In all the time I've been monitoring the liberal media, rarely have I seen a host assail a guest with the ferocity David Shuster displayed in going after Fouad Ajami today. Shuster, guest-hosting for Chris Matthews on this afternoon's Hardball, was seemingly infuriated by a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece Ajami had written that analogized Scooter Libby to a fallen comrade who, pursuant to the Soldier's Creed, should not be left behind.Set forth below are excerpts from Shuster's diatribe against Ajami, the Lebanese-born Director of the Middle East Studies Program at Johns Hopkins. But words alone don't do justice to the vituperation with which Shuster expressed himself. I urge readers to view the video. I might note that Ajami, perhaps inured to hyperbole by his many years in the Middle East, reacted to Shuster's verbal assaultswith equanimity.
SHUSTER: Mr. Ajami [never does Shuster refer to him by the honorific "Professor"], do you really believe Scooter Libby is like the 3,600 soldiers killed in Iraq?
AJAMI: I really don't need to be lectured on the soldiers killed in Iraq. I spent an enormous amount of time in Iraq. I've spent an enormous amount of time with the American soldiers in Iraq . . . I have a nephew serving with the American military as a lieutentant . . .
SHUSTER, interrupting: Which makes all this even more puzzling, with all due respect Mr. Ajami [translation: with no respect at all], to take someone like Scooter Libby and to compare him with somebody like your nephew or somebody who's actually wearing the uniform raises an awful lot of questions, and we're just trying to get at those questions [right].
AJAMI: You're following in the footsteps of Paul Krugman, who had a column in the New York Times. You have to be able to handle a metaphor. This really was a metaphor . . .
SHUSTER: Mr. Ajami, if it was a metaphor, why didn't you point out that it was a metaphor in your column? "Metaphor" is never in your column.
AJAMI: I just meant, here was this man . . . people are walking away from him, they left him holding the bag, and we know he hadn't been the one who leaked the name of Valerie Plame . . .And later, more SHUSTER:
SHUSTER: I've got to stop you right there. I know where you're going with this . . . as if there was just one leaker . . . So for you to say that we know that Scooter Libby wasn't the leaker, that is simply wrong . . . and if you had followed the prosecutor you would know there was no underlying crime he could charge. The whole issue was that because Scooter Libby lied and obstructed the investigation, prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was not able to make a call.
Prosecutors do suspect that yes. there were many people involved in this, including the Vice-President, but when Scooter Libby testified to the grand jury as he did and said yes, I had conversations with the Vice-President about Valerie Wilson but, oh, I can't remember what the Vice-President told me, come on, Mr. Ajami, you know better than that.
A lot of people, Mr. Ajami, find it very offensive that you would dare compare Scooter Libby to soliders who have had their limbs blown off in Iraq
Mr. Ajami, would you like to apologize for your position on the Iraq war given that Iraq has created more al-Qaeda than it had to begin with?
- Mr. Ajami, I'm not going to let you end this with the idea that Iraq was part of 9-11 when everybody knows, everybody knows, that Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11. [Ajami had in fact done no such thing.]
Could Shuster's scenery-chewing performance have been sincere, or was this an audition for Keith Olbermann's slot?
Mark was in Iraq in November. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.



















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Bravo for your audition, Mr.
July 6, 2007 - 20:21 ET by Mike BrattonBravo for your audition, Mr. Shuster--a marvelous feather in your liberal cap.
Oh, by the way, that was a figure of speech.
--Mike
www.thebrattonreport.com
LOL, are liberals really so
July 6, 2007 - 20:28 ET by AJSHOPELOL, are liberals really so stupid that they have to be told what is and isn't a metaphor? I thought liberals were the ones that are all into the arts and they would be the ones that would adore the writings of Shakespeare. If this is the case, how can they not know when a metaphor is used?
I hate creative writing but I still know when a metaphor is being used.
