The Ed Show

If whoever invokes Hitler first in an argument loses, then place an 'L' next to Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson's name tonight . . .

On this evening's Ed Show, slamming Mitt Romney's comments about the 47%, Robinson suggested that Romney sees himself as one of the "ubermenschen."  That of course was, by way of Nietzche, one of Hitler's favorite phrases. Video after the jump.

MSNBC's Ed Schultz isn't the only liberal media member disappointed with Augusta National Golf Club's announcement that it's admitting two women including Condoleezza Rice as members.

The Nation magazine actually published a piece Monday titled "Condi Rice's Membership at Augusta National Is Nothing to Celebrate":

The Augusta National Golf Club did an amazing thing Monday: it finally admitted women as members, with one of them being African-American Condoleezza Rice.

But that wasn’t good enough for MSNBC’s Ed Schultz who whined on his program later that evening that Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton should have received this honor instead (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

Some Biden gaffes easily get papered over by the media. Others, like yesterday's racially insensitive remarks, are too big to ignore. And that's precisely when the dutiful Obama/Biden acolytes at MSNBC go into full spin mode, defending the indefensible.

Take Ed Schultz. Following Biden’s controversial crack before a largely African-American gathering that Mitt Romney will unchain Wall Street and put "you all back in chains," Schultz brought on Georgetown University Professor Michael Eric Dyson to accuse the GOP of being the real racists in the 2012 election.   [Video coming soon.  MP3 audio here.]

Appearing as a guest on Thursday's The Ed Show, MSNBC political analyst Jonathan Alter - formerly of Newsweek - advised the Obama campaign to argue that, if Mitt Romney is elected President, "a lot of people will die" when Obamacare is repealed.

On Monday's The Ed Show, host Ed Schultz suggested that the weekend attack on a Sikh temple in Wisconsin proves conservative commentator Michelle Malkin was wrong in 2009 when she criticized a Homeland Security report in 2009 which suggested an increase in domestic terrorism from right-wing groups in response to the election of the first African-American President.

After recounting details of the shootings, the MSNBC host tied in Malkin. Schultz:

NewsBusters has been for years exposing the breathtaking ignorance, incompetence, and unprofessionalism of the on air personalities associated with the so-called cable "news network" MSNBC.

On Monday, Michael Eric Dyson, filling in for Ed Schultz, actually asked the brother of one of the victims of Friday's shootings in Aurora, Colorado, how his dead sister is doing (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Of all the political angles that might be played in connection with the Aurora theater shooting, surely racism would be a card too far, right?

Wrong. Subbing for Ed Schultz on MSNBC tonight, Michael Eric Dyson managed to suggest that James Holmes would have attracted the attention of the authorities earlier had he been, yup, "a Muslim or another minority."  Until he twisted her arm, it was too much even for Dyson's super-lib guest, Illinois congresswoman Jan Schakowsky.  View the video after the jump.

Substitute hosting MSNBC's The Ed Show, Georgtown University Professor Michael Eric Dyson defended comedian Chris Rock's recent lambasting of July 4 as "white people's Independence Day."

Dyson even invoked a quote from 19th century abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass expressing similar sentiments, missing the point that, in modern times, all Americans benefit from America's existence as an independent nation. By contrast, during the years slavery still existed in 19th century, it was more reasonable to complain that actual slaves were not benefiting from independence. Dyson rationalized:

On Friday's The Ed Show, MSNBC analyst Richard Wolffe - formerly of Newsweek - compared Mitt Romney's economic plan to a "pre-9/11" mentality as he went along with substitute host Michael Eric Dyson's complaint that Republicans are being "clearly obstuctionist" against President Obama's economic agenda.

Dyson asked the question:

This is what is known among psychiatrists as "projection."

 A couple of summers back, Ed Schultz was mightily perturbed to be overlooked in upcoming MSNBC promos and reportedly stunned co-workers by shouting that he would "torch this f***ing place!" (video after page break)

It really is pathetic that MSNBC is allowed to call itself a "news network."

