MSNBC's Schultz Has Long Record of Nastiness

MSNBC President Phil Griffin, who hired notorious race-baiter Al Sharpton to broadcast in primetime, has now devoted his entire primetime lineup to attacking Rush Limbaugh over his Sandra Fluke criticism. And one of those leading the charge is host Ed Schultz.

Several nights ago, Schultz ripped Rush while denying that his own characterization of Laura Ingraham as a “slut” was in any way similar. He explained, unconvincingly, that his apology came on MSNBC, while Rush’s came on his website – a silly distinction, since Rush’s website gets heavy traffic, and the apology was covered in full. That didn’t stop Schultz, though. He had Fluke on his show, where she proceeded to excoriate Rush; he even had guests on to talk about boycotting Rush.

This is hypocrisy of the highest order. Schultz is a massive bully, and a routine purveyor of hatemongering rhetoric. He says Republicans “want to see you dead” and want to “make money off your dead corpse!” He said about Dick Cheney that we ought to rip out his heart “and kick it around and stuff it back in him.” He implied that Joe Lieberman’s wife was a “whore.” He called Sen. Harry Reid “ball-less” and stated that the elderly were the “Almost Dead.”

As Brent Bozell points out in an open letter to Griffin:

You hired Schultz in 2009. Then you promoted him. Twice. And let’s not forget how you fawned over Schultz to the Los Angeles Times just a few weeks ago saying “This is a guy who understands how to connect with real people.” What’s worse is that your pride of this character assassin isn’t an isolated incident. As President of MSNBC, you oversee a “news outlet” which employs other hate mongers who fling around similarly extreme, hate-filled and politically-motivated rhetoric.

If what Rush said is so offensive that it deserves your network’s obsession with having him removed, then what are you going to do about a host who has a history of insults a hundred-fold worse than anything Limbaugh has ever said? Unless you fire Ed Schultz, you are a complete hypocrite.

Bozell is exactly correct – and he even calls for Griffin to resign. But the answer here is to stop the hypocrisy, not to fire people for taking advantage of their First Amendment rights, no matter how stupid the things they say are. And Ed Schultz says plenty of stupid and offensive things daily.