Ed Schultz condemning others for "hateful rhetoric" -- hypocrisy doesn't get more sublime than that.
Schultz, you probably remember, vilified Laura Ingraham as a "right-wing slut" on his radio show in 2011, resulting in a two-week suspension from MSNBC.
His take on GOP opposition to Obamacare? "They want to see you dead! They'd rather make money off your dead corpse!"
Then there was the time Schultz spewed that Republicans were on a "jihad against public education." His reaction to a Politico story critical of him -- "freaking whores!" When former employer MSNBC excluded him from one of their promos, Schultz allegedly threatened to "torch this f***ing place!"
Considering his reputation as an easily provoked verbal flamethrower, what a shock it wasn't to hear Schultz allege a direct link between Republicans' criticism of Planned Parenthood, the nation's leading abortion "provider," and last week's deadly attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado --
SCHULTZ: You know, on one hand we have got the mainstream media telling the American people that what candidates say matters. Yet we don't really put a whole lot of stock in all the hateful rhetoric towards Planned Parenthood clinics. You can't have it both ways! And I think the perfect example of this is the Rev. Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist minister who wants to be president of the United States. He sees no connection whatsoever between the hateful rhetoric out there and what's happening at Planned Parenthood clinics around the country, that certainly no one wants to see anybody get killed. That's what he counters with?!
Let me ask you, Mr. Huckabee, when you're in church and you're preaching, do you want people to believe what you say? When the federal government allows the Republican Party to hold this country hostage for funding the government unless we defund Planned Parenthood, you think that that's not going to have an effect on some radicals out there who have firearms and who think 'cause the government is going to be shut down because the Republicans said it was going to be, I better get my firearm out there and do something about it. Don't tell me that there's no connection between the hateful rhetoric that goes on with Republicans in this country towards women in this country and Planned Parenthood. It's simply, there is clearly a connection and the Republicans are in denial. So this is how Huckabee spins the whole thing --
HUCKABEE (appearing on CNN's State of the Union): I don't know of any pro-life leader, if you can tell me one, please correct me, but I don't know of anybody who has suggested violence toward Planned Parenthood personnel or some act of violence toward their clinics. I've not heard that, not from one single pro-life person. I've heard universal condemnation whether it's from the Center for Medical Progress that put out the videos, whether it's from pro-life advocates and I consider myself one of them, I know of nobody who has ever suggested that Planned Parenthood be the target of some type of violent attack ...
SCHULTZ (interrupting): So let me ask you this, Mr. Huckabee, Mr. Preacher?! You don't think it's suggested violence when you tell people that they're not going to get their Social Security checks? You think that to cut people off of assistance who deeply depend on it and you don't view that as a violent act? I guess we have to define the word 'violence'. The fact of the matter is is that the Republicans are way out of step in this country and the rhetoric that they have thrown on our society is resulting in shootings like this.
Strange to hear Schultz bring up Social Security in the context of criticizing Huckabee -- considering that Huckabee has criticized other Republicans for proposing a higher retirement age and reduced payments to affluent retirees.
More revealing is Schultz comparing proposals to reduce welfare-state largesse to a "violent act." What is the most persistent criticism from Republicans toward Planned Parenthood? That taxpayers stop funding it for $500 million-plus annually, as was the case in 2013, while the purported non-profit ended the year with $58 million in "excess" revenue.
What Schultz sees as violence, calmer heads view as differences over policy. And until the left succeeds in its cherished goal of outlawing the First Amendment, the right to your opinion about the inherently homicidal act of abortion remains legal.
