Whatever you feel is needed to save face, Ed.
Here's Schultz right out the gate on his radio show yesterday --
Folks, let me tell you something, I'm making this announcement right away. We are not changing "The Ed Show" on MSNBC. As long as they open their mouths over there on the right, we will continue to have the segment called Psycho Talk. Because that's exactly what it is. And as soon as they say that they're not going to vote to repeal health care, then I'll make some changes. ... Last night on "The Ed Show" on MSNBC, I said that the fault of this horrific event in Tucson was that of the shooter. That's it. But now we spin off into the blame game about the rhetoric. And now there's announcements on a morning show on MSNBC that we have to tone it down. No one has told me to tone anything down. No one's, I have not gotten a directive from the president of MSNBC. I have not gotten a directive from anybody associated with this radio show. So, today I'm announcing, it's still Ed! And these people are ruthless in my opinion. Just look at their votes! Look at their policy! ...
Not that it had anything to do with Tucson, but still!
I don't believe for a minute they're going to tone it down. It wasn't that long ago that Beck was saying that something really, really big was going to happen. Well, what does that mean? Is that toning it down? Is that planting the seed? I believe it is. ...
Not that it had anything to do with Tucson, but still!
Look, why is Sarah Palin quiet all of a sudden? She's guilty. She is feeling guilty is what I mean. She's not guilty for the shooting, but she's in the arena. You can't tell me what Sarah Palin has said and done has not affected the climate in this country. You cannot tell me that she has not done Twitter and been coming from outher space! ...
Not that to had anything to do with Tucson, but still!
Followed by this disclosure from Schultz; turn your back for a moment and you easily missed it --
I ain't backing down, OK? I may be more measured in the way I say it, but I'm not backing down. At all!
Schultz wants conservatives to tone it down, but as for him -- "I'm not backing down. At all!" Well, he is and he isn't, depending on when Schultz tells you.
This from a man who reportedly threatened, in a fit of pique, to burn down MSNBC studios.
Who is never more in character than when he's on his cable show, bellowing and red-faced and veins bulging, in the segment he calls "Psycho Talk."
Who regales radio listeners with details about his impressive cache of firearms, and who owns a small plane he must inevitably fly over places where people live, work or attend school.
Two words come to mind as I've watched Schultz's reaction to the horror in Tucson --
warning signs.
