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NYTV
MSNBC’s David Shuster: Defender of Clinton Family Honor?
Plus, A&E kicks a matchmaker to the curb, where Oprah Winfrey sweeps her off her feet
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NYTV
It was a little before midnight on Tuesday, Jan. 27 that MSNBC correspondent David Shuster hit the “Send” button on a curt e-mail to Republican rabble-rouser Roger Stone.
Days earlier, Mr. Stone and others had filed papers with the I.R.S. to form a “527” organization dedicated to educating “the American Public about what Hillary Clinton really is.” The organization was called “Citizens United Not Timid,” i.e., C.U.N.T.
“Hey Roger Stone,” wrote Mr. Shuster in an e-mail to Mr. Stone’s personal Web site, the Stone Zone. “Why not put your own name on this?”
Mr. Stone was in no mood to take flack from an uptight reporter unable to take a joke. Mr. Stone felt the suggestion that he was hiding behind the site was ludicrous. After all, he had invited reporter Matt Labash of The Weekly Standard to sit in on the organization’s planning meeting.
The next afternoon, he responded. “Hey David Shuster,” Mr. Stone wrote back. “I in essence did when I let the entire planning meeting be on the record for a reporter.”
From there the confrontation fizzled, leaving Mr. Stone, weeks later, wondering what motivated Mr. Shuster to e-mail him about C.U.N.T. in the first place. Was Mr. Shuster working on a story? Or was he acting out of—irony alert!—indignation on behalf of Hillary Clinton?
It would be ironic because, two weeks later, while filling in on MSNBC’s Tucker program, Mr. Shuster himself used saucy language to refer to a lady Clinton when he suggested Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign was “pimping” her 28-year-old daughter, Chelsea, who traveled extensively across the country with her mother during the early primary season.
Through an MSNBC correspondent, Mr. Shuster declined to comment for this story.
The next morning, MSNBC vice president Phil Griffin asked Mr. Shuster to apologize on “Morning Joe,” which he did. Later that day, MSNBC announced that they were suspending Mr. Shuster for an indefinite period. That evening, he offered a second on-air apology.
For the time being, Mr. Shuster remains on suspension, presumably holed up in a media-proof bunker somewhere in his native habitat of Washington, D.C. And the Clinton campaign has continued to portray Mr. Shuster and his colleagues as empirically anti-women and anti-Hillary.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that MSNBC hosts are already feeling the fallout.
To wit: On Tuesday morning, Tucker Carlson, the host of MSNBC’s talk show Tucker, was standing in line at the Palisades Recreation Center in Washington, D.C., waiting to vote in D.C.’s presidential primary. According to a source with knowledge of the situation, a middle-aged woman, standing in line in front of Mr. Carlson, recognized the on-air anchor and began berating Mr. Carlson about MSNBC’s coverage of Hillary Clinton.
According to the source, the irate Washingtonian told Mr. Carlson something to the effect that “when you pick on Hillary, you pick on all women.”
Later the uncomfortable conversation continued outside the voting hub. When reached on Tuesday afternoon at his MSNBC offices in the District, Mr. Carlson declined to comment.
Back at Citizens United central, Mr. Stone said he was united with Senator Clinton on one thing: namely, that Mr. Shuster’s comments were out of line.
“The pimp comment was something he shouldn’t have said,” Mr. Stone said. “If Chelsea Clinton is making calls to superdelegates on behalf of her mother, good for her. That’s laudable. But, on the other hand, I don’t think he should be crucified for it.”
As for Mr. Shuster’s initial motivations, Mr. Stone ventured that the MSNBC reporter was less ideologically conservative than him (a safe bet!). “Consequently he would be more sympathetic to Hillary and Obama than to a Republican prankster like myself,” said Mr. Stone. “The e-mail came late at night. I don’t know if he had a couple cocktails and got pissed off, or what.”
ON FEB. 1, THE Oprah Winfrey Show featured two guests. Katherine Heigl, the 29-year-starlet of the recent box office hit Knocked Up. And Patti Novak, the 46-year-old star of a cable TV show documenting the dating service she runs in Buffalo, N.Y. Recently, amid lackluster ratings, the show was passed over for a second season.
