She's right to be angry.

But is this really where she wants the focus to be during this stretch of states with regard to her campaign?

I don't think it is clear she wants him fired. I do think she thought his apology was weak. A real, personal apology would probably do. Also, it is clear that all of this is more of a problem because of the context and the "pattern of behavior". Maybe an assurance that Matthews is going to lay-off his locker room manner would help.

Its cool for Rupert Murdoch to throw her a fundraiser, but David Shuster needs to have his career ruined for one asinine comment amid a very solid career. That is weak.

I'm personally tired and disgusted with how those whose job it is to use language to convey messages to the public have become more and more like immature giddy 12 year old boys who have just discovered the 10 dirty words.

Once upon a time journalists, especially those who used the public airwaves, had some integrety, were capable of censoring their thoughts so that the words they used didn't pander to the other 12 year old boys during recess.

Shuster is just another in the line of faux journalists who are more interested in face time, having their ego's stroked, listening to themselves blather, and then high-fiving each other because they made "news" instead of reporting it.

Of course what's worse are those in the public that grew up with this sort of behavior and find it acceptable. Once there were people like Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Ernie Pyle, etc. who showed respect to their audience even if they detested those they were reporting on. Their opinions mattered.

Shuster is nothing more than another pimple on the behind of what passes for American culture. As far as I'm concerned all three cable news channels could go off the air and the country would be a much better place. I'm sick of pandering and immature behavior. It would be nice to bring the stocks back and allow these hollow heads to be put on public display without the protection of their cushy studios. It's their insulation from those they report on that allows them to continue.

Shame on Shuster. Shame on those who hired him. Shame on those who defend him.

The Clintons have nothing to do with this anymore than Tiger Woods had anything to do with the pathetic excuse for a sportscaster on the golf channel, or the women basketball players had to to with Imus. These "journalists" are wholly responsible for their juvenile language. Broadcast news continues to be for entertainment purposes only.

A person should feel shame when they behave like this, but they don't. When caught they say they're sorry but even that is faux shame. Nobody in this country ever feels shame. Everything can be explained away. Well shame on us for that.

I don't think Schuster's employment has much bearing on Hillary's life or campaign or whatever.

I do think it's in Hillary's interest that Schuster's employment or lack-there-of is a prime subject on Meet the Press tomorrow, in lieu of, say, discussion of new delegate counts from Super Tuesday showing Obama as the clear delegate victor or today's probable results showing Obama pulling away by 10s of additional delegates

Bill Clinton can cheat on her in the White House with a 21 year old intern and his apology is accepted.

David Shuster can make an impossibly stupid REMARK, apologize for it twice and get suspended; nothing short of his head is good enough.

Methinks, the Senator doesn't render her scale of opprobrium to the scale of the crime. It's all about judgment people, and she ain't got it.

Is it too much to think she is pushing hard to retain the votes of women with the 'I was a mother first' business? I mean, really, Chelsea is nearly 28 years old and asking for Shuster's head on a platter seems both opportunistic and hypocritical. You know, just like making a play for Michigan and Florida delegates.

Bizarre. I totally agreed with her calling them out on this, but this is just beyond what democracy can handle.

Since when do politicians tell news orgs who to fire? What next? George Bush calls and demands they fire Olbermann?

Greg,

Where in that letter does she say that she wants him fired?

This is my interpretation:

No temporary suspension or half-hearted apology is sufficient. She wants them to look at their pattern of behavior and change their ways. Nothing will be sufficient until that degrading language stops.

oh cmon- he can always get a job at fox.
this 'f--- her if she can't take a joke'
attitude is completely unacceptable and
ascribing a moral parity between shuster's
comments and clinton's is obscene

This is complete bs and below any "proud mom." wake up. pimping someone out is not that offensive!!! holy crap, it's just a figure of speech. and to shuster's defense, that is exactly what the hillary campaign is doing with chelsea.

dont like the commentators? turn it back on Clinton News Network then! Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman are the best show on tv.

hillary is starting to come across as a desperate housewife. chelsea is not a little kid! let her defend herself. this is a sad ploy by the clinton's to USE their daughter to get headlines. puh-lease.

However, I became Chelsea’s mother long before I ran for any office and I will always be a mom first and a public official second.

OK. Enough! We get it! David Shuster is Satan! Convenient way to distract the easily distracted when you're getting your ass handed to you in today's elections.

Hillary might want to let her almost 28 year old adult daughter fight some of her own battles. It's one thing for a pantload like Rush Limbaugh to make fun of a teenage girl, it's an entirely different matter when a reporter says something stupid about an adult for a perceived slight.

I'm personally tired and disgusted with how those whose job it is to use language to convey messages to the public have become more and more like immature giddy 12 year old boys who have just discovered the 10 dirty words.