Adding to his long list of falsehoods spoken on the farce of a cable station that employs him, Ed Schultz on Tuesday dishonestly claimed Barack Obama didn't have a hand in killing immigration reform in 2007 (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

A Politico reporter has suggested that racism was behind Neil Munro's questioning of President Obama at the White House yesterday.  Saying "it's very, very difficult to place race outside of this context," the Politico's Joe Williams claimed racially-motivated direspect of PBO is part of a pattern among conservatives, citing Rep. Joe Wilson, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, and the Tea Party.

Williams made his remarks in the course of responding to a question from Michael Eric Dyson, subbing for Ed Schultz on MSNBC last night.  View the video after the jump.

With a program entitled Hardball, MSNBC audiences should expect, well, "hardball" questions of politicians no matter what their ideological leanings, NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell noted on the June 14 edition of Fox News Channel's Hannity. Instead, host Chris Matthews recently and quite openly confessed his eagerness to aid Democrat Elizabeth Warren's campaign to defeat Sen. Scott Walker (R-Mass.) this November.

"Let me help you on this, to the extent I, as a journalist, can help you," Matthews offered Warren on his June 13 program. [see the full video below the page break]

As my colleague Geoff Dickens recently chronicled, MSNBC’s Ed Schultz actively campaigned with the union movement leading up to the bitter end of the Wisconsin recall election.  Following Scott Walker’s decisive victory to retain his post as Wisconsin's governor, Schultz suddenly changed his tune to justify the embarrassing loss Democrats were dealt.

On the Wednesday May 7 broadcast of The Ed Show, Schultz pointed out NBC News exit polls found 70 percent of Wisconsinites disagreed with Tuesday's recall on principle. Only 27 percent said they were appropriate at all and 60 percent said recalls are appropriate only for official misconduct.  Schultz argues that the bottom line was, “not enough Wisconsinites were convinced the recall was justified and even though they don’t approve of Scott Walker most Wisconsinites were not convinced he did enough to be removed from office.”  [Video follows page break;  MP3 audio here.]

On Wednesday's The Ed Show, MSNBC host Ed Schultz took a condescending tone toward labor union members who voted for Governor Scott Walker in Tuesday's recall election in Wisconsin as he recounted NBC News exit poll numbers showing that a significant chunk of union voters supported the Wisconsin Republican.

A baffled Schultz relayed the numbers and recounted the decision of some union members to vote for Walker, using a mocking tone of voice:

During the special 11:00 p.m. edition of The Ed Show on Tuesday, MSNBC host Ed Schultz fretted about what he viewed as "pretty damn scary stuff" that he believed Republicans would do in following Governor Scott Walkers example in pushing a conservative agenda in Wisconsin.

A bit later, during an interview with the Reverend Jesse Jackson, he asserted that conservatives are trying to "destroy and defund public education," which he claimed was "hurting the minority communities."

In response to the news that Republican Governor Scott Walker won his recall battle in Wisconsin Tuesday, MSNBC's Ed Schultz spoke a truth that should be a total embarrassment for the entire journalism industry.

"This is not going to be an easy night for many broadcasters who are liberal" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

On Thursday, NB's Mark Finkelstein reported that MSNBC was airing an ad for The Ed Show and its obsession with recalling Gov. Scott Walker that said “Get Out The Vote!” Washington Post media blogger Erik Wemple picked up the story and lamented that MSNBC would be so baldly partisan, except – MSNBC told him it was being scrubbed.

"No need to lecture too much here, because MSNBC told me yesterday evening that it has taken a critical look at the spot.” he reported. MSNBC spokeswoman Lauren Skowronski said “The spot is being revised. The original version is no longer airing.”        

Tuesday’s recall election in Wisconsin marks the end point of MSNBC’s Ed Schultz’s 15 month-long mission to destroy Scott Walker. The conservative Republican governor’s attempt to fix that state’s budget crisis, by reigning in the public unions’ influence, sent Schultz on a rampage. The liberal talk show host turned his self-titled program, The Ed Show, into a hyper-partisan platform from which union activists, liberal journalists and Wisconsin state Democrats could join Schultz in his drive to oust the “radical” Walker out office.