On paper, Ms. Heigl was the bigger star by light-year proportions. Yet on that particular Friday afternoon, it was Ms. Novak who shone. Over the course of the hourlong episode, Ms. Novak diagnosed the love problems of a lonely 35-year-old from Nashville, Tenn. (too competitive with her dates!); explained to Oprah why she would never date a man who held a fork like a toothbrush; and reduced the audience to stitches with an observation on the fundamental indecisiveness of men. Next Page >
I just caught the last few minutes of Oprah the day she had Patti Novak on her program. My daughter and I had discovered Ms. Novak's Confessions of a Matchmaker and thoroughly enjoyed the program. Since my daughter lives in Buffalo she was able to identify with the places the couples were sent,etc. and we both felt the advice was on target. Patti has a strange attractiveness and she minces no words. We were so disappointed to find the series was ended. Then Oprah announced that BIO was carrying a marathon on 2/12. I became ill last evening and was unable to see it; my daughter was in NY City and also missed it! This article gives me hope. Please run it again soon; the more people who see it, the better-there is a crying need for the program. Singles would learn how to find someone to build a life with, and it is especially helpful for all those who have started computer dating. If Oprah signs this show she will never regret it;it is bound to have a following.
Shuster is an example of why abortion should be legal....his mother really should have gone for help in that area. As homely as Chelsea is, Shuster is more appalling. He really is an idiot.
maybe this anti-Clinton group needs to be part of The War Against Terrorism (TWAT) !!
MSNBC has no ratings to speak of and this is why...stupid comments from political hacks 24/7. The true competition for MSNBC is Headline News Network they are closer in ratings then they are to FOX. FOX on average has 3 or 4 time the ratings of MSNBC (aka: DNC HOUSE ORGAN).
Hopefully GE will sell that NBC pice of crap and get a real network back.
Bill
Chelsea is not homely- like many white house kids, she had a tough adolescence. She looks pretty good now- poised, even charismatic. Look in the mirror- and your own kids. Don't forget to get 'em braces! And go easy on the fasr food.
His comment was unfortunate, but I usually really like Shuster because he is one of the few reporters who actually tries to get an answer out of the politicians instead of letting them get off with the usual crap they spout.
Give him a break.
Chelsea had a chin implant which really improved her mutant looks.
I really hope MSNBC brings back Shuster after Billary's campaign implodes. I would love to watch him interview Chelsea. (Oh, I forgot, Chelsea is not allowed to give interviews. She needs her privacy.)
Give Shuster a break !!! Right wing shills of Fox News and all the talk radio say a lot more than what shuster said. That jackass Glen Beck called Cindy sheehan a "Tragedy pimp". Bill Orally and Slanthead hannity call more names than anyone. Shuster comments are nothing to what the hate mongers on the right talk about everyday. Hope he gets back to work soon.
What Shuster said may have be less then tasteful, but I don't think he should be fired and yes I do think he has been off long enough. I don't think the network should let Hillary tell them what do in this case. If so, they will be giving her the whip hand and that's not right. I call it censorship.
So, where is the outrage about C.U.N.T.?
Why was a journalist from the Weekly Standard, invited to sit in on a planing meeting? Was it because they thought they could get some favorable coverage? Has the Weekly Standard fallen that low?
As an Obama supporter, who is no big fan of Hillary, I'm appalled.
The fact of the matter is that the word "pimping" has become an accepted part of American parlance and Shuster made the mistake of using it familiarly in an inappropriate context.
David Shuster is a good reporter who made a mistake and has apologized for it. I hear far worse from Rush Limbaugh ("I mean, let's face it, we didn't have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing."), Bill O'Reilly ("You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead."), Ann Coulter ("My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building.") and Michael Savage ("You should only get AIDS and die, you pig") daily.
I saw Chelsea Clinton at a Hillary event. She has grown into a very articulate, bright, attractive young woman. Her parents deserve credit and should be very proud.
As for David Shuster's remark, this is an example of a growing pattern on MSNBC, whick I have now stopped viewing.
The remark was inappropriate. If MSNBC wants to be associated with the "hate mongers" on the right, like Hannity, Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and others, then I agree, Larry, they should put Shuster back on the air. I for one am not interested in that brand of politics.