Once upon a time journalists, especially those who used the public airwaves, had some integrety, were capable of censoring their thoughts so that the words they used didn't pander to the other 12 year old boys during recess.

Shuster is just another in the line of faux journalists who are more interested in face time, having their ego's stroked, listening to themselves blather, and then high-fiving each other because they made "news" instead of reporting it.

Of course what's worse are those in the public that grew up with this sort of behavior and find it acceptable. Once there were people like Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Ernie Pyle, etc. who showed respect to their audience even if they detested those they were reporting on. Their opinions mattered because they had integrity.

Shuster is nothing more than another pimple on the behind of what passes for American culture. As far as I'm concerned all three cable news channels could go off the air and the country would be a much better place. I'm sick of pandering and immature behavior. It would be nice to bring the stocks back and allow these hollow heads to be put on public display without the protection of their cushy studios. It's their insulation from those they report on that allows them to continue.

Shame on Shuster. Shame on those who hired him. Shame on those who defend him.

The Clintons have nothing to do with this anymore than Tiger Woods had anything to do with the pathetic excuse for a sportscaster on the golf channel, or the women basketball players had to to with Imus. These "journalists/entertainers" are wholly responsible for their juvenile language. Broadcast news continues to be for entertainment purposes only.

A person should feel shame when they behave like this, but they don't. When caught they say they're sorry but even that is faux shame. Nobody in this country ever feels shame. Everything can be explained away. Well shame on us for that.

So, now does anyone doubt that the original outrage was a ploy to get more media coverage? After an apology, and a suspension, it's not enough. Yeah, it's not enough to keep Ms. Alex Forrest in the news. So she's gonna keep piling it on.

BTW, the outrage only shows how out of touch she is with popular culture and vernacular. "Pimping" as Shuster used it, is NOT about prostitution in this day and age.

LMAO KathyF. Nice. This is eerily reminiscent of Bill going apesh*t about the biased media coverage before New Hampshire. I guess they figured it worked there, lets try again. i think everyone Senator who voted for the Iraq War without reading the NIE should be impeached.

i like the comments to the effect that "David Shuster isn't a real journalist". do you people even watch TV? Shuster has consistently been one of the more thorough and dedicated journalists on any network, particularly on Guantanamo and the Valerie Plame scandal. he was probably the best reporter on the Plame incident on TV, uncovering and displaying all the bullshit Bush and Co. had spread around to ignore or disguise the issue.

his comments were idiotic, but Jesus let's have some perspective here. ask yourselves if this is more of the Clintonian pathos to crush anyone that affronts them?

She's right, this time. That idiot does not belong on television.

But it's hard to miss the hypocrisy.

Bill has fun in the Oval Office and it's a "vast right-wing conspiracy".

Bill throws out racial insults in South Carolina and it's a "certainly he did not mean to hurt anyone".

She votes to have thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed for no reason and it's a "if I knew then what I know now".

If Mrs Clinton is a pimp, by definition her daughter must be a whore.

In what IMUS world do you get to label a Stamford grad a whore, simply because you don’t like her mother?

I like David Shuster. He's from right near where I live.

That said, what would the tolerance be if, for example, he called Michelle Obama "a nappy-headed ho."

Saying that Hillary was pimping her out is basically saying that she's a pimp and Chelsea's a curly-headed ho.

Sorry. No do-overs for Imus. No do-overs for Shuster.

That said, I think if Shuster backs up and gives a sincere and humble apology rather than pissing everyone off with an "if my comments offended anyone" type of bullshit, I'm sure she'd accept it (at least after the weekend ;-) and move on.

It's his non-apology "apology" that escalated the situation. These journalists (even good ones like Shuster) are so arrogant and full of themselves, they forget what their responsibility and job is.

David really never apologized in what to me is an authentic way. This to me is typical behavior of the MSNBC "boys" like Chris Matthews, Tucker, Joe, and others -- they seem just hooked on Hillary and focused on what they perceive as her "negatives".

I agree -- forget debating on this network and I believe MSNBC when I see more women, people of color, and Chris Matthews and Tucker OFF THE AIR.

So will she invade any country, or drop a bomb the next some National Leader pinches Chelseas behind during a States Dinner ? We all know how those French and Italians love their women.

This kind of vindictiveness is not what we want in a leader, we just had 7 yrs of that. This is just more proof of how unfit she is to lead.

people asking "why didn't she get so outraged and call for G.W. Bush, Limbaugh, O'Reilly etc. to be fired for X or Y" are missing the point.

she didn't call for their resignations because IT WASN'T POLITICALLY EXPEDIENT FOR HER TO DO SO. you're missing the primary motivating factor in Hillary's decision-making.

make an effort to get a comment from the Clinton campaign regarding how offended they were about the McCain joke when Hillary was a teenager. Even a no comment, or a "we do not believe he really told the joke" would be revealing.

If you are unwilling to do that, you really should not post anything more about this subject.