Apparently so, as Ann Coulter
July 7, 2007 - 13:31 ET by drillanwrApparently so, as Ann Coulter's caustic dry humor is atmospheres above them too. Yet, oddly, Bill Maher' s, whose is just as dry and caustic, and more hateful, is easliy understood by them.
The MSM and Libby
July 6, 2007 - 20:33 ET by pbthinker" So for you to say that we know that Scooter Libby wasn't the leaker, that is simply wrong . . . and if you had followed the prosecutor you would know there was no underlying crime he could charge. The whole issue was that because Scooter Libby lied and obstructed the investigation, prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was not able to make a call."
If you had followed the prosecutor you would know there was no underlying crime he could charge????? Isn't that what many of us have been saying, there was no underlying charge, in the first place, and this prosecutor know that before he even started calling witnesses. That, to me at least, is the point.
Never argue with an idiot. They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
pbthinker - because Scooter L
July 6, 2007 - 21:29 ET by ding7777pbthinker - because Scooter Libby lied and obstructed the investigation
ding
July 6, 2007 - 21:30 ET by botgScooter Libby
What investigation dufus? F
July 6, 2007 - 23:42 ET by jdhawkWhat investigation dufus? Fitzgerald knew that a crime had not been committed or he would have charged Richard Armitage who freely admitted to leaking Plame's name.
No crime, no need for an investigation, no possible way to lie or obstruct justice.
That Fitzgerald insisting on continuing an investigation until he could catch someone with a bad memory in a "lie" after he knew a crime had not been committed calls into question his integrity at the very least.
Several decades before you we
July 7, 2007 - 01:44 ET by Del DolemonteSeveral decades before you were hatched, there was as I recall a Hanna-Barbera cartoon character named "ding".
I won't say any more. I would like to know if you and wiki wiki are one and the same though
Mr. Finkelstein...I am so gla
July 6, 2007 - 20:34 ET by bigtimerMr. Finkelstein...
I am so glad you put this out here...I was watching this live while posting here ...I am just going to insert what I posted on the OT while it was happening live for now...just wanted to thank you.
Also, Shuster and Matthews cannot stand the fact that they have insinuated, spun and outright lied as far as I am concerned with spewing drooling hope that they were right for years now....just to be kicked in the shins again....as they so rightfully deserve.
Anway here is what I wrote earlier....
David Shuster just got made an arse of by a gentleman named Fouad Ajani....regarding the Libby/Plame/Wilson/Armitage BS...and this war too.
I love the guy!
Poor Shuster...what a big wide mouthed fool with a little brain who keeps being proven wrong time and time again...along with Matthews for whom he is replacing today.
Been too much fun to listen to...with the exception of Shyster's blind arrogance the more he opens his mouth...where he gets the audicity to say the crap he does is beyond me....he is worse than Matthews and that is saying a lot...talk about rude.
Btw...later Shuster got handed his arse again by Dan Burton as far as I am concerned...he called Shuster exactly what he is...a good democrat and a liberal....which he got angry about too....
I loved it.
Well it's becoming very apparent
July 6, 2007 - 20:42 ET by c5thenIt's becoming very apparent that the "journalism schools" are not teaching english or even rhetoric and the "graduates" have to have all the various writting styles pre-identified for them to be able to even attempt to understand an author.
An obvious scenario of the editors supplying almost completed stories to the reporters and anchors with various places identified with <insert verb here> and <place adjective here> springs to mind. Except that Schuster makes it blatantly obvious that he at least would probably not understand what an adjective or a verb is.
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic
Fouad Ajami American Hero
July 6, 2007 - 20:49 ET by Lame CherryI have always been puzzled by Fouad Ajami as he was the hired expert of CBS on Iran sitting next to Gungadan Rather for years, but his reports were always accurate and as of the past year he has been heroic like few in America.
Mr. Ajami actually went to Iraq several months ago, spoke to everyone under the sun and actually gave an assessment which stated as others have found in that the Iraqi people are actually forming a central sovereign people as in a nation. This was during the time that everyone was talking civil war. (Gee we haven't heard that since the dems got power and know they will have to stay in Iraq if they get the White House.)
