Well, this Ed Schultz situation has created a little bit of a firestorm. Ok, it's a really small firestorm, but we knew this was going to come up. To bring you up to speed, Ed called Laura Ingraham, a conservative radio host and contributor to Fox News (if you can even call it that,) a "right wing slut" and a "talk slut" on his radio show. There was some blow-back from it and Ed Schultz was suspended for a week without pay from MSNBC. Ed would also offer an apology at the beginning of his show last night. We knew that this wouldn't be the end. That he has given the right wing media something to talk about. The bizarre part is that some liberals are defending what Ed said as "the truth." The words of liberals during this issue are what worry me the most.
It seemed heartfelt, it seemed like he really wished he hadn't said it, and I accept the apology.
That's what Laura Ingraham had to say about the apology Ed Schultz offered on national television last night. Can you imagine what she would've said had he not apologized? She probably would have found a way to incorporate that into her radio show that only conservatives seem to care about. Do not get me wrong. Laura Ingraham has said some down right disgraceful things about President Obama and other liberals. However, even if you disagree with her, she still deserves some respect. Even if she shows no respect (and at many times this year alone, she has shown no respect,) she still deserves it. Here is the apology:
Good evening, Americans and welcome to The Ed Show from New York tonight. Thomas Roberts will be here tonight anchoring the program, but first I want to take some time to offer an apology. On my radio show yesterday I used vile and inappropriate language when talking about talk show host Laura Ingraham. I am deeply sorry, and I apologize. It was wrong, uncalled for and I recognize the severity of what I said. I apologize to you, Laura, and ask for your forgiveness. It doesn't matter what the circumstances were. It doesn't matter that it was on radio and I was ad-libbing. None of that matters. None of that matters. What matters is what I said was terribly vile and not of the standards that I or any other person should adhere to. I want all of you to know tonight that I did call Laura Ingraham today and did not make contact with her and I will apologize to her as I did in the message that I left her today. I also met with management here at MSNBC, and understanding the severity of the situation and what I said on the radio and how it reflected terribly on this company, I have offered to take myself off the air for an indefinite period of time with no pay. I want to apologize to Laura Ingraham. I want to apologize to my family, my wife. I have embarrassed my family. I have embarrassed this company. And I have been in this business since 1978, and I have made a lot of mistakes. This is the lowest of low for me. I stand before you tonight in front of this camera in this studio in an environment that I absolutely love. I love working here. I love communicating with all of you on the radio and the communication that I have with you when I go out and do town hall meetings and meet the people that actually watch. I stand before you tonight to take full responsibility for what I said and how I said it, and I am deeply sorry. My wife is a wonderful woman. We have a wonderful family. And with six kids and eight grandkids, I try to set an example. In this moment, I have failed. And I want you to know that I talked to my sons especially about character and about dignity and about the truth. And I tell you the truth tonight that I am deeply sorry and I tell them every day that they have to live up to standards if they want to be a successful human being in life. And I have let them down. I have never been in this position before to the point where it has affected so many people. And I know that I have let a lot of people down. To the staff here at MSNBC, I apologize for embarrassing the company and the only way that I can really make restitution for you is to give you a guarantee, and the only way that I can prove my sincerity in all of this is if I never use those words again. Tonight, you have my word that I won't. Laura Ingraham, I am sorry. Very sorry. I'll be back with you in the coming days.
Ed Schultz made a mistake. He understands that he made a mistake and he corrected it. He apologized and decided to do what any good team player would do. He decided to take a seat. He's going to sit on the bench now. What Ed Schultz is going to learn is that the scope of people who believe in him and depend on him is far wider than he ever imagined. What I hope he learns is that the words he used, no matter what he meant, are unacceptable. I think it proves that despite the differences with political ideology, Laura Ingraham is decent enough to accept the apology. I think we should all call on Laura Ingraham to use this moment to really stand up against sexism (since that was her complaint.) Laura Ingraham should immediately call out Glenn Beck for calling Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) a prostitute and for calling the women who depend on Planned Parenthood "hookers." She can bring back up Ann Coulter's disgraceful words about the widows of 9/11 victims. She can also call out racism as well. She can call out Michelle Malkin for her repeated racist comments that she has made over the years. What Laura Ingraham should do is refuse to go on to Fox News ever again until they take accountability for the words of some of their pundits. She won't. The reason why is because as horrible the words Ed Schultz said, it's not about sexism to the right. It's about ratings. It's about attention. Laura Ingraham will call Ed a sexist and sit right on television with a man who was sued for sexual harassment. She will sit in the same room with a man who calls women "hookers" and "prostitutes." If it really bothers her, then she's doing a great job hiding it because it hardly ever shows except when it comes from the left. Laura Ingraham has a role to play in this as well. She has the role of speaking out against all forms of sexism since she now knows how if feels to have words like that leveled against her. I don't believe she will. She does have a conservative radio show and she does contribute to Fox News. By the way, Laura Ingraham has said some very questionable things about Meghan McCain and they were not about her policy, unless body image means "policy" now. This is the issue. Sexism exists on the left and on the right. However, the left seems to be the only side willing to confront it.
Now, on to the left. The right wing is going to demonize us no matter what. They are not going to give us any credit for anything. They'll never admit that we were right. This means that they will come at us harder when we are wrong. In this case, Ed Schultz was wrong. He admitted that he was wrong and he apologized for his mistake. If we are going to call out sexism on the right, we must do so on the left as well. We cannot give our side passes on issues like this. That's what the right wing does. Whenever a liberal says "Well, it was the truth," a conservative sits back and says "That's my point about the left. They are hypocrites." We CANNOT become what they are. Eventually we are all going to have to understand that. Sexist remarks are wrong no matter who they come from. Ed Schultz understands that. So, why in the hell is it that a lot of people who support him don't understand that? Why is anybody on the left making excuses? Nobody is perfect, but that doesn't mean that we are not supposed to call this type of behavior out. I'm a huge fan of Ed's. I'm glad he was suspended. It shows that liberals are willing to own up to their mistakes. Sexism is sexism. I hope Ed Schultz releases another statement to liberal America. I hope that statement tells them to not make excuses for him. I understand that it isn't everybody who is making excuses. However, it's enough to make the right take notice and run with the story. Hopefully everybody can move on past this. Hopefully Laura Ingraham will call out bad behavior on her side. Hopefully Ed Schultz will never say anything like this again. Hopefully, liberals will stop being conservatives and making excuses about this. We are liberals afterall. However, I don't think or speak for everybody. So, here's my first poll.