More in the cross-post on the MRC's NewsBusters blog.
Appearing on MSNBC’s The Rundown on Monday, The Atlantic’s Washington editor-at-large Steve Clemons dismissed criticism of the Obama administration trading five Taliban prisoners for Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl: “Well, look, I think we need to turn this on its head. There's been a lot of conventional reporting about the Taliban Five....These are important people, but they were largely paper pushers.”
Host Jose Diaz-Balart countered: “But these guys are clearly not Sisters of Charity workers.” Clemons replied: “No, absolutely not. And we shouldn’t be disillusioned about it, they are affiliated with the Taliban. But in today's world, the Taliban is not Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda is not ISIS. So the Taliban is going to be a feature of Afghan politics well into the future.”