The MSM infotainment has many jerks and losers. That said MSNBC's response was enough already. Just call them on it each time they do it. As for Hillary, this is politics. Think demographics. She is playing the Mommy Card.

If they capitulate, they lose all respect here. All of their reporters and commentators will be gagged. This is what the real intent is.

Maybe Hillary wants Shuster to give $4600 to her campaign.

bravo6: "grow up"

That's funny.

The Clinton's outrage seems a little selective. Certainly Shuster's comment was stupid. But is it worse than making making thinly-veiled references to Hillary as a "hoe", as Limbaugh did? Has Hillary demanded Oxy Boy's ouster? Coulter continues to appear regularly on MSNBC, after making scores of ugly and slanderous comments about Bill and Hillary. Have they demanded the Coulter be banished from MSNBC?

The Clinton's are overplaying their hand here. They should lay off Shuster unless they're willing to apply the same standard to rightwing freaks who, unlike Shuster, wouldn't know decency if it were jammed up their ass.

blackstar, on the contrary, you're missing that the people who you're claiming missed the point are POINTING OUT the point that you're claiming they're missing.

The Clintons had a right to be pissed at what was said, but that's the extent of it. Shuster wasn't being malicious when he used that term. It was a poor choice, but nothing that deserves being fired over. He's also apologized more than once in front of God and everybody. Methinks this is an example of Hillary playing the self righteous victim and using this as an opportunity to intimidate MSNBC where she and her campaign believe Obama is getting better coverage than she is. Shuster's comment just wasn't that bad, he deserves to keep his job and if Hillary and her people persist, they deserve all the brickbats that get thrown at them for being willing to do or say anything they think will be to their advantage.

Tut freakin' tut. I have a hard time giving a rat's about this one. Not like there's a war (or two) on or anything, Senator Clinton. I mean, surprise surprise, much of the mainstream media discourse is sexist. It would be great if somebody really wanted to address this, but Hillary's mama lioness pantomime is a bore, and if I wanted to see that, I'd watch Flightplan again. I'm really getting sick of the Clinton camp attempting to play lowest common denominator pseudofeminism for sympathy votes. Far worse things were said about Chelsea when she actually was a child, and nobody could be bothered to ask for anybody's head then.

The number of misogynists in the thread is pretty remarkable. Actually...pretty pathetic and sad.

Good strong liberals you Obama supporters! "Say what you want about Hillary or her daughter, we'll defend it...as long as it helps good, pure Barack!" Heh-heh.

i cant believe what im reading here ....you obama people are sick and because of all this obama crap i have changed my mind and will vote for hillary....between the blogs hateful commments and msnbc,,,,i am ready to throw up....the pimp statement was outlandish and completely uncalled for ....and i dont care who your backing this crap should not be tolerated.....hillary said she would back whomever the canditate is ,,,,,obamas wife dosnt want to ,,,,,he says his followers wont back her .....talk about dividing a party...when HRC said she wanted the fla and mich delagates to be seated obama screamed she was trying to change the rules....now obama wants to stop the super delagates because he could lose them so he wants to change the rules ..........WHAT A HYPOCRITE

Fact: Obama never "Screamed." He asked for a fair resolution, since Hillary was the only one on Michigan ballots. Seems fair.

Fact: He's never wanted to change the rules on superdelegates. He said he believes they will support the votes of their districts. He never demanded it.

Fact: the pimp statement was off-color, but definitely is getting blown out of proportion more so now.

In common, popular usage, "to pimp" does not mean "to sell for prostitution," it simply means "to use opportunisitcally." A very poor choice of words. Obviously misunderstood and offensive to some who are out of touch with popular culture. The offender was suspended. Two apologies were made. Hillary could demonstrate some character herself by accepting them and moving on. But oops, that would require some character and would remove a destraction from what is happening in the primaries and caucuses.
Hmmm to use opportunistically.

loki redux:

Good strong liberals you Obama supporters! "Say what you want about Hillary or her daughter, we'll defend it...as long as it helps good, pure Barack!"

Who has defended what Shuster said?

obama said he want the super del to vote for who ebver has the most popular vote a lead in delagates and a lead in states one ....that is not the rule of the dnc super delagates ,,,,for years they vote for who they want.....now he wants to change that rule .....so change the rule and let those 2 states in then

"Frankly, a presidential candidate demanding that a reporter be fired seems like it's crossing over some first amendment line. And why is this letter being made public if not to score political points? "

I hadn't thought of that. I was just thinking "petty".

But what implications does this have if she were president? Does she really respect press freedom, or will she declare whatever she likes to be "over the line" and try to bully the media?

Press freedom as long as I approve is hardly press freedom.

Someone above mentioned that there is no downside in the Clintons playing this controversy for all its worth. I have to disagree. The more drama this stirs up simply reminds Democrats what they didn't like about the generally respectable Clinton administration: all the drama.

