inflicted knock out.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/22/rudy-giuliani-s-raging-bull.html
