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Mark Shields, the longtime political commentator who was a decades-long fixture on “PBS Newshour,” died Saturday at age 85. News of his death was shared on Twitter by Newshour anchor Judy Woodruff. “I am heartbroken to share this,” she said in the tweet, stating that for decades, Shields “wowed us with his encyclopedic knowledge of American politics, his sense of humor and mainly his big heart.” She said he died with his wife Anne at his side. Shields first appeared on “The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour” during the 1988 presidential election and became a weekly guest. From 2001 to his retirement in...

Day 823 Of The Dictatorship Of COVID-19, Day 823 Of America And The World Held Hostage To COVID Shots, Runaway Inflation And... "It's the economy stupid" Legendary Democrat Political Consultant James Carville... If Met Mitt Romney Or Glenn Beck Or Ammon Bundy I Would Have To... The World's Economy Is Being Imploded In The Name Of "Climate Change" And Russia And China Are Being Blamed For The Implosion... "Red Flag laws violate the 5th Amendment to the Constitution:...

MARK SHIELDS: But you're talking about Donald Trump's counteroffensive. And I think the worst mistake that the Democrats could make is to look for a Democratic Donald Trump. I mean, somebody who can go toe to toe with him and insult to insult with him. American voters, after a president lets them down and disappoints, go looking for the exact opposite of what was missing. They went after George Bush and sort of the off-the-cuff anti-intellectualism. They sought the cerebral, almost removed presence of a Barack Obama. After Watergate and Vietnam and Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon and all that...

In addition to winning more primaries, more convention delegates and 2 million more votes than any other Republican presidential candidate running this year, billionaire developer Donald Trump has won a significant national following with his repeated pledge, as a shrewd negotiator, “to beat China, Japan and Mexico at trade.” Trump offers a simple explanation for the problem: “Their leaders are much smarter than our leaders.” But they’re not smarter than the no-nonsense negotiator Trump: “I beat China all the time.” If that is true, then why has candidate Trump been so publicly and griping about his campaign’s having been cheated...

PBS: Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's comments on banning Muslims from entering the U.S., a campaign surge for Sen. Ted Cruz, plus assessing Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s first month on the job. Brooks says Republican Senators would rather vote for a Democratic Majority Leader than "universally unpopular" Ted Cruz. JUDY WOODRUFF, PBS NEWSHOUR: When it comes to Trump, David, I know we have been talking about him, but this week, with the statement about keeping Muslims out of the country, is this...

Half-baked Barbara By John McCaslin October 7, 2005 It's not easy being the master of ceremonies for a roast when half of the roasters don't show up. Ask political commentator Mark Shields, who found himself in that uncomfortable position Wednesday evening as the Spina Bifida Association attempted to put TV personality Barbara Walters in the "hot seat" at the Hyatt Regency Washington. "This is more like a bake-off," a visibly embarrassed Mrs. Walters said after the roasting, expressing disappointment that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and fellow roaster Sen. Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana were no-shows. As it...

JUDY WOODRUFF, PBS NEWSHOUR: I want to ask you both about something else that’s come up. And that is comments that Donald Trump, who announced a few days ago he’s running for president, has made about Mexicans. And here’s a quote from Donald Trump. “I love the Mexican people, but you have people coming through the border that are from all over, and they are bad. I’m talking about people that are from all over that are killers and rapists.” Big reaction, Mark, on the Republican side to this. What does this mean for the Republican field? The other candidates,...

<p>Despite 6-1/2 years of horrid governance and dozens of acknowledged scandals, several of which a few of the credible remaining outposts of liberal thought have actually agreed are scandals, David Brooks, the New York Times's resident fake conservative, asserted on Friday's PBS NewsHour, as if it's an indisputable fact, that "President Obama has run an amazingly scandal-free administration, not only he himself, but the people around him."</p>

Friday on PBS's "News Hour," syndicated columnist Mark Shields pointed out, "among young Republicans, 61 percent of Republicans -- young Republicans under the age of 30 are in favor of same sex marriage." New York Times columnist David Brooks "applauded," the GOP for "doing absolutely the right thing in withdrawing" and letting the country have its way. Brooks said "I sort of applaud the minimalism here. Sometimes you let the country have its way and you don't try to determine the shape of the country, you sort of modestly step back and let the country figure out what it believes....

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the weekÂ’s top news, including the struggle on Capitol Hill to find a resolution to the political division on the border crisis before Congress leaves for August recess, as well as how these events will affect the November election, plus the outlook for ending the war between Israel and Hamas. (AUDIO-AT-LINK)TRANSCRIPT JUDY WOODRUFF: In Washington, House Republicans were racing to pass something on the border crisis after a day of confusion and chaos on Capitol Hill Thursday. For a taste of what went on...

