Wildest Larry O'Donnell Tirades: Romney's Religion Is Demented! So Is Criticizing Islam

Monday night marks the debut of Lawrence O'Donnell's very own show, called The Last Word, on MSNBC and if his guest spots on various programs on that network and the syndicated McLaughlin Group over the last few years are any indication, he's bound to give Keith Olbermann a run for his money for over-the-top loony tirades.

O'Donnell reared his bigoted side on the December 8, 2007 edition of the McLaughlin Group. He not only went after former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, but also his faith, seen in the following rants he made after the former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate delivered a speech defending his "demented, Scientology-like" Mormon faith:

Here's the problem. He dare not discuss his religion. And he fools people like Pat Buchanan who should know better. This was the worst speech, the worst political speech of my lifetime. Because this man stood there and said to you "this is the faith of my fathers." And you, and none of these commentators who liked this speech realized that the faith of his father is a racist faith. As of 1978 it was an officially racist faith, and for political convenience in 1978 it switched. And it said "Okay, black people can be in this church."

He [Romney] believes, if he believes the faith of his fathers, that black people are black because in heaven they turned away from God, in this demented, Scientology-like notion of what was going on in heaven before the creation of the Earth....I'm saying he's got to answer, when he was 30 years old and he firmly believed in the faith of his father that black people are inferior, when did he change his mind?

Did the religion have to tell him to change his mind? And when he talks about the faith of his father, how about the faith of his great-grandfather, who had five wives?...And his religion is based on the work of a lying, fraudulent, criminal named Joseph Smith who was a racist, who was a, who was  pro-slavery, his religion was completely pro-slavery...He was given an opportunity to distance himself from the evils of his religion, and he didn't....

Joseph Smith was a slavery champion, the inventor of this ridiculous religion...His religion is full of crazy beliefs. Everyone on this panel thinks his religion is full of crazy beliefs. Everyone of us does. You won't admit it. Do you think the Garden of Eden was in Missouri?...Look Romney comes from a religion founded by a criminal who was anti-American, pro-slavery and a rapist! And his, and he comes from that lineage and says, "I respect this religion fully."

This is not exactly how O'Donnell talks of Islam -- and O'Donnell admitted a few days later that he's too scared for his physical safety to say anything like that about the birth and theology of Islam.

O'DONNELL: Oh, well, I’m afraid of what the…that’s where I’m really afraid. I would like to criticize Islam much more than I do publicly, but I’m afraid for my life if I do.

HEWITT: Well, that’s candid.

O'DONNELL: Mormons are the nicest people in the world. They’re not going to ever…

HEWITT: So you can be bigoted towards Mormons, because they’ll just send you a strudel.

O'DONNELL: They’ll never take a shot at me. Those other people, I’m not going to say a word about them.

HEWITT: They’ll send you a strudel. The Mormons will bake you a cake and be nice to you.

O'DONNELL: I agree.

HEWITT: Lawrence O’Donnell, I appreciate your candor.