Ed Schultz calls Laura Ingraham a "right-wing slut," conservatives freak out

By Michael J.W. Stickings

This one's pretty simple.

While I can't stand right-wing talk-radio extremist Laura Ingraham, it was clearly wrong for MSNBC's Ed Schultz, also on talk radio, to call her a "right-wing slut."

There are many things Ingraham could justifiably be called, but this was, to say the least, highly inappropriate.

I wouldn't go so far as to say it amounts to misogyny, but there's no excuse for it. It's obviously far worse than calling Republicans "bastards," as he did earlier this year. Such ad hominem slurs have no place in our society, including in our political discourse. Schultz should have known better, and spoken better.

And it was clearly right for MSNBC to suspend Schultz, if only for a week, which seems like an appropriate amount of time for such an offence.

But.

It is ridiculous that some on the right are trying to score partisan political points by using Schultz's remark to attack their opponents more broadly. Ingraham herself called it misogyny, as did Michelle Malkin.

When did these two ever care about misogyny? Or about insensitive speech generally?

How typical that conservatives go all politically correct when it suits them, that is, when someone on the left says something inappropriate, even just a stupid and fleeting remark, while excusing all manner of inappropriate (sexist, racist, homophobic, etc.) speech uttered by the likes of, say, Rush Limbaugh, or countless others on the right, where trafficking in bigotry is widespread?

Please.

Schultz deserves his punishment and should be ashamed of himself. But the right shouldn't be allowed to turn this into a weapon to attack the left and cover up its own proclivities. If you really want to hear bigotry, after all, you know where to turn.