Howard Kurtz on Tuesday published a surprisingly glowing piece about one of the most hate-filled commentators on television.
In "Rush Limbaugh's TV Nemesis" posted at the Daily Beast, Kurtz even seemed to condone Ed Schultz's disgusting pet names for Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, and Chris Christie:
He savages his targets in a nightly “Psycho Talk” segment, calling Rush Limbaugh “the drugster,” Sarah Palin “Caribou Barbie,” and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie a “fat slob.” Rather than merely attack their ideology, Schultz says things like: “C'mon, Rush! Let's get it on!... Get away from your drugs. Go see the doctor and get some hearing. Maybe you could pick up a 19th girlfriend. Maybe you could try marriage again.” He has even said Limbaugh looks like Hitler.
One might have expected as a media critic, Kurtz would come down strongly on a television news commentator attacking fellow Americans this way, especially political officials.
Not so, as here's what immediately followed:
Turns out the Rush grudge is personal. After the Today show did a story on him in 2004, Schultz recalls Limbaugh dismissing him as a $4-an-hour Fargo guy who would never make it. But in constantly carping on Limbaugh’s past addiction to painkillers, Schultz can sound as intolerant as any opponent.
That's it? He can sound as intolerant as any opponent?
Talking about a man's past addiction to painkillers, his hearing problem, his love life, and comparing him to Hitler goes far beyond intolerance.
And what about Schultz's references to Palin and Christie? Didn't those deserve some of Kurtz's attention?
I guess Howard wasn't bothered by that. Quite the contrary, he allowed Schultz to get the last word:
One thing is certain: The hunter remains loaded for bear. “Not to get too grandiose about it,” he tells me after demolishing dinner, “but I really believe I’m saying things a lot of Americans want someone to say.”
Does Kurtz think a lot of Americans want commentators on cable news networks to routinely refer to Limbaugh's previous drug addiction, or demean former and current political figures with idiotic nicknames?
If he doesn't, maybe he should have offered some criticism concerning this childish behavior from a TV news commentator rather than giving him the last word thereby implying he either agreed with Schultz or really wasn't offended by such invective.
All in all, this was an extremely weak piece from Kurtz that he should be quite ashamed of.