One more thing:

Is Hillary trying to intimidate the media in general and MSNBC in particular?

You know, scare pundits and reporters so they back off? You say the wrong thing or get too harsh and you might lose your job?

I think the Clintons are hoping to bully the media into a more acquiescent role in their coverage. ("Shame on you" and now this)

By the way, if I had a son selling popcorn for the Boy Scouts I would use the word pimping as well. We should be able to discuss the context of the word without accusing someone of being a misoginyst. It's entirely possible that Shuster is one, but assuming that he is one on this basis seems a little weak to me. Stupid yes. Taking it a step further and accusing anyone who disagrees with you as being one or making this the reason why you won't vote for Obama is sad.

Hilary is demanding civility towards here daughter and for herself. At least from the network clowns. She and her daughter will continue to be targets for ugly talkradio/administration/fox noise types (O'Reilly, Savage, Boortz, Beck, Limbaugh, et al) for sure. And it will be down and dirty and ugly soon enough. Think Valerie Plame. This is not about politics but she wants to take down the swiftboat, Plame mentality that makes any women punching bags for most if not al right-wing males (and some females).

She needs to do this now to put on notice that the old ways are dead. Imus can be bagged. So can Shuster tho it's more aimed at the other clown Matthews. Really

Mickster

So, using Hillary's own standards, shouldn't she be forced to resign for her "Gandhi the gas station owner" remarks?

I do wish people would pay attention to this paragraph in the letter:

I would urge you to look at the pattern of behavior on your network that seems to repeatedly lead to this sort of degrading language.

This is truly the heart of the problem. The point is, Shuster's comments didn't come in a vacuum. They seemed natural to Shuster because he and his colleagues at MSNBC (as well as other media outlets, including TPM) simply buy into a culture in which Clinton-hatred is essentially the air they breathe. In that hate-choked atmosphere, ranting on the Clintons, and finding fault in basically innocent activities (Chelsea called people on behalf of her mother -- the horrors!), is their daily bread. Each person's bile against the Clintons feeds on everyone else's.

Because Shuster was essentially in the midst of a rant against the Clintons, who can be surprised that he chose words, "pimped out", that allowed him to vent the ugliness he felt?

Really, what the Clintons want to see come to an end is the out-of-control viciousness that media outlets, most notoriously MSNBC, display toward them. Unless that deep emotional bias and problem is not dealt with squarely by MSNBC, there's essentially ZERO chance anything is going to change. God only knows how these creatures will choose to attack Chelsea or other members of the Clinton family in the future if they refuse even to admit to a basic problem.

Hillary is right to call the network and Shuster out on this. The viciousness must end.

She is not "right to be angry." This is a transparent ploy comprised of manufactured outrage that serves to demonstrate how contentious she can be...

...as if we aren't all a little exhausted by the boneyard of contention that American politics has become.

Everything's a vector for offense. The benefit of the doubt is a farcical anachronism. We are expected to be shocked--SHOCKED, I say... when the call for consternation comes from people who honestly cannot care less.

Gotcha-gotcha-gotcha, gitchee-gitchee-goo.

I want a grown-up that is does not revel in being perfectly full of shit in the White House.

Clearly it depends on what the definition of "pimp" is. Bill should weigh in at this point. [And the entire Arkansas Highway Patrol, from what I recall. What a laugh that would be.]

frankly0, so Hillary is saying Shuster is the same as IMUS? She has really gone off the deep end with this female victim routine.

She may well win the presidency by appealing to the victimhood of women. But will she be able to govern a nation divided by gender?

She does not say "Shuster must be fired". This is what you're reading into it.

Her actual message is much more ambiguous, and it could easily be interpreted as a call to revise the network's policy of favoring Obama shamelessly, and not just singling out one individual within the organization for what is a "pattern of behavior" network-wide.

This I believe is the more accurate interpretation.

i think obama needs to hit on the theme that this kind of manufactured outrage and confrontation is what we're getting into with clinton.

Overkill.

I am a supporter of Senator Clinton, and the real apology last evening came from Keith Olberman. I saw both of David's comments and he may have fallen short. Keith was more forthcoming in the manner he apologized on behalf of the station. I like David and many of his reports are excellent. Unfortunately, as soon as they brought him into the studio with some of those creeps, David changed just a little bit. The real culprits Matthews, Tucker and Scarborough, et al get away with murder. Did anyone hear what the Scar said to David the other morning. He thought David cut him off and proceeded to tell David that he's in the studio (his chair) because he permits it. Also, in reading Senator Clinton's letter to MSNBC, I don't interpret its intent to have David fired. Rather, his apology is insuffient in the face of the pattern of behavior which contiues to exist among the boys and some of the ladies in the studio. Hillary is asking suggesting that's where the problem is.
Go Hillary!

