Ed Schultz

Time For A Debate: Sean Hannity Vs. Lawrence O’Donnell, Or Other Alternatives!

Ronald 1 Comment

It is time for conservatives to stop propagandizing on Fox News Channel and talk radio, and get out there and compete in a debate on the issues of the campaign!

Since Sean Hannity is particularly glib, I propose that he participate in a debate against Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC!

Or why not Bill O’Reilly of Fox News Channel compete in a debate against Rachel Maddow instead?

Or have Rush Limbaugh of talk radio fight against Ed Schultz in a debate sponsored by the cable news channel, C SPan!

Any combination of a conservative against a progressive is fine, if not this precise matchup suggested!

The progressives would wipe the conservatives all over the floor, if such a debate or debates occurred, but face it, the conservatives would NEVER agree to such a situation!

Certainly, it would be very interesting, and probably more informative, than the Presidential or Vice Presidential debates coming up in September and October!

A Celebratory Day In The Cable Media World: MSNBC 15th Anniversary And Fox News Channel-Rupert Murdoch Crisis!

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Today, 15 years ago, MSNBC went online as the competitor of CNN, which had begun June 1, 1980. Within a few months, on October 7, Fox News Channel came along as a third competitor in the 24 hour news channel industry!

MSNBC has gone through rough times over its 15 years, but now it is thriving by having emerged as the strong progressive news channel, compared to the moderate approach of CNN and the right wing conservative views of Fox News Channel.

MSNBC has become a station with outstanding talk show hosts, including Chris Matthews, Lawrence O’Donnell, Rachel Maddow, and Ed Schultz, as well as outstanding coverage during the day by other anchor people.

It is a source of much what the author writes about, and it gives us a progressive view of events, which is sorely needed, so Happy 15th to MSNBC!

At the same time, Fox News Channel has misled, lied, deceived, propagandized, and become a Republican propaganda channel, including hiring many of the Republican Presidential field at some point of time.

Fox News Channel has NEVER been willing to cover the news fairly, and has made life miserable for Barack Obama, and has convinced an ignorant portion of the population to believe their myths, half truths, and distortions!

Its talk show hosts are disgraceful, having included Glenn Beck in the recent past, and still including Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity, along with a whole group of unsavory characters who have questionable ethics, but end up on Fox News Channel!

Their employer, Rupert Murdoch, known world wide as one of the most despicable people in the news business, has now become involved in a hacking scandal that threatens to bring him and his news corporation to their knees, symbolically!

Nothing would be more contributing to the future of journalism than to have the downfall of Rupert Murdoch and Fox News Channel, but in reality, that is not likely! That channel is refusing to report the scandal in detail, part of their “managed” and distorted news coverage, figuring that their audience might remain unaware because they lean so much on the manipulated manner of news reporting on their channel!

Even if Fox News Channel survives, seeing Rupert Murdoch and the channel squirm is victory in itself!

Can The Ideological Divide In America Be Overcome To Avoid Incitement Of More Violence? Highly Doubtful! :(

Ronald 3 Comments

The attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and the murder and wounding of twenty other victims in Tucson, Arizona, should be a wake up call for the country at large, and the political leaders and media personalities in particular, but don’t bet on it! 🙁

The right wing is trying to deflect blame for the use of incendiary language, and trying to compare it to left wing criticisms that may ridicule and mock the opposition.

But it is the specific use of language of the right that is at issue, not the concept of criticism itself!

There can be a healthy, vigorous debate over ideas without promoting rhetoric that calls for revolution, asking citizens to be armed and dangerous, calling for direct action against a tyrannical government, and putting online a map with cross hairs targeting particular congressional district representatives.

There is absolutely no excuse for the rhetoric employed by Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and others on the right.

To compare it to the rhetoric of Ed Schultz, Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC requires a mentality that makes one wonder about the moral virtues of the listeners. These talk show hosts have never called for any of the above concepts that the right wing is infamous for.

The sad truth is that any possibility of change is remote, and tragically, we are on the road to greater bloodshed and violence on others, including the horrible thought of danger to our national leaders in the executive branch! 🙁

How can we tolerate this, and how can we even think of anyone backing any of these characters in public office, or supporting the continuation of talk show hosts who are only concerned about enriching themselves, and don’t give any concern about public safety or what is good for the national interest? 🙁

The answer is if violence escalates, lawsuits will have to be instituted against right wing talk radio hosts as having contributed to and incited the bloodshed, forcing them off the air and impoverishing them, to shut them up!

Again, speech matters, and if one shouts “fire in a crowded theater”, they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, whether they are ordinary citizens, political leaders, or media personalities!

The Conflict Over Barack Obama At MSNBC! :(

Ronald Leave a comment

MSNBC is seen as the “liberal” and “progressive” cable channel, the rival of “conservative” and “Republican” Fox News Channel.

But these are not happy days at MSNBC, with a big split developing among the evening talk show hosts, regarding Barack Obama’s tax compromise with the Republican Party!

