MSNBC’s David Shuster isn’t impressed with the intelligence of the American people – and even said so on a liberal talk-radio show. On the nationally syndicated Stephanie Miller show on Thursday morning, Shuster blamed the election returns on the "fact" that the ignorant public can’t focus on more than one issue at a time (click here for mp3 audio):

SHUSTER: You can make an argument, and I think there is a point to be made where in this environment, where the economy is having some trouble, and where a lot of people don’t have jobs that should, the extent people see Washington focused on things other than jobs, like health care or like immigration, or card check, whatever it is.

Brian Maloney at The Radio Equalizer found wacky leftist radio host Stephanie Miller taking her worship of MSNBC to ridiculous levels, even for a comedian who's (half?) joking: 

I was on Ed Schultz yesterday, as a liberal, going to MSNBC – like visiting the Vatican...Hung out with Rachel Maddow for a while. I would have licked Keith Olbermann’s chair again, but he doesn’t let me into his studio...[Whispers about Maddow] She is awesome!

Maloney added:

Now, imagine for a moment the state-run media's reaction if a conservative were to equate the FOX News Channel studios with any major religious site or institution. The mere mention of "licking the chair" of a FOX host would bring months of ridicule.

Thanks, Steph, for defining liberalism as it exists today. We couldn't have said it better.

MSNBC anchor David Shuster appeared on Stephanie Miller's left-wing radio show on Thursday to praise the "brilliant," "informed," and "articulate" President Obama and trash the "atrocious" Fox News Channel. Shuster, who is on the same network as the extremely liberal Keith Olbermann, complained, "I mean, look, if Fox wants to consider themselves the GOP house organ, that's fine. They completely backed it up." [audio for download here]

Just getting warmed up, he continued, "When Fox starts describing themselves as journalists or a news organization, that’s where I think it’s appropriate to describe Fox as disgraceful." Shuster attacked the cable network, where he was a correspondent at from 1996 to 2002, for its "insanity." Getting around to the personalities on FNC, he derided, "The stuff that comes out of Sean Hannity's mouth has been infuriating. The stuff that Bill O'Reilly says has been illogical."

Everywhere it's been tried - liberal, or progressive as it's sometimes described as, talk radio hasn't taken off with the success conservative talk radio has.

Case and point - the top six of March 2009 Talkers magazine "Heavy Hundred" talk show hosts are conservative.  The top liberal host, Thom Hartmann, come in at number 10. However, liberal talk show host Stephanie Miller appeared on CNN's April 5 "Reliable Sources" and insisted there is more at play than just pure market forces holding the liberal format back.

"Well, you know - I just did a panel on the Fairness Doctrine," Miller said. "I have to tell you, I brought ratings information. And people like me and Ed Schultz are consistently beating conservative shows in many, many markets. And yet - there is 10 percent liberal radio in this country. Ninety percent of the stations are conservative. You just cannot argue anymore it's because liberal radio can't compete."

UPDATE: Stephanie Miller poked at this blog post on her show Thursday: "NewsBusters, as you recall, Chris, they are the right wing dopes that got me all the publicity on my [execute-Rush] comment on Larry King....So the test of the Moron Alert System is going splendidly."

After the second wave of hysteria about Rush Limbaugh’s Sharpton-mocking "Barack the Magic Negro" parody, you might think that a liberal radio host making an insensitive skit about African orphan adoption might capture some media attention. In the first hour of the liberal Stephanie Miller show on Wednesday, parodist Jim Ward had an ad for "ChildMax," mocking the Madonnas and Angelina Jolies who adopt a "little black bookend," an "ebony accessory" that’s "guaranteed not to cause inter-tribal massacre around the dinner table." Which liberal watchdog will sound an alarm on this skit? Or do they suspect this is a plea for publicity?[audio available here]

ANNOUNCER: Hey all you international celebrities who have already scored a malnourished African child, but are still feeling unfulfilled. ChildMax here and we know the answer to your on lee (?). Come on over to the Dark Continent and adopt another one. Our extensive research has indicated that post-adoption annoyance is due in most cases to a feeling of asymmetry. That’s right. Get a little black bookend to complete the set. Who needs a single black family member standing out like a raisin in a bowl of rice? Give the little nipper some company. I said nipper. And add a little more melanin to the landscape. You won’t regret it.

On Tuesday, liberal talk radio host Stephanie Miller called Rush Limbaugh's now well-publicized statement about wanting Barack Obama to fail "treasonous," and wondered if he should be executed for saying such a thing.

Miller made this rather provocative comment on CNN's "Larry King Live," and oddly nobody batted an eye or seemed at all put off by it.

Not surprisingly, the topic of discussion between King and his guests -- which other than Miller included the Huffington Post's Arianna Huffington, conservative talk radio host Lars Larson, and GOP strategist Nancy Pfotenhauer -- was all the brouhaha surrounding Limbaugh (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript, relevant section at 1:25, h/t NB reader David Wells):

Out in the snarkiest swamps of liberal talk radio is the Stephanie Miller show, which is very low on policy talk and very high on toilet humor and sex jokes. At the end of the show's first hour on Tuesday, Miller aired a clip of McCain's Friday unveiling of Sarah Palin:  "Here is Grampy McSame [McCain] introducing his trophy VP before he stepped back to check out her ass for twenty minutes."

As McCain spoke, the show's official impressionist, Jim Ward, began impersonating McCain: "My next trophy wife...The middle part of Alaska is ass...and she's got a terrific one, my friends." Miller lamely added: "She puts the ass in Al-ass-ka."

Miller read critical quotes from Paul Begala, Peggy Noonan, and Joe Conason, and said the choice was incredibly desperate. Then Ward piped up again in his McCain voice: "Desperation, and a desire to look at her ass for hours and hours, my friends."

Miller wrapped the segment: "We better have fun, Jim, because she may be out by the end of this show."

Liberal talk radio host Stephanie Miller laughed-off Michael Medved’s accusation that the John Edwards sex scandal "reinforces the conviction that a lot of Americans have that the news media aren't on the level, that they're biased" on Tuesday’s American Morning: "You know, this is the myth again... of this, you know, liberal media. It's ridiculous. You can't report something that you don't have evidence on, you know. Until Edwards admitted this, there was no hard evidence. It's not something that you would report."

Earlier, Miller had jokingly, perhaps rudely, that the earlier rumors of the scandal were akin to someone making a wild accusation against Medved: "I know and love Michael and I'm tempted to say something completely unsubstantiated about his personal life right now and see if he can disprove it." Medved initially replied with a mere smile and a mild chuckle.

The two talk radio hosts appeared in a discussion segment which began 24 minutes into the 8 am Eastern hour of the CNN program. Co-host Kiran Chetry, reacting to Miller, echoed her sentiment: "Yeah. I mean -- and just in fairness, CNN was investigating this as well and, you know, there just weren't simply enough facts to go with it." I guess Miller and the folks at CNN didn’t take the report and photos of Edwards being at a California hotel with his mistress and alleged love child seriously.

A few days after 9-11, President Bush, in an impromptu moment on the White House lawn, referred to the war on terrorism as a crusade. What does that have to do with the vile claim Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) made this week that Pres. Bush sends our soldiers to Iraq to have their heads blown off for his "amusement"?

Nothing that I can see. But on this afternoon's "Hardball," Chris Matthews dredged up that and a couple other statements from the president's past and staged a segment asking whether they were worse than Stark's line. Note the graphic in the screencap, in which MSNBC absurdly asks "who should apologize, Rep. Stark or Pres. Bush?"

View video here.