I’m a little behind on the Ed Schultz mess, but it’s a real embarrassment that deserves more attention.
Last year, the Senate unanimously approved a resolution sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) to improve the balance on Armed Forces Radio when it comes to political commentary. For years, it’s been all-conservative, all the time. Facing pressure, the Pentagon agreed to pick up the first hour of Ed Schultz’s daily radio show.
The same morning Schultz was prepared to go live, the Pentagon decided the show wouldn’t air. It’s not entirely clear why, but the circumstantial evidence is quite strong.
A talk radio host says his program, slated to debut on a Pentagon radio station Monday, was pulled to punish him for airing audio embarrassing President Bush.
Ed Shultz played an audio tape of Pentagon communications official Allison Barber helping troops in Iraq rehearse for their broadcast video teleconference with the president last week. Barber walked them through questions and their answers and warned them the president might ask questions not from the script.
The incident was widely considered an embarrassment to the White House, which appeared to be coaching soldiers for its own political purposes.
According to People for the American Way, Barber personally called Schultz — regarded as a liberal in the world of talk radio — on Monday to tell him his show would not be airing Oct. 17 after all.
The whole story is ridiculous. The Pentagon said there had been “no decision made with respect to expanding the programming” — except Think Progress obtained an email that proves otherwise.
At first blush, this is just petty nonsense. Shultz ran a segment that made Allison Barber sound ridiculous — she was the one coaching the troops before a Bush teleconference, as well as the one insisting that there had been no coaching — so Barber cancelled Shultz’s show.
But this also touches on a broader problem. We’re talking about a taxpayer-financed broadcast system that offers content for the military. It’s required by law to offer political programming that is “characterized by its fairness and balance,” as well as news programming guided by a “principle of fairness” that requires “reasonable opportunities for the presentation of conflicting views on important controversial public issues.”
And yet, Rush Limbaugh is in and Ed Shultz is out.
Thirteen Dem senators wrote to Rumsfeld this week demanding an explanation and Wes Clark is following up with an online campaign. I’ll keep you posted as to what happens.