In any case Mr. Ajami was ignored by the liberals and people like Robert Spencer and Hugh Fitzgerald on Jihad Watch refused to accept his work and instead ranted on about Bush being demented and Iraq was a tarbaby. (Their words.)
What is amazing is Mr. Ajami actually taking a further bold stance on Scooter Libby. He has shown in a nation of lap dogs and panting Lugerites with hamburger for heart that he is the real deal, a man of John Wayne's terms in having true grit.
Personally after all of these American attributes Mr. Ajami has shown, I hope that the Republicans, as in Fred Thompson add this wonderful person to their staff as an expert and when elected make him either Sec. of State or an under secretary on Middle East policy. Not many people impress me in this day and age, but Fouad Ajami is heads above the ilk we usually have to deal with.
He deserves a big salute of appreciation from Americans.
David Shuster needs a rabies shot or face the people he is acting like an ass to so they can belt him in the mouth and teach him to be civil. MSNBC needs to add an A for ass to describe the donkeys working for them from the top down.
*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS
Evening Lame...I agree with y
July 6, 2007 - 20:54 ET by bigtimerEvening LameC...
I agree with you about Ajami...did not know the info you posted about him, today was the first time I have ever seen him, bet his book is interesting to say the least that msnbc was saying he was the author of below him while he spoke.
I also agree with you about everything else you posted btw...as you most likely figured out by my post...lol.
Here is a bio of him for those interested, plus his books and his latest one....
Amazon has some ....
...as if there was just one l
July 6, 2007 - 20:50 ET by Dave R...as if there was just one leaker....
So, Shuster is apparently suggesting there was more than one leaker of Valerie Plame's name, not that it mattered, anyway, as she was not "covert" by any definition other than the irrational twaddle of the America-hating left, which includes Shuster.
I wonder if Shuster as any proof of this assertion?
I will not hold my breath waiting for it.
-Mark, in answer to your last question, apparently there are not enough talking heads on TV with adavanced BDS. I think you are correct in speculating that he is auditioning for yet another spot.
Help Fred defeat the RINOs, along with the Hitllary-Obama Axis, & win the White House in '08.
suggesting there was more tha
July 6, 2007 - 21:06 ET by general companysuggesting there was more than one leaker
Sure, Bush, Cheney and of course Rove.
Wasn't Shuster the man who
July 6, 2007 - 20:51 ET by mlongWasn't Shuster the man who announced with absolute certainly that Karl Rove was going to be indicted on KO's show?
Of course.
July 7, 2007 - 12:16 ET by buddycOf course.
Shuster is the master of unid
July 6, 2007 - 20:54 ET by nicksmith112Shuster is the master of unidentified,high ranking,anonymous,inside the beltway sources.
A hack is what Shuster is.
It seemed like every Friday during the investigation Davey boy's sources were predicting a Cheney/Rove perp walk.
I agree.Most of the NBC famil
July 6, 2007 - 23:22 ET by jondelwicheI agree.
Most of the NBC family is hyperdefensive on the Libby issue since it was pretty much the testimony of NBC hack Tim "Dem" Russert that convicted Libby.
If I had been Ajami, the inte
July 6, 2007 - 21:20 ET by gordonIf I had been Ajami, the interview would have ended rather suddenly with Mr. Shuster having to pick his teeth up off the floor. Ajami has a lot more patience that I would have had with that useless blowhard.
gordon.......that is exactly
July 6, 2007 - 21:24 ET by bigtimergordon...
....that is exactly how I felt while watching this live....
One of these days Shuster....Right in the Kisser!
Couldn't be so lucky to ever see somebody do that I guess...need more Zell Miller's arouns,...lol.
First Timer
July 6, 2007 - 22:03 ET by needforcalmHey Guys,
First time posting, but I've been lurking for a long time. I'm glad that there is a place where I can turn to for some logic and reason.