On Friday's broadcast of PBS's "NewsHour" New York Times columnist David Brooks and Creators Syndicate columnist Mark Shields took on the House Speaker John Boehner's lawsuit against the Obama administration, which alleges oversteps in executive authority by the Obama White House. Both acknowledged Boehner's gripe with the Obama administration had merit, but were skeptical of the lawsuit's chances. However, they both also took on the alternative offered by former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), which was to impeach President Barack Obama. Both dismissed that course of action as well, with Brooks calling it "cloud cuckoo land."

Liberal media's love for higher taxes is a thing of legends. On Inside Washington Friday, PBS's perpetually pandering pundit Mark Shields told viewers that since 1991, "21 years, Republicans have not voted for a single broad-based tax increase, and that’s become the theology of the party, the ideology of the party, the definition of the party, and that is irresponsible" (video follows with transcript and commentary): Mark Shields: Republicans Haven't Raised Taxes in 21 Years 'And That Is Irresponsible' CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Obama has to defend the policies he’s instituted. Five trillion dollars of debt added leaving us with a 1.7...

On Friday's PBS NewsHour, both "conservative" David Brooks and liberal Mark Shields thought this was a tough, tight election for Barack Obama. Shields said "it becomes a race about disqualifying, a campaign about disqualifying your opponent. And that's not attractive or appealing. It's not hope and change. It's blood and guts." But Brooks really felt Obama's pain: "So the president is obviously going to try. He is going to have. And to some extent, you have to feel sorry for him. This is in large degree not his fault. Things are happening way beyond his control. I don't believe a...

On Friday's Inside Washington on PBS, as the panel discussed the new Obama administration rule that requires even Catholic employers to provide health insurance coverage for contraception to their employees, both liberal columnist Mark Shields and conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer hit Obama for the decision, while NPR's Nina Totenberg claimed that there were valid arguments in both directions as she made a flawed analogy between contraception and immunization as a defense of the Obama position.

As he normally does on "Inside Washington," PBS's Mark Shields Friday was waxing moronic about Republican plans to balance the budget. Not pleased by the fictional account on display, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer challenged his fellow panelist saying, "Democrats have not even produced a budget for 2012. What’s their budget?" (video follows with transcript and commentary): Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/07/03/krauthammer-challenges-shields-where-democrat-budget-whats-their-plan#ixzz1R98RVLOf

PBS's Mark Shields on Friday said Sarah Palin's decision to resign as the governor of Alaska is "like Ted Kennedy's Chappaquiddick." This astonishingly came moments after he called Nancy Pelosi the most effective House Speaker in his lifetime Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2010/11/06/mark-shields-palin-quitting-governor-kennedys-chappaquiddick#ixzz14Vz5CaMu

Shields: "An act of acute dumbness by the Republicans, they are doing everything they can not to win when everything else is going in their direction. Why associated with a group...this is a bizarre group of people, they believe any cooperation with the other side is a sign of treason and collusion" (end)...And so called Conservative David Brooks agrees.....David Brooks and Mark Shields, 2 wizards of smart on PBS... (Video)

Mark Shields: Obama couldn’t pass a polygraph on June 21, 2008 by Ed Morrissey Mark Shields didn’t mince words on PBS about Barack Obama’s decision to opt out of public financing. Appearing as the progressive balance with David Brooks on Judy Woodruff’s show, Shields ripped into Obama, calling him unprincipled and suggesting that his latest video message painted him as a “hostage” who couldn’t pass a polygraph: It was a flip-flop of epic proportions. It was one that he could not rationalize or justify. His video was unconvincing. He looked like someone who was being kept as a hostage somewhere...

The political climate couldn't be much more favorable for Democrats in their efforts to take back the White House this year, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will, two national political observers said in Columbus today. President Bush is unpopular, more people consider themselves Democrats than Republicans, and polls show Democrats enjoy a clear advantage on issues Americans care about, pollster Peter D. Hart and columnist Mark Shields said. Also, the economy is near or in recession, the nation is mired in an unpopular war, and for the first time in many generations, a majority of Americans don't think the...

Most people who run for president, by definition, lose. And most of those unsuccessful candidates depart the presidential contest with their reputations and their influence diminished. Republican Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor — whose chances of winning his party's nomination are closer to none than to slim — will be a conspicuous exception. He will leave the race more popular and more influential than he entered it and with the real potential of becoming the most important evangelical leader in American political life. Religious and cultural conservatives have been both the foundation and the foot soldiers in recent national...