Posted on 02/08/2008 4:46:22 PM PST by Mobile Vulgus
As Mark Finkelstein reported on Newsbusters on the 7th, MSNBC's David Shuster made a rather interesting comment about Chelsea Clinton as he was hosting "Tucker" that evening. Shuster asked if Hillary Clinton's use of her daughter on the campaign trail seemed "like Chelsea's sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?" Well, NBC has now announced that they've suspended Shuster over the comment.... so much for free political speech.
In a press release, NBC says the following:
On Thursday's "Tucker" on MSNBC, David Shuster, who was serving as guest-host of the program, made a comment about Chelsea Clinton and the Clinton campaign that was irresponsible and inappropriate. Shuster, who apologized this morning on MSNBC and will again this evening, has been suspended from appearing on all NBC News broadcasts, other than to make his apology. He has also extended an apology to the Clinton family. NBC News takes these matters seriously, and offers our sincere regrets to the Clintons for the remarks.
Both the Clinton and Obama campaigns accepted invitations from us on Thursday evening to participate in a February 26th debate. Our conversations with the Clinton campaign about their participation continue today, and we are hopeful that the event will take place as planned.
Of course, Shuster's comment seems quite mild compared to say Randi Rhodes' radio skit that said that Romney supporters would go on mass murder sprees, or that conservatives will "kill" Hillary as Chris Matthews said on the 8th... or just about anything that the women on the View say at any given time. Not to mention the horrible things that liberal TV hosts have said about Rush Limbaugh or any conservative figure.
So, where are all the suspensions of liberal TV hosts who attack conservative candidates or personalities? Can you name one?
And, it is also interesting that Hillary has gotten into such a faux outrage over this particular comment. No one hearing that comment would imbue it with a sexual meaning. Shuster's comment is completely understood to mean that he thought the Clinton campaign was using her daughter in a cheap way, but no one imagines it to have a sexual connotation at all. In fact, there isn't even any real way to misconstrue the comment into a sexual innuendo on Shuster's part. It just isn't too hard to "get" his point at all.
Is Hillary that thin skinned?
Worse, why did the TV giant bend over so easily and suspend Shuster for this little comment when they let so many vile slams on conservatives go by without so much as a raised eyebrow?
In fact, MSNBC makes their biggest name caller a center of attention, don't they? After all, not long ago the Cable station said that Keith Olbermann formed a focal point for their new "leftward tilt."
So, suspend someone who says a somewhat off color comment about a leftie, but encourage and reward those who viscously attack conservatives.
That's the MSM for ya!
It was a rude comment... not deserving of TV... I may not care for Hillary, but I dislike potty mouths too.
I don’t know why Chelsea is perceived as off limits, it’s not like she a kid. She was 13 when Bill was elected so she must darn near 30 by now. If she can’t take the heat she should stay out of politics...
Depends on who says it.
But yes so much for free speech.
Chelsea is no child, she's a grown woman who is hanging on to her parent's coat tails.
She's fair game.
sw
That said, it should only take a few minutes to find a similar comment by Olbermann concerning the Bush twins. And by morning the conservative blogs will have everything out in the open and MSNBC will be even further marginalized.
IIRC being pimped out would make the Chelse the Ho.
They were masters of this during their presidency.
He left FOX News because he is a liberal. I remember many of us here on FR would email and call FOX complaining about Shuster. He is just a really weird liberal and I was so happy when he left FOX.
“He is lucky he wasn’t shot at MSNBC for that.”
Nah, I don’t think they love Hillary that much. Now, Obama’s a different story.
No, the Clinton campaign is the “pimp”, according to Shuster.
Poor Chelsea Hubble.
But, that's MSNBC for ya. As long as their shareholders prefer being PC to turning a profit you'll never hear gutsy commentary there. Of course, they can say anything they want about George Bush's daughters--that's fine--but don't mock Chelsea.
So concise and kind; I nominate this for post of the day.
“Monica Lewinsky was someone’s daughter too.”
Yes, and she has been treated with such kindness on FR.
The big thing that I remember Shuster for on Fox was the Chandra Levy case. I remember he tried to get Gary Condit to talk to him and he didn’t have much luck. It was right before Sep 11, then that was pretty much it for the Levy story for awhile.
Shuster is used to saying whatever he wants about Republicans and getting away with it. It’s about time he got in trouble for his big mouth. He’s a very obnoxious person.
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