Intro to Clinton Logic #49275

Crime: Cheating on your wife multiple times.
Punishment: Apology.

Crime: Insinuating that Obama was a drug dealer.
Punishment: ???

Crime: Saying the Clintons are "pimping out their daughter."
Punishment: Lose your job.

And we want these people executing the laws of the country? Wowza.

greg, i think your coverage here is way off the mark; big tent dem at talkleft is right on that score.

Well, whether Shuster should be fired or not, I don't know. But it's clear that Hillary has completely lost the pimp vote.

It's really astonishing the way that the Clinton campaign can rob me of all sympathy over the course of a couple of days.

Now that Hillary has acknowledged that Chelsea is playing a public role in the campaign, are journalists still going to be shitlisted for asking her questions about her superdelegate calls?

And will the senator still be pitching for a debate on Fox News, home of every imaginable Clinton family smear over the past decade?

Shuster is an insensitive fool, but he apologized, twice, and very contritely (more than Bill did for unnecessarily weakening the party by fooling around on the job). But pleeeze, isn't she milking this for all it's worth? Ever the victim, that Hil. Tears can't be far behind, it's a lock. Will everyone fall for those tears again? Will she try it on Putin when he ices her?

Hillary Clinton is full of it, sorry. Of course she has a right to be angry, she just got called a 'pimp'! But calling for Shuster's head, if that's what she's doing, is ridiculous. Shuster is a great, not just good or decent but a great reporter. God dammit people's brains don't work! STOP comparing this to Don Imus! Don Imus was 1) not fired because some figure from on high called for it, 2) known for making racist, sexist and homophobic statements for hours per day, every day, for years, and 3) saying something meant as a directly degrading personal insult to high-achieving young African American women, not making a backhanded shot at their parents. Shuster did NOT call Chelsea Clinton a whore! He was saying Bill and Hillary were exploiting Chelsea, it was a shot at them, not her. He's wrong to have used the term, and he's wrong in terms of the metaphor, Chelsea is perfectly within her rights to campaign for her mother, although calling superdelegates to sway them is a bit weird, as is the fact that both she and Bill are superdelegates in this race. I don't think that's very cool, but they're only 2 out of 800 or so. MSNBC should feel free to remove Shuster from campaign coverage for the time being, re-assign him. Such a comment does not make him unfit to report on TV, that is just silly. But it does reveal too high of a level of bias against Hillary Clinton for him to be a credible, objective source about her.

as john kerry said I was for obama before i was against him......you people show him up for what he is .....a super speaking CON ARTIST....he should be selling vacuum cleaners

ZUMPER,

Your comments are becoming juvenile.

And I am sure if she wins, you and Hillary will send the IRS after anyone who voted against her. She is known to be extremely vindictive.

Why do Hillary supporters think they can bully their way to the White House?

I'll say this for her - she plays hardball. Give her an inch and she'll try to exploit it for all it's worth.

She's not really outraged. She knows fine well what Shuster meant (and didn't mean). It's all about hardball politics and trying to stay relevant during a spell when she's being trounced.

That's why I won't vote for her in the primaries. She's channeling Rove. "Whatever it takes, baby..." She's hoping to create an Imus-type ruckus. Good luck...

Zumper - you're obviously an Obama troll who's trying to make Clinton look bad by writing ridiculous over the top nonsense. As an Obama supporter myself I say - stop, your work is done!

"Politics ain't beanbag" they say. Yeah, but you should be able to go to sleep at night with a clear conscience....

PARTY OF ONE

what are you going to do if he loses ....slit your weists or jump off a bridge .....we had one dem president in 27 years because of this crap in the dem party.... argue issues not personalities

Maybe this is exactly what she wants the focus to be on INSTEAD of on obama winning a string of states today and over the next week.

There seems to be a very real visceral hatred of Senator Clinton among many posters on this site. It's astonishing to read the accusations leveled against her which, in most cases are nothing more than republican talking points. This woman has been raked over the coals for longer than I care to remember. Yet, she's standing today and running a spirited campaign for president. Senator Clinton continues to show strength in the face of the personal attacks she is constantly receiving from many quarters. I have never heard her whine about something said about her. As she says in her letter, she understands that when she's attacked it goes with the territory. Some folks should go back and research just who first brought up the issue of Senator Obama, drug dealing and cocaine use. Think MSNBC pundit...

It seems that Sen. Clinton is more interested in running against the MSM than running against Sen. Obama. She was right to question whether she wants to debate on MSNBC, but to send a (very public) letter to the President of NBC News shows that she wants this to be the story this weekend, not how she will be a better president than Obama. Or the fact that Obama might sweep this weekend's states.

I've had enough of an administration who makes the media heel to it's exact demands. Obama showed class when Faux News did the madrassa story. He didn't escalate with Roger Ailes, he let irresponsible journalism receive the embarrassment it deserves. Clinton should have done the same here.