Why is Shuster, a good reporter, suspended for a regrettable but hardly terrible choice of words, when the host he was subbing for routinely spews out malicious drivel such as suggesting that the world would be better off when all the baby boomers are dead and buried. I guess offending a politician is worse than wishing for the death of millions.
@ Ed (not verified)
There's a big difference. Fox News, Rush Limbaugh et al, have audiences that are made up exclusively of right wingers, much like themselves. While MSNBC and it's parent NBC reach a broader, more mainstream group of viewers.
When CNN and MSNBC, stray from accepted journalistic practices, it's a far more serious thing. The public needs to hold the media to a higher standard not a lower one.
While the Clinton campaign may have over played the incident somewhat, his suspension was the right thing for MSNBC to do.
Howdid the Clintons become so hated ? What did they do to deserve the treatment they now recieve ? There is a right wing conspiracy .
It's shocking to see a respectable candidates name mixed with the word cunt. Furthermore, it has been turned into a massive joke as seen in this prominent youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K1hsaWMKyc i for one am disgusted.
While Shuster's flippant remark about pimping out a child (forgetting that Bush, Romney, Cheney, and others with older children would not have that same accusation made about their children campaigning for them) was an unwise but almost natural result of the easy and daily maligning of Clinton by msnbc news staff (exception: Abrams) and I'm glad MSNBC acknowledged it was below their standards -- Shuster himself is a fantastic reporter. He doesn't take anything at face value and will explore, in depth, and will question what other reporters have left alone, out of apathy or laziness or fear of the administration of the moment.
Shuster's language is only one problem. And I don't buy how "accepted" pimped is, or that he just slipped. However, even if one accepts "pimped" as okay, neither he nor anyone else on MS/NBC or other media has referenced the same about the children of Romney, Gore, Bush, Kerry, Cheney, Edwards. It's a double standard. To those who say, if you're a Clinton, you're fair game and everyone else is off limits? Give me a break.
In reality, the exchange of emails between Shuster and Reines, Clinton's campaign press secretary, clearly indicates what has Shuster's shorts in a knot, which we all know has nothing to do with Chelsea Clinton's campaigning, but her refusal to grant interviews. David, and anybody else, get over it. Doesn't the right to non-speech fall under free speech?
I've been a loyal viewer of MS/NBC's family of "news/commentary" shows for a long time, but I now realize how increasingly pathetic I view the on-air personalities - Matthews being the worst (Hardball? ALWAYS gives a pass to the anti-Clinton viewpoint when they get in a jam and can't answer or duck a question), Olberman, their guest commentators like Fineman and Wolffe, Andrea Mitchell and the lot, Russert, etc. They're basically a bunch of smug, smarmy people who have accomplished nothing, out to promote McCain and Obama. They are an embarassment to anyone who values fair, balanced reporting
David Schuster's mistake was when he started joining in on the frat boy locker room misogyny that Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough, Tucker Carlson and the rest of the MSNBC gang (including Mika, Rachel and Norah) spearhead every day...prior to David's fall he was making a name for himself as a hard hitting, honest journalist and I believe being noticed and gaining respect...for example, his reporting on the Libby trial was excellent...
but, he could not help himself and he had to start trying to outdo Chris Matthews and now, even Keith Olbermann in the daily anti-Hillary, anti-Clinton rant...
...the problem is that MSNBC has made it its mission to attack, marginalize, sideline and frankly destroy the Clintons in any way they can...they have lost all objectivity and they better watch what they wish for because the majority of their content is the Clintons...the Clintons keeps MSNBC programming afloat...as in when Hillary went on Meet The Press they had their highest ratings ever...without the Clintons, MSNBC has no shows...
...it is ironic when Pat Buchanan and also Craig Crawford are the only voices of reason at MSNBC...
...but most of us have already turned the channel...
Shuster was really good covering the Libby trial. It's a shame he allowed himself to wallow in the disgusting frat-boy Clinton-hating sewer that that Chris Matthews presides over. It's Tweety Matthews who should be suspended, and then canned. Yes they do hate women over there. Even the Great Pumpkinhead Tim Russert writes book after book about his splendiferous father, never mentioning the mother who brought him forth from her loins. I hope a giant vagina swallows them all.