As for Shuster, Olberman, Rather, etc... when is it that we are going to be able to make these news agencies wise up? Fox News soundly beats them day in and out, but they still don't get it. America wants straight news and not some editorializing buffoon berating a very well reasoned man who may have an opposing view point?
Enjoy yourself here nfc...War
July 6, 2007 - 22:23 ET by bigtimerEnjoy yourself here nfc...
Warning...addictive.
...got to run for a bit...
The only way to beat the stoo
July 6, 2007 - 22:50 ET by gordonThe only way to beat the stooges at their own game is to make sure the networks and the sponsors know you will not buy anything from them that is advertised on the stooge hour. Bottom line is everything with networks.
I didn't think Shuster was
July 7, 2007 - 00:54 ET by radiofitz34I didn't think Shuster was such a jerk until I saw the video clip. It's interesting how the MSM would "move on" about stories like this during the Clinton admin. Now it's like they are arguing balls and strikes well after the game.
I agree.Shuster suffers from
July 7, 2007 - 09:55 ET by well99I agree.Shuster suffers from diarrea of the mouth.All's he did was rant put words in his guest's mouth.Not give Ajamia a chance to finish what he had to say.My dog is smarter than Shuster and he has been dead 20 years.
If you invite someone on your show let them talk as long as they are on topic.I dont care if I agree with what the guest is saying let them have their say.Shuster is another Olberdork.Just buzzs around regurgitating waste .
MSM: It's all about SPEWING
July 7, 2007 - 01:19 ET by upcountrywaterMSM: It's all about SPEWING worthless blathering oratory. And then it's time for a commerical break, TYPICAL swineishness .
IRANIAN URANIMUN, 220 lbs and counting.
Ten-hut! If we're going to no
July 7, 2007 - 01:57 ET by Del DolemonteTen-hut! If the non-Leftists aren't going to not lose in 2008, they need ro expose the bad side.
Remember, Shuster is the reporter (sarc) who as I recall was swindled by Jason Leopold on the "Rove Indicted" fiasco. Both of them allegedly assured the Chris Matthews Kool-Aid drinkers a year ago that Rove WOULD be indicted. Check out their fever swamp at www.truthout.org
It's nice to see the "objective media" so pissed off about one commutation. It proves their agenda beyond any doubt.
Sorry I just don't see Shuste
July 7, 2007 - 02:15 ET by Airforce_5_OSorry I just don't see Shuster as a defender of the troops here. I see him as anger that Libby isn't doing the jail time. This isn't about the honor of our great military, this is about some liberal getting his feelings hurt about Scooter and the sentence being commuted.
Jerk!
Build The Fence
As I watched the tape, I kept
July 7, 2007 - 06:23 ET by ThisnThatAs I watched the tape, I kept thinking "now this is fair and balanced". </sarcasm>. Where's the fairness doctrine when we really, truely need it?
"Could Shuster's scenery-chewing performance have been sincere, or was this an audition for Keith Olbermann's slot?" Let me ask, have Shuster and Olbermann ever been seen together? Sometimes these performances simply leave you speechless. Shuster's unprofessional performance astounds me, but the real kicker is why the Suits at NBC aren't truely embarrassed by these antics?
Someone said last week that K
July 7, 2007 - 11:07 ET by dahliatraversSomeone said last week that Keith Olbermann went from being the best sports analyst to the worst news analyst on cable tv.
Too often, there is no attempt to convey information or conduct a substantive discussion. It's simply the spotlighting of a brainless, uninformed pretty boy hysterically whipping up on someone or something. Shuster's interview was a particularly acute example.
Yes, embarrassing for all involved.
dahlia...Yet it is amazing th
July 7, 2007 - 16:23 ET by bigtimerdahlia...
Yet it is amazing that for at least a year or more now msnbc advertizes that they are the fastest growing news network....
I roar with laughter every single time I see that ad....
The only thing good they do have on that network is that ad....even it it continues to be a HUMONGOUS lie...but hey, that little fact doesn't bother any pointy-headed leftists one bit...
