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Edited on Fri May-20-11 12:33 PM by desertrat777
David Sirota is a good progressive talk show host, and Ed Schultz has shown himself - notice my wording here - to be nearly as progressive. The thing about Ed Schultz is that he is able to reach a segment of our society that some more 'cerebral' talk show hosts can't. Yes, conservatives are often driven by fear, and they act out their fear, instead of use their noggins to do a structural analysis of the problem, as a research study recently showed. Yet Ed can reach out to the hunter sportsman working class patriotic types that often vote conservative, and I respect Ed for that.
That doesn't mean that I agree with everything Ed Schultz says. We do need to question government, including the Attorney General, and even the US Supreme Court. Especially the US Supreme Court. Just because they can declare corporations are people - what a bunch of hogwash - doesn't make it true or right or proper. All it proves is that our Supreme Court right now serves the ruling elite and their corporations, not the American People. But I digress. We need to question all government officials, no matter who they are. It is our duty to ensure that our officials and representatives serve us, the American People, and not just the rich and their multinational corporations that are plundering the planet these days.
Ed Schultz was being patriotic, IMHO, and that is something that a lot of Independents respect. Not that I agree that government officials must not be questioned or challenged. After all, they are our employees - and they all too often forget that these days. Well, okay, they have forgotten that for many decades. Oops. And we need to correct this problem. And what happened regarding the assassination of Osama bin Laden needs to be thoroughly questioned, not just for ourselves as Americans, but for everyone on the planet. It's a global village these days, you know.
David Sirota had a point, but he blew it by lambasting Ed Schultz, instead of discussing the issue. Maybe Ed made a mistake. I think that he did. But David Sirota blew it when he treated Ed Schultz in such a condescending fashion. He actually put Ed on hold like some crackpot caller. True, they were talking over one another at the same time, something that annoys me to no end. However, note that they were both doing this, and to put Ed on hold was rude and inconsiderate toward a man who should have been treated as an ally and a friend, instead of someone to ruthlessly attack. Sure, we can attack others, put others down, to make ourselves look better. "Hey, look, I'm better than him!" But that is a form of vanity. David Sirota accused Ed Schultz of changing sides to become more successful - I just remember when I was a kid. My parents were conservatives, and I had adopted their mindset, but one day, around 1970, during the Vietnam War, I realized it was all a bunch of hooey. I changed. People change. And just because people change, it doesn't mean that they are still the way they were. Now I am a lefty progressive Democrat.
So we are all human. Ed Schultz is human, and so is David Sirota. David did apologize a few minutes later.
But David Sirota does have a habit of interrupting callers before they have a chance to make their point. He latches on to the first few words spoken, and then righteously interrupts - even talks over - the poor caller, before they can finish their thought. On numerous occasions, I have perceived what the caller was trying to say, and it was other than what David was criticizing them for. This is not to David Sirota's credit, and for the record, not all talk show hosts do this. For example, Thom Hartmann lets callers go on and on - maybe even too much. But he lets his callers speak for a bit before responding. He respects his callers, even the crackpots or the callers from the conservative think tanks.
So there's my input regarding a very unpleasant experience for all concerned. Good luck, David Sirota, and good luck, Ed Schultz. We need you both, and we need you to apologize to one another and forgive one another. Because that is the American Way.
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