From February 14, 2011 through May 18, 2012 anti-Walker guests dominated by a count of 237 (99.6%) to 1 (less than .5%). In that same span Schultz devoted a portion or a majority of 128 episodes to attacks on Walker. (chart and video montage after the jump)

Fox News has come under "withering criticism" after Fox & Friends yesterday aired what's been described as a campaign-style video, created by an associate producer, contrasting President Obama's words with his job performance. A top Fox exec said the video "was not authorized at the network's senior level" that "senior executives would not have approved it and the matter was addressed with the show's producers."  The video was removed from the Fox & Friends website.

So if it's wrong for FNC to campaign against Obama, how about MSNBC launching a Get Out The Vote effort against Scott Walker in the Wisconsin recall election?  Have a look at the video clip here of an MSNBC "Lean Forward" promo for Ed Schultz's show.  After Schultz declares that the Wisconsin recall hinges on "who gets their people out," the screen flashes "Get Out The Vote!"  Schultz seeks to recruit his viewers in the effort, the graphic asking them to "share your photos" at Schultz's Facebook page.   There's no doubt who Schultz is seeking to get out the vote for--and against.  The same video is filled with images of people holding signs saying "Recall Walker" and "Walker: Your Pink Slip Is Showing."  View the video after the jump.

A bogus report published by MarketWatch Tuesday claiming "under Obama, federal spending is rising at the slowest pace since Dwight Eisenhower brought the Korean War to an end in the 1950s" has been all the rage at the White House and MSNBC.

Conservative columnist Ann Coulter correctly observed Wednesday:

On Monday, President Obama said his attacks on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's involvement in Bain Capital are "not a distraction and that "This is what this campaign is going to be about.”

MSNBC clearly got the message for as Politico's Dylan Byers noted Tuesday, this so-called news network's primetime schedule this evening is chock full of Bain:

Although it may not surprise NewsBusters readers, it appears MSNBC's Ed Schultz doesn't pay any attention to what he says, what others on his network report, or what is covered by any mainstream media outlet.

What else could be the explanation for Schultz claiming in an interview with Talking Points Memo that the most under-covered story in the country right now is wealthy people not paying their "fair share" of taxes (question in bold):

On Friday, Bill Maher, the largest donor to Barack Obama's Super PAC, pressured MSNBC's Ed Schultz to contribute to the President's campaign.

This happened on HBO's Real Time less than 30 minutes after Maher said, "For the sake of black America, [Obama] needs the second term" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

On Monday's The Ed Show on MSNBC, as host Ed Schultz and MSNBC political analyst Richard Wolffe - formerly of Newsweek - discussed Mitt Romney's crack on President Obama that even President Carter would have had the judgment to order the killing of Osama bin Laden once the 9/11 mastermind had been found, the two MSNBC personalities fretted that Romney had taken a "cheap shot" at Jimmy Carter.

Just how in bed with Barack Obama is MSNBC?

On Wednesday, the President's campaign website - under the hysterical rubrick of "Truth Team" aka "Keeping GOP Honest" - published a video featuring Ed Schultz trashing presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

Geraldo Rivera on Friday accused MSNBC anchors of not caring at all about the evidence concerning the shooting of Trayvon Martin and instead "cheerleading for the conviction of George Zimmerman."

Appearing on Fox New's The O'Reilly Factor, Rivera specifically pointed his finger at Martin Bashir, Chris Matthews, Lawrence O'Donnell, Al Sharpton, and Ed Schultz (video follows with transcript and commentary:

On Thursday's The Ed Show on MSNBC, the Huffington Post's Howard Fineman - formerly of Newsweek - praised President Obama's campaign to raise taxes on the Wealthy, asserting that, even in tax averse New Hampshire, voters believe the federal income tax code is "unfair" as he labeled the President's strategy on taxes as "smart."