LMAO!
MSNBC's word games
July 7, 2007 - 16:33 ET by nkviking75BT, imagine that in one month one new person moves into New York City and one new person moves into my little hometown of 300 people. I could claim that my hometown is growing much faster than NYC because my town is starting from a much smaller base.
That's how to understand MSNBC's claim.
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
...exactly viking!As far as I
July 7, 2007 - 16:37 ET by bigtimer...exactly viking!
As far as I am concerned they are fools...but hey, that's just me.
On the other hand, the leftist lying propaganda they spew out every single day only helps the good guys in real life if you ask me...
..tsk tsk...
If you look at the ratings yo
July 7, 2007 - 17:07 ET by nicksmith112If you look at the ratings you'll see the highest primetime ratings MSNBC gets is with their Doc-Block of shows.
How embarrassing is that?
fastest growing news networkY
July 7, 2007 - 20:11 ET by dahliatraversfastest growing news network
You know how there are people who don't really watch tv, they just continually check out what's on everywhere? All I can think, Bigtimer, is that they are counting those channel surfing hits as new viewers.
"When did Al Sharpton get a show?" (click), "Olbermann?? Yikes, I'm out of here ..." etc.
The scam is they changed the
July 7, 2007 - 20:58 ET by nicksmith112The scam is they changed the way the ratings are calculated to include "Same day DVR".... DVR = younger (liberal) technical crowd.
David Shuster,the arrogant twit deserved a slap across the face.
July 7, 2007 - 08:15 ET by CTHaving been a long time fan of Fouad Ajami, I was surprised that I never noted he had provided his expertise for CBS. The man is always interesting and insightful but seldom controversial so little David Shuster's attack was all the more ridiculous.
The minions of the lunatic left like David Shuster deserve to be slapped down every time they spout their vitriol propaganda. Professor Ajami began to do it with his comparison of Shuster's attack to the crap that comes out from that little turd Paul Krugman.
Anyone else find it funny tha
July 7, 2007 - 08:37 ET by jcrapes4Anyone else find it funny that Shuster did exactly what the left cries and moans about BOR for doing??
Wow, that's pathetic -- wha
July 7, 2007 - 11:49 ET by Richard RomanoWow, that's pathetic -- what a total jackass. Let the man speak damn it. These liberal hacks grow quite tiresome.
Shuster is a nothing in the s
July 7, 2007 - 12:15 ET by buddycShuster is a nothing in the scheme of things. He has no where else to go but MSNBC. Hasn't he been terminated at every other network? MSNBC is the problem, not some bottom feeder, trying to pay the bills, like Shuster.
Shuster was a disgrace
July 7, 2007 - 12:38 ET by Gary HallMark, I happened to catch the 2nd half of this yesterday. As sad as it can get. It was this last gasp from Shuster that, in my mind, that really sets the proof as to how wound up and on a mission he was. And you noted it, as well. When Shuster blurted out:
Not only had Mr. Ajami, "had in fact done no such thing" not said anything along that line of thought, neither was it in his column. Shuster simply created the attack (made it up on the spot), baseless as it was, and then gave Mr. Ajami no opportunity to respond.
This reminds me of how the left creates what ever they wish to believe. At a party a couple of years back, in the conversation, I offerred that indeed mistakes had been made in Iraq; suddenly this well educted type (PhD) "adult" agressively blurted out, "Well then, you are a traitor. Bush keeps saying that anyone who questions the war in Iraq is a traitor." I volunteered, " I don't imagine that he has actually ever said any such thing." Wow, guess what? It turns out that I was the only person there who didn't know the truth - and suddenly they were all angry. It turns out that, according to the educated elite, I should watch the news. Who me? I'm still waiting for one of them to show me when the Pres. actually made such a reference.
Shuster seems to have shaped his MO to be a blend of Chris Matthews and Olbiedog.
