The Problem with Ed Schultz
I have a great deal of respect for the work Ed Schultz does in breaking down the wall of conservative talk radio in this country, but I often have to turn him off due to the tactics he employs when a caller disagrees with him. He is often no better than Rush Limbaugh in this regard. Today Schulz provides us with the perfect example as he rants for eight minutes about Hillary Clinton because she won’t appear on his show (or any other talk radio show for that matter, I don’t disagree with him on this point, it is a major issue if she won’t take time to reach out to her public unscripted) and then slams and cuts off a caller who disagrees with some of his accusations regarding Clinton. Schultz constantly does the following three things that he does to “Carl.”
One) When Carl argues that it isn’t wrong for candidates to take money from people that may not necessarily agree with the platform that they represent (I agree that they shouldn’t, but Carl is right, it isn’t against the law) Schultz calls him a Clinton “plant.” Carl retorts that he is not a “plant” but Schultz repeats that he thinks Carl is a “plant” three times and mockingly chuckles. This isn’t the first time Schultz has used this tactic to undermine the argument of a caller he disagrees with.
Two) When Carl tires to explain he isn’t a plant Schultz starts squealing about Carl attacking him. “STOP ATTACKING ME CARL, I DIDN’T ATTACK YOU!” Ummm…hello…didn’t you just accuse him of being a plant?
Three) Schultz then takes the faux-higher ground saying he will give Carl one more chance to talk about the issue if Carl can do so without involving him. The problem, and Schultz is aware of this because he says this is Carl’s issue before he starts his eight minute rant, is that Carl’s issue involves Schultz being upset with Clinton because she won’t come on his radio program. Schultz knows Carl can’t talk about his issue without involving him and Schultz also knows that they are bumping up against a commercial break so Carl won’t have time to respond. In fairness, Schultz does give Carl slightly more than 2 seconds to respond (anyone who is in radio knows that more than two seconds of dead air is pretty much the equivalent of an eternity).
Am I wrong? Listen to the end of the segment below and decide for yourself. To hear the whole thing visit RawStory.com.
Thats pretty bad. He should be ashamed.
There’s a handful of Air America talk hosts that I just can’t listen to, one by one. I couldn’t take more than 2 minutes of Mike Malloy, then Ed, and now Randi Rhodes is rubbing me wrong. They should take a lesson from Rachel Maddow, she is informative, perceptive, and nearly always…right, and I mean that in the good way. And of course, I still love Lee.