Be firm, be resolved with the MSM when it screws up, but don't drag things out- it doesn't seem presidential. It's the double-edged sword of the First Amendment with which we all have to live.

This is not about firing anyone. Your analysis is way off the mark.

Another poster found this:

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/2/9/183044/9432

I concur, this analysis is much more accurate.

"This woman has been raked over the coals for longer than I care to remember. "

This woman has already spent years in the governor's mansion and 8 years in the White House and has enough money to loan herself $5M. Hillary Clinton is not a victim. She will never be elected President pretending to be one.

I don't think she is being reasonable...David is on our side! He is no FOX News tool.

Shuster absolutely owned Congresswoman Marsha Blakcburn when he exposed her for not knowing the name of a soldier from her district who had recently been killed in Iraq.

Unfortunately, he had to apologize to her too, but he kept his job.

Hill really needs to chill.

Dear Donald and Bluebell,
Thank you. I don't drink Kool Aide. I drink Trappist Chimay. Despite having been and continuing to be victimized, Senator Clinton has never pretended to be a victim. I don't recognize that as her style. Even when she was humiliated by her husband she conducted herself with enormous dignity in the face of public humiliation. How would you handle it? It's natural for one to feel the victim. It takes more inner strength to absorb the humiliation and go on with life. You have, however, made my point.

Yes...Shuster's comment was in poor taste...yes MSNBC has turned into the Rat Pack/Locker Room boys with Chuckie Scarborough and Tweetie. So Dave apologized twice...Kieth once...and Hilary is still bleating. Folks...hate to say it but she is using this tempest in a teapot to steal the news cycle this weekend from delegate gains by Obama and her lack of fund raising. Raising the mommy card to take the attention away from losing....now that is a presidential canidate for ya. Sorry...she may not have been pimpin Chelsea out before but she sure as heck is now. Chelsea is 28 years old...let her speak...she has a good education and a one on one sit down argument with Shuster would do more for the Clinton campaign than anything....but playing the mommycard for a 28 year old....nope...that is just old familiar Clinton politics that makes you want to vote for change.

Chelsea (mortified): "Mom! Please stop! He said he was sorry...now just leave it alone! God!"

Hillary: "Honey, you're upset. Don't worry. Mommy and Daddy are going to make that man pay for what he said."

Chelsea: "He said he was sorry! What do you want from him? It's no big deal; everybody say's 'pimpin' these days. It's, like, slang! God, you are so embarrassing!"

Hillary: "I don't care if everyone is saying it. Pimping is not OK. I didn't like it when that song won the Acadamy Award and I don't like it when rude TV news reporters say it about us. I didn't go through everything I went through to defend the rights of women and children for 35 years to have that word thrown in my face. That smart-mouthed bastard will never work again if I have anything to say about it..."

Chelsea: "Mom! Get over yourself! This is not about you! This is about me! And I don't want to fight about it just so you can get a few more sympathy votes! I just want it to go away!"

Hillary: "What did you say, young lady? Votes? You think this is about votes! This isn't about votes, it's about..."

Chelsea (breaking into tears): "Yes, it is! Everything's about votes with you two! Everything! I hate you! I hate politics! I'm going to endorse OBAMA!"

Hillary: "You are WHAT!?"

Chelsea: "I'm going to endorse OBAMA! It's time for a change! I'm sick of this. You know he's better for the party! I don't care about all the people you and daddy want to 'pay back.' The whole thing is ugly! Don't you get it? No one likes you! You were First Lady! Isn't that enough for you? You're just making us all look stupid by making such a big deal over the word 'pimp.' It's not that big a deal! Let! It! Go! GOD!"

Hillary: "Bill, get in here. Chel says she's endorsing Obama."

Bill (entering the roo with his bi-focals halfway down his nose and the NY Times crossword in his hand): "Nobody'd endorsing Obama. You two take it easy."

Chelsea: "Yes! Yes, I am! If you two don't stop bringing the pimp thing over and over again! I told you, I don't like politics. I didn't want to be involved. It's not my fault if no one under 50 will vote for you! Young people don't listen to me anyway. I don't care about the jokes. I don't care about the nasty comments. I just want it all to go away!"

Hillary: "Bill. Do something."

Bill: "I just got off the phone with Blumenthal. MSNBC won't fire Shuster."

Hillary: "Not about that! About her!"

Bill: "What am I supposed to do? She's thirty years old. If she can't bring herself to endorse her own mother, that's her business, not mine. I was halfway thinking about endorsing him myself. You know, he is quite the orator. Kinda reminds me of me, when I was..."

Hillary: "Oh, no. Oh NO. We had a DEAL. I sat there and took it when you had your little...episode. Your little epiSODES! our little whores! Oh, the shit I took. And now...? No! No! I won't have it! I want David Shuster's ASS!"