While Shuster was demanding that Mr. Ajami apologize, it's Shuster and NBC that needs to apologize. What a low point for journalism. Thanks for covering it so well. (;~> gary
One of the best examples o
July 7, 2007 - 13:33 ET by GrammyOne of the best examples of circular reasoning I've seen in a while.
We know Bush/Rove/Cheney were responsible for the leak and that Plame was covert.
Libby lied and perjured himself to obstruct Fitsgerald from being able to prove it.
And that proves that Bush/Cheney/Rove were the true masterminds in outing a covert agent.
Incredible!
Grammy
Grammy -Yes, yet another exam
July 7, 2007 - 13:46 ET by drillanwrGrammy -
Yes, yet another example of the idiot masterminds in the White House ... LMAO!
Grammy
July 7, 2007 - 14:10 ET by Gary HallJanet, you might appreciate a different angle on one simple aspect of the issue.
Libby and trumped up charges..
I think that adding David Boies' (Al Gore's counsel in Gore v Bush) view of the issue of the charges Fitzgerald pursued against Libby is of value in the discussion here:
David Boies on H_C on Fox – March 5th, 2007
In looking back, I think the entire episode is nothing more than big boy politics at play. Had the media, which so respects Bill Clinton, chose to enter into the national discussion, his view of the "16 words" as expressed in July 2003, we would not be talking about it today. His view was basicly a defense of President Bush and how unimportant in the large picture the "16 words" actually were. Had the MSM kept that very simply thread of reality in the picture, the hardball politics (normal as ever) would not have had the fodder in which to grow. It really stinks of a self sustaining conspiracy - set in motion by Joe Wilson and fed by a salavating media for the purpose of simply making one more thing difficult and nasty for the other side.
Mr. Ajami, I'm not going to l
July 7, 2007 - 13:53 ET by drillanwrMr. Ajami, I'm not going to let you end this with the idea that Iraq was part of 9-11 when everybody knows, everybody knows, that Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11.
Gary -
I didn't see the program, and only viewed the video clip here in this node ... HA! Stupid me, I thought the gentleman's 9-11 comment had been edited out (but that would make no sense to Shuster's retort) ... So, the ever dignified and polite Mr. Ajami never actually made reference to 9-11 / Iraq connection, and Shuster just blurted it out like Linda Blair sitting in a pea soup-swamped bed?
They need to change the name of the program from Hardball to Gumball ... On The Bottom Of Your Shoe.
drillanwr
July 7, 2007 - 14:19 ET by Gary HallDrillanwr.
Kinda like that. (;~> gary
Oh, even us conservative thin
July 7, 2007 - 13:41 ET by drillanwrOh, even us conservative thinking types have occasional bouts of ADD.
Refresher course:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uJtO2zN5jAY&mode=related&search=
Puts is all in perspective again ... Do it not??
Shuster
July 7, 2007 - 13:48 ET by CellaI saw Shuster's pathetic temper tantrum.
In a conversation regarding this matter with Tucker Carlson, Shuster went into a similar completely unhinged meltdown.
Why does MSNBC keep giving this loser a platform?
Oops! Never mind. This is the same network that also hired Al Sharpton to host this show.
Yeah, how do you explain that
July 7, 2007 - 15:06 ET by dahliatraversYeah, how do you explain that? Imus is gone but Sharpton is guest hosting shows?
Does anyone truly think Imus is a racist, no matter what idiotic, brainless thing he said? Seriously?
But tell me Al Sharpton is not racist. Plus unlike Imus, Sharpton was not joking when he made racist remarks. Many remarks that were worse than anything Imus said. Remarks that incited racist violence.
So, NBC. Some forms of racism are not acceptable but some are? Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, some racists are not acceptable but some are.
P.S. By the way, did Al Roker object to Sharpton guest hosting a show? No? Why not?
gee Mr. Finkelstein, guess yo
July 9, 2007 - 14:41 ET by katleegee Mr. Finkelstein, guess you've never seen Bill O'Reilly in action if you call THIS ferocity