An Open Letter to Comcast's Brian Roberts: Fire Ed Schultz!

March 15th, 2012 10:32 AM

Dear Mr. Roberts,

As the chairman of Comcast, you have a responsibility to your shareholders and the public to produce programs which follow a basic standard of civility.

Unfortunately, MSNBC anchor Ed Schultz regularly doles out hate-filled, venomous rhetoric which has reached a boiling point. MSNBC should not give Mr. Schultz a platform to spew such hate.


Therefore, I am calling on you as the Chairman of MSNBC’s parent company, Comcast, to demand Ed Schultz’s termination.

As I am sure you know, in recent weeks there has been an uproar over an inappropriate comment Rush Limbaugh made about Georgetown University Law Student Sandra Fluke. Rush apologized profusely for his unfortunate mistake, but that has hardly appeased the talking heads at MSNBC who continue to attack Rush. One of the most notable among them is Ed Schultz.

These attacks are enormously hypocritical given his history of vile rhetoric directed at conservatives and women. In fact, there’s nothing Limbaugh has said throughout his entire career that begins to approximate the vitriol that has come from Schultz. And this network, using him as the talking head, is condemning Limbaugh? It is hypocrisy and journalistic dishonesty of the highest order.

Ed Schultz called Laura Ingraham a “right wing slut.” He claimed that "The Republicans want to see you dead! They'd rather make money off your dead corpse! They kind of like it when that woman has cancer and they don't have anything for her."

Or consider his comments on the former Vice President: "You're damn right, Dick Cheney's heart's a political football. We ought to rip it out and kick it around and stuff it back in him."

Schultz has compared the Tea Party to Nazi Brown Shirts, asked if the term “whore” applied to Joe Lieberman’s wife, and claimed that conservative broadcasters want Obama shot. And that is but the tip of the iceberg. The list of vile, repugnant venom coming out of Schultz’s mouth is extensive as we outlined in the letter we sent to Mr. Griffin yesterday.

Mr. Roberts, Ed Schultz’s vile rhetoric has no place in American political discourse. It is deplorable and beyond the pale.

As MSNBC’s parent company, Comcast bears the ultimate responsibility for the venom Ed Schultz spews on a regular basis. The buck must stop with you, Mr. Chairman.

I hope you agree with me and millions of patriotic conservative Americans that someone who routinely engages in such hate-filled, incendiary rhetoric should not be given a platform by a prominent corporation like Comcast.

I am calling on you to do the right thing and demand Ed Schultz’s termination.

I am also attaching an open letter I sent to MSNBC President Phil Griffin, calling on him to resign effective immediately for hiring and promoting one of the most uncivil, unhinged anchors working in television today. Mr. Griffin’s horrendous decision to endorse a vicious hate monger is blatantly negligent. As I related to Mr. Griffin, MSNBC is working on marching orders from Media Matters, and is on a mission to take Rush Limbaugh off the air. Far from being an independent journalistic enterprise, MSNBC under Mr. Griffin has become the very essence of a political lapdog of the far left.

We intend to take this message directly to the shareholders of Comcast as well. As also stated to Mr. Griffin, I doubt very much they want to have anything to do with race-baiting, hate-filled, character-assassinating misogynists.

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I look forward to your public announcement calling for Ed Schultz’s termination.


Sincerely,
L. Brent Bozell III
Founder and President
Media Research Center

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