2016 Postmortem
Showing Original Post only (View all)You guys remember Ed Schultz on MSNBC? Now he works for RT and he's pro-Putin and pro-Trump.... [View all]
Back when he hosted a prime-time talk show on MSNBC, Ed Schultz divided the world into heroes and villains. The heroes usually included Democrats like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The villains were most Republicans, and especially Donald J. Trump. When Trump obsessed over Obamas birth certificate and academic credentials in 2011, Schultz branded him a racist. When Trump flirted with running for president the next year, Schultz ridiculed him. Who has shown any interest in Donald Trump being the next president of the United States other than Donald Trump? he fumed. Mr. Trump, stop embarrassing yourself!
Another bad guy was Russian President Vladimir Putin. Schultz delighted in ripping conservatives for what he called their love affair with the Russian leader and his ability to make Obama look weak on the world stage. They hate Obama so much they will even embrace the head of the KGB ... Putie is their new hero! Schultz said in one 2013 segment. In another, he smugly reminded conservatives about Putins nasty human rights record and the way his reckless behavior was crippling Russia. More generally, Schultz often framed GOP opposition to Obama as anti-American or unpatriotic.
That was all before last July, when MSNBC abruptly canceled The Ed Show after a six-year run and dumped the 62-year-old prairie populist from the network. By the time Schultz resurfaced this January, he had been reincarnated in a very different journalistic form: as a prime-time host, reporter and political analyst for RT America, the U.S. branch of the global cable network formerly known as Russia Today, funded by the Russian government.
Gone is the praise for Obama and Clinton. Gone, too, are the mocking references to Putie. And gone are the judgments about others patriotism. Schultzs 8 p.m. RT show, The News with Ed Schultz, now features Putin-friendly discussions about the failings of U.S. policy in the Middle East, Americas bloated defense budget and the futility of NATO strategy.
Even Trump is getting a new look from Schultz. Speaking at various points on RT in recent months, Schultz has said that Trump has tapped into an anger among working people, is talking about things the people care about, and even, as Schultz recently declared, that Trump would easily be able to function as president.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/04/donald-trump-2016-russia-today-rt-kremlin-media-vladimir-putin-213833