When has a liberal reached the realm of the truly unhinged? When reined in by Ed Schultz.
This happened yesterday on Schultz's radio show when one of his producers, James "Holmy" Holm, let loose with yet another memorable rant, this one about Virginia Republicans pushing a law that would mandate an ultrasound before an abortion (audio) --
SCHULTZ: What is happening in America? This is going to be the most radical, intrusive law passed on women's health since Roe v. Wade. And (Virginia Gov. Bob) McDonnell says that he's going to sign it.
HOLM: Uh huh. He's eager to sign it.
SCHULTZ: We gotta do something big on this tonight. (on MSNBC's "The Ed Show")
HOLM: To me, and I'm not, I'm not calling the fine folks in the Republican Party Nazis. But what this is, this is Joseph Mengele stuff. This is medical testing. This is arcane, ridiculous, basically torture what they're doing to these people.
Got that? Those "fine folks" in the Virginia GOP aren't Nazis -- they merely act that way. And not just any Nazis, mind you -- the worst among them. Holm proceeded to add this --
HOLM: Let's play this out to its logical end. Thirteen-year-old girl gets raped in Richmond, Va. She becomes pregnant. They want to get rid of that baby. What are they going to do to her? They're going to bring her into her doctor's office and rape her again.
Correction, Mr. Holm -- it's not opponents of abortion who want to "get rid of that baby." This is where you come in, remember?
Two hours later, a chastened Holm apologized, though it appears he was nudged (audio) --
SCHULTZ: Now Holmy, earlier in this broadcast today, you got all cranked up. You really believe that what the Republicans are doing as far as the health care and with the law that's being passed in Virginia is paralleling that of Joseph Mengele? (pause) I want to give you a chance here.
HOLM: OK, yeah, go ahead, that's fine ...
SCHULTZ: This is a big, 'cause I know how righties grab this and chew on it (hmm, tasty!) and spin it and everything and spit it out and everything else and it reads a helluva lot different from what you meant.
HOLM: Yeah. And, and listen, the first thing I want to say is, and there is nothing that can compare. And E.J. Dionne is right. There's nothing on this earth that we know of that compares to the slaughter of 6 million Jews, what the Nazis did. There is nothing to compare to the horrific medical experiments and torture they put upon people of the Jewish faith. And I, when I said that earlier today, and I said that I'm not accusing the Republicans of being Nazis ...
SCHULTZ: You did say that. (Just before you accused them of being Nazis, hence the conversation we're having now)
HOLM: ... I did say that (and looking back, that fig leaf clearly wasn't big enough), but I said this is Joseph Mengele-type stuff. You're doing medical, you're doing forced medical testing on people who don't want to have it done (please clarify: are you referring to ultrasounds or abortions ...?). That wasn't right for me to say. I take full responsibility for saying it (while reserving the right to add weasely equivocations) and I apologize for saying it. I put you in a bad situation. I (I know how sensitive you are to Nazis being impugned) I put other people on this team in a bad situation and by no means do I mean to diminish what went on, what the Nazis perpetrated on this country ("this country" ...?), and I shouldn't have said that and I apologize to anyone that was offended by that, including the people in Virginia that want to pass this arcane, ridiculous overreach of a law that I believe is forced rape on women. (not to be confused with consensual rape)
These weren't the only inanities uttered yesterday about the proposed ultrasound abortion law in Virginia. Later on that night's Rachel Maddow show, ditzy professional RINO Meghan McCain said the issue was "toxic" to McConnell and would, uh, "penetrate beyond politics."
Soon to follow -- new "Lean Forward" promos on MSNBC touting the "penetrating" analysis of its anchors and contributors.