Bill: "Come on, Chel. Let's go watch the returns come in. The polls just closed in Nebraska."

While HRC's request for action is certainly bold, I'm not taking that anymore type, and commendable, I think Shuster is among only a few journalists doing real job out there. I think he needs to stay.
At the same time, this will also act as a sort of warning to Tweety to use his mouth in sync with his brain. It's him along with Scarborough and Carlson that need to be booted out.

So you are saying David Shuster said that the Clinton's were selling their daughter as a prostitute?

Obviously not literally.

Yes, he's complaining that the Clinton campaign is using Chelsea to drum up support. (Why that's a problem, I don't really know.) That's the substance of the statement.

But the problem is the way he chooses to describe the substance of that statement. To me, Shuster's suggestion is that it's not just a sales pitch, it's more like a come-on. "Support my mom, big boy, you know you want to." Ergo, the Clinton campaign is "pimping out" Chelsea because they're using her to woo the superdelegates. The way he wants to describe the inappropriateness of Chelsea's role is by giving the whole thing a sexual subtext.

Shuster's connotation, I'd say, is that a phone call from Chelsea Clinton is not only a request for support, but a thrill with a spark of flirtation -- which is why it's inappropriate for the campaign to put her up to it -- which is why it's akin to pimping their own daughter.

That's the only way I can figure that there's any logic behind Shuster's remarks about Chelsea Clinton and the Clinton campaign: it explains why he thinks calling superdelegates is both inappropriate and like being "pimped out."

This isn't about Shuster. Shuster was wrong, everyone knows that. But Hillary is using her power to push this matter as hard as she can. Looks vindictive to me. Just more evidence that Hillary will be vindictive for the next 8 years.

Yeah, just what we need another President who tries to muscle us out of our civil liberties. Hillary must have done as good a job reading the 1st amendment as Bush has done reading the 4th. Haven't we had enough of these self-absorbed oligarchs! Pass the torch to a new generation, please.

Silent Monk said "Even when she was humiliated by her husband she conducted herself with enormous dignity in the face of public humiliation. "

As I recall, she went on NBC Today Show, proclaimed his innocence, and blaimed the vast rightwing conspircy. Did Hillary really believe Bill, even after 20 years of infidelity, which would have been amazingly naive? Or, did she know and lie to the nation, not realizing that irrefutable evidence would offer proof? There is a real major issue of judgment in how Hillary handled the Monica affair.

In one small way, it is similar to her Iraq vote. She either blieved Bush's lies, even when there was evidence to the contrary in the the classified security report, or she had other motives. Either way, she showed horrible judgment in possibly the biggest decision she will ever make as a public servant, with the result of enabling an incompetent president to start a needless, unjustified war.

Perhps if Schuster would make a contribution to her campaign the way Murdoch did, she'll back off.
Schuster is a really good reporter and NBC would be foolish to let him go. Besides they already went down that road with Imus and what did it prove? Imus is back in the saddle again.
(And no, I am not putting Schuster in the same league with Imus. As stated, I think he's a really good reporter.)

I was very upset about this whole incident and wanted Schuster -- and his frat boy antics -- punished. A month long suspension and sexual harassment training would be just right for me. He could be educated. I also empathized with Senator Clinton -- like her I have a daughter.

As I have watched this escalate, however, I am beginning to have second thoughts. First, the sense of self-righteousness that Senator Clinton is displaying seems strange. Why can't Chelsea speak for herself. My 27 year old daughter would tell me she is a grownup and would call the final shots.

Secondly, one thing that has always made me very uncomfortable about Senator Clinton is the way she basically licensed her husband to sexually harass young women. (Monica was sexually harassed in a work context). Now, she is demanding a stupid journalist be fired for disrespecting women verbally while her husband used young women in a very bad and much more devastating way.

This incidentis beginning to remind me of what repels me about the Clintons. If it's Chelsea who is teated badly, call in the firing squad, If it is a Monica Lewinsky, treat her like a crazy s*.

To me, this is very dangerous territory for the Senator.

Thank you, Party-of-One. I do appreciate your thoughts regarding my comment. Do you believe that persons running for such an office aren't power hungry or at least seeking power? Or that they may not always be honest? Those along with "she's very polarizing" are the kind of comments I've heard on MSNBC, FOX and other stations. It seems to me, at least from my vantage point that in this race nobody is more charmingly manipulative than Senator Obama. Just my opinion, understand. He's a great orator, yes. I have seen and heard him act in a mean spirited manner. The one instance that stands out was during the debate and the "you're likable enough" comment. It wasn't what he said but how he said it. I thought it could have been a lighter funnier moment. I realize the Clintons are hard nosed politicians and this is the business they chose. I don't see them being any more mean spirited or tough on their opponents than others. Obama presents a very different target and he knows it. His campaign has already very smoothly used it to their advantage. Hillary Clinton is for the most part held to a different standard. Wait till McCain and company start with either of the democratic candidates. It will be very ugly. Thank you for your very civil comments. Good luck with your candidate.

why doesn't hillary apologize for voting for the war? why won't she release her income tax records as obama already has? she is a big phony with a noxious voice. please go away bill and hillary, you are yesterday's news.

