Liberal radio host and MSNBC bobblehead Ed Schultz deserves credit -- he's that rare left-winger willing to throw political correctness to the wind and describe accused Ft. Hood killer Nidal Hasan as a terrorist.
After finding such clarity unsettling, however, Schultz quickly reverts to form.
Here's what Schultz told his radio listeners on Thursday (click here for audio) --
SCHULTZ: We've gotta stop being so damn academic about what a crime is. I think you could easily make the case that the guys that stepped on the planes on Sept. 11, 2001 had the exact same motivation as this guy did, vice versa. And I'm not afraid to take nasty email from people who think that I'm leaning to the right. There's no left, right, center, blue, green on this. You know, we're gonna get hung up on definitions on what a terrorist act is. There's 13 people dead! What was the motivation for that? It was hate. It was ideological. It was religion. It was faith-based, all of that, and we missed it. And now people are dead and many injured.
This is where I cut ties with a lot of Americans when it comes to whether it's politically correct or not. We have to, in the cable industry and talk radio, we're going to ask the provocative question about, well, what do you think? But I want to be very clear. I think that this was an act of terrorism. I do, I think it was premeditated. He was out to take people down in an institution that he opposed and he was unfortunately a part of. I think he was a terrorist, I think he's a murderer and I think he ought to be hung!
By the end of Thursday's radio show, Schultz's kneejerk habit of blaming the previous administration for all manner of woe in the world returned with a vengeance (here for audio)--
SCHULTZ: Where the hell was Mr. Tough Guy, Dick Cheney? Because they were checking this guy out during the Bush administration, the Department of Homeland Security under the Bush years, the biggest rearrangement of government in the history of America, the Department of Homeland Security, and all the checks and balances ...
CALLER: Is that true?
SCHULTZ: Wait a minute! And all the checks and balances. They knew who this guy was, the FBI did, back in 2007. And they knew exactly what the writings he was having, the contacts he was having. So, where the hell's Dick Cheney on this one?! Hell, we got hit on their watch again 'cause they didn't stop us from that guy doing what he did!
CALLER: So, are you telling me that Dick Cheney knew about this guy back in 2007?
SCHULTZ: I think we should ask the question. I mean, come on (crosstalk) this, this happened on, this happened on the Bush administration's watch! He slipped through the cracks!
Don't be surprised if Schultz refrains from pushing this line of argument -- seeing how it also places the blame for nearly 3,000 Americans murdered on 9/11 squarely on the Clinton/Gore administration.