Chris Matthews fully backs Obama’s compromise as necessary and unavoidable under the circumstances, and makes it clear that there is no real alternative to Obama for progressives!

Lawrence O’Donnell also has concluded much the same thing, so therefore, two of the five talk show hosts stand together in support of Barack Obama!

But Ed Schultz, Keith Olbermann, and Rachel Maddow are all highly critical of Obama for “caving in” to the Republicans, and demonstrating weakness and a lack of “spine”!

The angry base of progressives and liberals, however, really have no place to go, as there are no strong alternative candidates, although Russ Feingold has been suggested, and today, Howard Dean, a “blast from the past”, has also been mentioned!

The prospects of either of these gentleman or any other, more obscure, candidate stopping Obama dead in his tracks, and keeping the Democratic Party united for the Presidential campaign, is close to zero!

Again, it is not pleasant that this tax deal had to be agreed to, but there is simply no real alternative than to “bite the bullet”, and plan for a major fight on the part of Obama to change the direction of the nation in the Presidential election campaign of 2012!

The fight against the GOP agenda is not over by any means! It is just beginning, and it would be helpful if the three MSNBC hosts understood that, and came back to support of Barack Obama!

Progressive Rally Promotes Involvement And Commitment To Goals Of Jobs, Education, And Justice!

Ronald 1 Comment

An estimated crowd of 175,000 people showed up at yesterday’s One Nation Working Together rally on the Washington Mall, to promote support for the progressive goals of jobs, education, and justice!

To many observers, it seemed that Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor rally drew more people on August 28, although CBS News estimated that crowd at 87,000, as compared to Beck’s belief that 500,000 showed up at his rally!

In any case, it was obvious that the progressive rally, promoted by talk show host Ed Schultz of MSNBC,  drew a wide variety of groups, committed to progressive goals and wishing to rally people to vote next month so that the Democrats keep power in the House of Representatives and Senate!

With one month to go, the emphasis has to be on overcoming apathy and convincing those who supported Barack Obama in 2008, including young people, minorities, and independents, to be involved, and to understand the importance of voting to keep the Obama agenda alive and kicking!

The Demise Of Air America Radio: A Tragic Loss

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The sad news has emerged that Air America Radio, the liberal-progressive attempt to compete with conservative talk radio, has gone bankrupt and will go off the air next Monday after five years of trying to become an alternative political choice on radio.

Various liberals attempted to draw a large audience, including Minnesota Senator Al Franken, Ed Schultz, Randy Rhodes, and Stephanie Miller, but it failed to click.

Conservatives will cheer this news, but it is a loss when an electronic media source, as much as a print media source, fails.

The American people are the loser when a form of media is so dominated by one side of the political spectrum, so it behooves liberals and progressives to continue the fight to get the word out about the truth and the reality of what conservatives have done that has led to the domestic and foreign mess that this nation faces in 2010 after the Bush years!

Talk Show Host Ed Schultz For North Dakota Senator? Doubtful!

Ronald Leave a comment

With the announced retirement of North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan at the end of this year, the question that arises is what Democrat will run for that seat, with Earl Pomeroy, the House member, deciding to run again for his seat, with its 18 years of seniority.

So the rumor is spreading that talk show host Ed Schultz, a true fighter for the middle class, might leave his radio show and his nightly hour on MSNBC to run for the Senate.

Schultz tonight said he is far from a decision, and that he is not sure this is the right move for him, after years of building up his career in the media, which he would have to give up if he announced for the Senate.

It seems likely he will not leave his position, but he would be a great asset in a campaign and in the Senate, were he to decide to go for it. In any case, he does a great job on his talk show, so whether he runs or not for the Senate, the country benefits from his talents speaking for the progressive cause! 🙂

Bill O’Reilly And The Big Lie Technique

Ronald 2 Comments

Bill O’Reilly of Fox News Channel is a promoter, just like others on Fox News Channel and conservative talk radio, of the Big Lie Technique, utilized many years ago by Adolf Hitler–the idea that if you tell a lie enough times, then people will believe it.

O’Reilly has been caught in an obvious use of the Big Lie on a recent show with guest, liberal talk show host Ed Schultz of MSNBC.

The issue was the report from the Veterans Affairs Department that there are about 131,000 homeless veterans at the present time, and over a year, 260,000 veterans are homeless at some point of time.

O’Reilly stated that he does not believe that even one veteran is homeless, and he refuses to believe otherwise. Schultz contested this with him, but O’Reilly just dismissed this, and refuses, at least till now, to retract his statement.

This is, of course, nothing new, and it is what is poisoning American politics, that conservatives on radio and television and cable stop at nothing to spread lies and propaganda, and to promote conflict and hate, and sow division and chaos among uninformed and ignorant people who have their opinions, but have no truth or facts to back up their viewpoints.

Bill O’Reilly should be condemned for contributing to this Big Lie tactic, but of course, he is so smug, cocky, and egotistical, and why not? He is laughing all the way to the bank, enriching himself on misleading the American people who choose to listen to and believe his drivel! 🙁