There are HUGE differences between Rush Limbaugh and Ed Schultz.
(After I found myself replying over and over again to the right wing false equivalency claim, I composed this answer and saved it as a text file to save time. Anyone who would like to use this is free to cut and paste it wherever appropriate.)
The difference between Ed Schultz and Rush Limbaugh:
1. Ed Schultz let loose two insulting epithets in the heat of a discussion on his radio show.
2. His target was another public media figure, equal, if not superior, in media power - Laura Ingraham.
3. Ed Schultz immediately realized what he had done and alerted his TV network.
4. Ed Schultz immediately called Laura Ingraham and personally apologized - She accepted his apology - publicly on Fox News.
5. Ed Schultz then apologized sincerely and publicly on the air on a weekday in prime time. He stated that he had literally no excuse for his mistake and took full responsibility.
6. Ed Schultz was temporarily suspended from broadcasting by his own network.
7. Left and progressive media entities criticized Ed Schultz for his mistake.
On the other hand,
1. Rush Limbaugh launched a calculated and concerted attack for THREE DAYS IN A ROW on his target - Georgetown University student Sandra Fluke. His attack on Ms. Fluke used numerous (53) personal slurs and insults.
2. Limbaugh attacked the assumed moral character of a private citizen.
(and no, being called to give testimony to a congressional committee does not make one a public figure.)
3. Not only was Limbaugh's attack on Ms. Fluke a sustained one, it was escalated each day of his broadcasts. It was further escalated to the point of slandering all Georgetown University female students and women in general.
4. Limbaugh made no personal apology to his target whatsoever.
5. What Rush Limbaugh called an "apology" was only delivered after sponsors - repulsed by his actions and realizing the toxicity of the Limbaugh brand - began to pull advertising from his show. His "apology" was not voluntary - it was a reaction to a potential loss of income and the threat of a lawsuit.
6. His "apology" is now infamous for its utter lack of sincerity and its limited scope. Limbaugh only acknowledges 2 words as "poor choices". In the course of his "apology", Limbaugh resorts to the "they're-much-worse-I-only-sunk-to-their-level" defense, (I think I used that one in 5th grade.)
7. Rush Limbaugh has a long history of such on-air incidents.
8. Instead of receiving criticism, this latest incident inspired a series of copycats in the right wing blogosphere.
Ed Schultz has himself personally addressed the false equivalency claim.
Even conservatives are beginning to demolish the false equivalency "argument".
-30-