Ed Shultz, on his MSNBC "The ED Show" tonight, sounded like an idiot tonight as he addressed "political terrorism" tonight.

First, he had on Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich), who had appeared on a conservative talk-radio show. Dingell, in answering a question about why it took so long for the various provisions of HCR to become effective. The implication was that the idea is to let someone else take the heat when people discovered what the new law would do to them. Dingell said it took time to set up the various programs, to develop systems to control the people, and that set off an avalanche of calls from people who didn't want to be controlled. (Presumably, Dingle meant to control employees, so that they implemented the program correctly.)

Huffington Post Disagrees

Ed Shultz on his MSNBC show then spoke to Roy Sekoff, founding editor of the Huffington Post. He asked Roy, "Do the Democrats need to go on right-wing radio? Do they need to go on Fox? I mean, the way the country is divided right now, you're not going to change anyone's mind on any of this stuff. Would it be feasible for the Democrats to just consider just staying away from partisan media?". Sekoff argued for the marketplace of ideas.

Ed Shultz then had Ernest Istook of the conservative Heritage Foundation on. Ed talked about death threats, threats of vandalism, and asked Ernie "How do you address that?"

Ernie started out, "I condemn any sort of vandalism or violent rhetoric," and then went on the say that it happens on both sides. "Was it just last month, Ed, that you said that they ought to rip out the heart of Dick Cheney?"

Things Go South

Things went south from there. Ed interrupted Shultz to say that was on a radio show (as if that was some sort of excuse?) and some more folderol, and when Ernie tried to finish his point, Ed told him to "stuff it back in" and continued on his tirade. "I haven't cut anyone's fuel lines, and you know that."

Ernie pointed out that the Unabomber was an environmental extremist, and things come from both sides. Ed asserted that it's not happening on both sides, "and you know it."

"I've received death threats," Istook said, "had a man go to prison for threatening to kill me and dismember me." Ernie at this point was still the friendly guy, but Ed was getting red in the face and starting to yell. "So the tea partiers are just, it's just normal operation procedure, correct, Ernie, is that what your answer is?" Ed asked.

Making Istook Look Good

Istook got out "No, I" before Ed started speaking over him again.
"I mean, you're, see, you're the problem, Ernest. You're the problem." Ernest was trying to continue responding to the prior question, but it was impossible to tell what he was saying. "Ernest, you can't point the finger at the culprit in any of this, that's the problem, right there" Ed continued.

Thirty more seconds of two people talking at once, Istook speaking calmly and sanely, and Schultz, not so much. Istook stopped talking, but when Schultz incorrectly summarized Istook's words, preparing to go to another guest, Istook objected, saying that's not what he had said at all.

Making Istook Look Better Yet

"It doesn't mean anything, Ernest," Schultz cried. "You lose your credibility when you say it's both sides when not condemning it the way it is right now." Except those were the first words out of Istook's mouth when he appeared, a condemnation of violence and threats.

A few posts ago, I quoted conservative writer Peggy Noonan as saying that Glenn Beck is insane. I don't entirely agree with that assessment; I know some insane people. Glenn Beck is a buffoon and a dangerous one at that, inciting to violence in the name of a big paycheck. Roger Ailes won't fire him because he draws an incredible audience at that hour; while advertisers refuse to buy ads on Glenn Beck's show, many of those viewers stick around for other Fox News broadcasts to follow.

Agent Provocateur

But Ed Schultz is equally bad, in his own way. He's been arguing, ever since he got his show, that the Democrats should abandon any hope of working together with Republicans, and instead, should ride roughshod over them.

He ignores the fact that the American people want Congressmen to work together; that's one reason Obama started out with such incredibly high initial popularity ratings. And even after all the arm-twisting needed to get HCR passed, his popularity is 48%, three times as high as Congress's popularity.

By promoting increased partisanship, Ed Schultz is doing much to convince the tea-partiers that their paranoid feelings are justified.

We don't need this kind of crap, not from Glenn Beck, and not from Ed Schultz.

Other Bloggers On Related Topics:
Ed Schultz - Ernest Istook - Glenn Beck - Huffington Post - John Dingle - Roger Ailes - Roy Sekoff