On the same day that MSNBC's Martin Bashir resigned [1]after suggesting someone defecate in Sarah Palin's mouth, colleague Ed Schultz lamented the "crudeness over on the right." This is the same Schultz who, on his radio program in 2011, slimed radio host Laura Ingraham as a "slut [2]." The Ed Show anchor's rant started over comments by Bill O'Reilly about whether users of food stamps waste money on drugs. Schultz sneered, "Meanwhile, there is Rush Limbaugh. He knows a thing or two about drug addiction."
He mocked, "I'd like to see Limbaugh, see how he fares on $133 worth of food a month. Or maybe a day." Schultz then played a clip of Limbaugh discussing the Pope: "The Pope is ripping America. The Pope is ripping capitalism...And Obama is having an orgasm." In a haughty tone, the host complained, "The President is doing what? Certainly no crudeness over on the right, is there?" [MP3 audio here [3].]
On Wednesday, colleague Bashir resigned after an outcry over insisting that someone should urinate and defecate in Palin's mouth.
On May 24, 2011, Schultz ripped, "Like this right-wing slut, what’s her name, Laura Ingraham? Yeah, she’s a talk slut."
A partial transcript of the December 4 segment is below:
5:05
BILL O'REILLY: If you're an alcoholic or a heroin addict or a drug addict and you can't hold a job, all right, and you can't support your children, and that's a circumstance of millions and millions of people. Not most, but a lot. A substantial minority, okay? Then it's your fault. You're bringing the havoc. And you're asking people who may have -- be struggling themselves to put food on the table, to give their tax money to you, and then you're not even going to buy food with it. You're going to buy booze and drugs with it.
...
ED SCHULTZ: And I'm pretty sure drug dealers don't seem to be taking debit cards as of late. But we'd have to ask Rush about that.
...
SCHULTZ: Meanwhile, there is Rush Limbaugh. He knows a thing or two about drug addiction. Limbaugh is also wasting air time attacking poor people on food stamps this holiday season. He said food stamps are making poor people obese.
RUSH LIMBAUGH: Most of the childhood obesity is minority, African-American and this story links it to food stamps! Which makes total sense. We've got nearly - 48, 49 million Americans on food stamps, and they can buy whatever they want with it.
SCHULTZ: Whatever they want? Not really. Limbaugh, again, 100 percent wrong. There is no study that links food stamps to obesity. If anything, people on food stamps, they don't get enough to eat. The average food stamp recipient gets, put your seatbelt on now, $133.41 a month. Holy smokes. How dare we give poor people in America that kind of assistance when the top two percent have just been rolling over the last ten years.
I'd like to see Limbaugh, see how he fares on $133 worth of food a month. Or maybe a day. It's important to point out last month Congress cut food stamp benefits by $5 billion annually. And really, it's the worst time to do it. This chart right here clearly shows the rate of food insecurity in the United States. It's at record highs with roughly 15 percent of Americans struggling to put food on the table. One out of 15 people that you see walking down the streets statistically are having a hard time putting food on the table. But wait a minute, O'Reilly, Limbaugh and rest of the conservatives and Republicans the way they vote, they have determined these people are the problem. What do you say we just weed them out?
These guys right here are despicable, absolutely despicable, for attacking the less fortunate in our society during the holiday season. Republicans got their $5 billion cut, and now people are suffering because of it. But, of course, the Republicans, they want more. It's not just the poor they're targeting. Limbaugh is actually now going after the Pope. Limbaugh is mad at Pope Francis for saying income inequality is immoral. He wasted no time attacking the Pope.
LIMBAUGH: The Pope is ripping America. The Pope is ripping capitalism. The Pope, ripping Ronaldus Magnus. The Pope ripping trickle-down economics. And Obama is having an orgasm.
SCHULTZ: The President is doing what? Certainly no crudeness over on the right, is there?
— Scott Whitlock is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Scott Whitlock on Twitter. [4]