"evidence to the contrary in the the classified security report"

Not to mention a leading presidential candidate, Howard Dean, correctly proclaiming the foolishness of the rush to war. One did not need classified documents to oppose the war (as yet undeclared, BTW), just a modicum of courage.

"Monica was sexually harassed in a work context"

I always thought that was a point that was generally overlooked. Few managers in corporate America today could get away with misusing an intern! And consider the stupidity of the Clintons reminding us of this. Defend Chelsea from a thoughtlessly used inappropriate word but have us disregard how Bill used Monica. Dumb.

This is chilling that politician's now feel that they can manipulate the press this openly. How DARE she tell a media company how to handle their personnel matters is such a Bushian way. This is disgusting and appalling and I am more disappointed in Sen. Clinton than I was before now. SHAME ON YOU, Hillary!

It'd be really nice if people would read the letter before they go off spouting about how Clinton has:

GONE TOO FAR ! ! !

She is saying that an apology is not enough. It isn't! Matthews was made to apologize and the next day the anchors and analysts circled the wagon and it got worse. Here is what she is asking for:

"I would urge you to look at the pattern of behavior on your network that seems to repeatedly lead to this sort of degrading language.

Surely, you can do your jobs as journalists and commentators and still keep the discourse civil and appropriate."

Where'd she ask for him to be fired? Get a grip guys.

I disagree with the interpretation that she necessarily wants Shuster fired. I think it's clear she's asking for acknowledgment that this is a pattern of behavior on MSNBC and that they will be more responsible in the future. Also, a REAL apology from Shuster and not the half hearted one he offered would be nice.

"Who got fired for Pimping Out the Lincoln Bedroom, and Presidential Pardons?"

Nobody got fired, but the Democratic Party was suspended for six years as punishment for the offense.

Honestly, I think this is more about Hillary trying to show herself as a MOM with FEELINGS.

"I became Chelsea’s mother long before I ran for any office and I will always be a mom first and a public official second."

Hillary knows she can't pull the cryng thing again. So this way she can point out that she's a mother first, not the cold-fish careerist so many people think she is.

Unfortunately, she's doing it in a public display meant to help her campaign. Thus the public release of the letter which undermines its sincerity and opens itself to charges cold-fish careerism. (question: it wasn't on campaign stationary was it?).

Look, I'm a father. I'd be furious if someone spoke about my child that way - and I sympathized yesterday. But this turns out to be just another opportunity to show Hillary as an Everyday Woman, not the Evil One many have taken her for. I don't think she's evil. But I do think she's a bad choice for our nominee. This doesn't help change my view.

Everyone needs to step back and take a deep breath.

Greg, this is a shoddy post. You've injected your PERSONAL opinion and as a result, sparks are flying. Perhaps that was your goal, I am not certain. You need to verify the intention of the comments you've highlighted...You know, use your journalistic skills...Then get back to us.

There is no place in this letter where Senator Clinton calls for David Schuster to be fired.

Get the facts first...I'm waiting for an update...

Dear Scotty59,
Et cum spiritu tuo!

I guess I disagree in that I don't belive the Clinton campaign is fighting dirtier than the other. I'm aware about the "race card" accusations against them but, in reading the text of what was said and the context I think this was hyped by the media to level that shouldn't have been. The Obama campaign saw the opening and went for the kill.
I don't think the senators should get so carried away that there's no way back. They are both good candidates. I'm of the opinion that Senator Clinton is the excellent candidate.

Pax tecum, Scotty59.

I read the letter and it seemed to me that HRC was suggesting that Shuster be fired. Maybe that's not what she meant. Maybe she should apologize.

I think you missed the point on this one. I don't think she is calling for Shuster to be fired. If she wanted that specifically she probably would have said so. I think she is calling for institutional changes at NBC beyond just suspending someone. Keith Olbermann gave a better apology than Shuster, but a lot of Clinton supporters are saying they won't watch any NBC/MSNBC show until real changes are made and the type of behavior that Shuster exemplifies becomes unacceptable. Firing Shuster is not what is needed to make that happen.

The whole network has really been pro-Obama, as you yourself noted, so some balance might be a welcome improvement to go with the changes with regard to what is acceptable language.

Tip, thanks for your analysis. It once again demonstrates that it's not just Hillary who is running for pres, it's the two of them and she carries their history into everything she encounters. She will carry their history into the presidency if elected. As a feminist, I want so much to see a woman president. Just not this woman. I don't want to spend the next 4-8years reliving their history.