Here's the text of the message I sent to MSNBC management entitled, "DO NOT FIRE DAVID SHUSTER!!!"
Please folks:
Do not fire David Shuster! He certainly didn't mean "pimped out" in the most pejorative way it could've been taken. He was just being spontaneously edgy which is in keeping with most of MSNBC's programming. This whole thing is outrageous. I am a news junky and I watch more of MSNBC with my wife than any other channel. David has really come on as a reporter and sometimes host. He's great and he's a gentleman. You can't fire a person over one impromptu comment. I get boiling mad every time I think of this fine man being worried about keeping his job. He apologized and god help us all if you make him fall on his sword publicly. It would be so unseemly.
Just get the suspension over with and let him back on the channel. And, don't make a bigger deal out of this than it is upon his return. It should be a seamless move back into his role and function. This fake outrage on the part of Hillary Clinton (who my whole family is voting for, BTW) is manipulative. MSNBC is stronger than that. This was not an outrageous thing to say given her age and her ADULT involvement in Hillary's campaign! Could he have expressed himself in a more safe manner, Yes. But, you try to talk off the cuff for hours on end...come on.... Don't be manipulated! And, don't let him go to another network for god's sake. He belong with us. Stand up on your hind legs and have some loyalty to him.
Do not fire David Shuster! Please forward this to David Shuster so he can read how my wife and I feel about him.
Best regards, Scott
HILLARY RODHAM AND WILLIAM JEFFERSON, WORLD’S MOST NOTORIOUS UGLY AMERICAN NEO-LIB CROOKS, DESPERATELY ATTACK OBAMA WITH THEIR BAG OF DIRTY TRICKS TO THEIR OWN FURTHER DETRIMENT
TO DATE KEITH OLBERMAN AND DAVID SHUSTER IS ARE THE ONLY INTERESTING AND TRUTHFUL GENTLEMEN ON TELEVISION. SHAME ON MSNBC FOR ADMONISHING DAVID AND GOD HELP THEIR RATINGS IF THEY DARE DO THE SAME TO KEITH OLBERMAN.
Everything you just posted are my thoughts how weird.The only two decent folks are Buchanan and Crawford with honest political evaluation.It seemed for awhile Dan Abrahms was trying to stay away from promoting Obama 24/7 but he started this week.It has been revealed that the Pres. of msnbc is supporting BHO in a very big way but to ruin the station with all of the anti Clinton trash is putting them out of business.I agree Shuster was excellent on the Libby case but if you can't rise above the others you fall right into the muck.
When President Hillary sits in the Oval office they may all be surprised and feeling foolish.
I agree about the right-wing dunderheads, but it seems that David Shuster wants to join them. Anyway, it's good to know what his biases are when he does get back on the air.
I thought the democrat party was big on "The freedom of speech". Are people not allowed to have opinions anymore? God, are we going to have to hear Hillary complain everytime someone offends her? The presidency should be held by someone with class, not turned into the Jerry Springer show! I hope Obama beats her winkled white a**.
Please don't crucify Schuster over this. It's absurd. He's an excellent reporter and has actually been a lot more fair to the Clitnon's then they deserve in recent months. Everyone makes mistakes- and quite frankly....he had a point.
David Shuster had been billed as a real journalist. I don't know how he came up with what he said about Hillary pimping Chelsea, but it was a stupid thing to say that just invited the suspension. The networks need to draw the line somewhere.
Chris Matthews is an old trash-talking non-journalist, whose only aim is to provoke. I don't know why they keep that windbag.
Oh, and that's the Democratic party, not the Democrat party.
In answer to the poster who wrote: "Everyone makes mistakes- and quite frankly....he had a point":
He had a point? What was it?
Don't blame Hillary for David Schuster's suspension...NBC had no choice because they were flooded with thousands of phone calls and letters from mothers, daughters, sisters, fathers and brothers that had enough of the irresponsible attacks on Hillary at MSNBC...when David went after her daughter, that did it...fair minded people demanded an apology and management took it so seriously that they suspended him...
the good people of this country are watching and listening and we are not going to put up with this behavior on our airwaves...there is no reason for it...