The David Shuster thing

[LuckyTheDog]

OK, he said a dumb thing. But I think we all know what he really meant, given the context of the conversation.

People in the media use strong, often salty language all the time. It's part of the culture. It's a business in which the "f word" is thrown around in meetings and double entendres are par for the course. The fact that he thought he could say on the air that Chelsea was being "pimped out" does not seem surprising, given the "nothing shocks me" culture of journalists.

Clearly, he was using the term for emphasis and dramatic effect and did not mean it literally. But people in the real world (outside the media club) were justifiably offended. And he did the right thing and apologized. MSNBC suspended him, which also was the proper thing to do.

As far as I am concerned, this whole thing has gone as far as it should go.

[fenriswolf]

1. what what?

he called chealsea a whore and hillary a pimp. Or maybe he was just talking about having their daughter be a seperate entity to try to sell her moms image. I dunno bad choice of words and if he had tried to use different verbage it wouldn't have been a big deal.

[jkshaw]

3. Control yourself woman

Schuster did not call Hillary a whore.

[fenriswolf]

4. i was joking, read the entire post.

and Im a dude.

[jkshaw]

5. And I'm a 77 year old grandmother, Dude.

[fenriswolf]

7. props granny

:toast:

[aquart]

11. Well, yeah. He called her a bawd. A madam. A pimp.

That's who would "pimp" someone else out. The being "pimped" is the whore. It was Chelsea who was called a whore by implication. Much of language is implied rather than spoken. Some people like to overlook that. Others get it in one.

[fenriswolf]

12. he didnt call anyone a pimp

pimping is an action, to use someone to their advantage usually using someone to appeal to other people.

a whore sells herself to the gratification of her customers and givers her pimp money

chelsea campaigns for her mother, currying favor with potential voters by showing up and giving the voters that she cares and thinks her mother cares.

I mean they are using her to get votes, but she doesnt mind, she is helping.

not defending the comment just defending what he was trying to say.

being suspended/fired for saying a word even if they apoligize is stupid.

[Freida5]

13. Unbeleivable, he is sick

[fenriswolf]

14. lol whatever

i think the clintons are railroading him because of a faux pas. stop looking for someone to help run out of town a good progressive just because a slip of the tongue.

[Freida5]

15. It is a pattern of MSNBC to be unprofessional in use of language i.e Imus

[fenriswolf]

16. yeah but thats the anchor

it is part of the news program to reign him in. I'm sure as soon as he said it he was sorry, he apologized. What more do you want from him? He is a soldier on our side of the lines.

[Nitrogenica]

2. Think about how many apologies FOX owes the American people.

[rwheeler31]

6. Ahmen

[MonkeyFunk]

8. No politician has ever been hurt

by defending his or her family against the media.

The outrage over the Clinton reaction to his statement is what's overblown. I applaud her, and wish ALL Democrats would stand up as strongly to media bullshit.

[fenriswolf]

10. the outrage over

shuesters suspension and hillaries comment on it not being enough is what i'm mad about. sheuster apologized which is what he should have done, he had keith apologize for him. I think that should be enough. What do you want ten lashes in the stocks?

[MonkeyFunk]

18. MSNBC

should take a stand and make an example of him... his comment was ill-thought and over the line.

[cbayer]

9. Then why in the world are you keeping it alive by posting an OP on it?

[KharmaTrain]

17. Words Have Consequences

Again...Schuster's remark didn't come as part of a report, but he was in the role of anchor...he should have known better. For years there's been this cartoon of the Clintons the media has played with that many have bought into...Bill's the slick womanizer, Hillary's the manipulating shrew and Chelsea's some freaky kid. It became the image around the village idiots inside the beltway and now it's just fine to level any name or shot at the Clintons as "everybody does it". Enough of this crap is enough.

How would you like if your daughter was called a whore? You'd just laugh it off? Boys will be boys? If Shuster wants to yuk it up that way at the watercooler or at a beltway drinkie drinkie party (which is probably where these lines come from), so be it...but have a little decorum and respect when you're speaking in front of thousands or millions of people. It really isn't that hard.

Ignoring these kind of attacks is how rumors become "fact"...don't fight back and soon everyone picks up on the "Chelsea's pimpin'" in the corporate media...or maybe she also goes to a Madrassa. Point being is that its time Democrats stop letting the corporate media label our politicians and politics...and when they step out of line, they deserve to be called on it.

Schuster deserved the suspension and hopefully now the message has been sent within MSNBC that sexist character attacks on the Clintons will not be tolerated...enough of this shit is enough.

[DemGa]

19. Okay, so what did he really mean?

Maybe someone can tell me what he meant that is not offensive, given the context.

[Warren Stupidity]

21. He meant that the Clintons had whored out their daughter,

but only in a figurative sense, not a literal sense. How that makes it any less vile is an exercise in modern spinologisms.

[WinkyDink]

20. What saddens me is that, up until now, I had viewed DS as a dependably good journalist.

[elizfeelinggreat]

22. I really liked him and his reporting

This episode really saddened and disappointed me.

But while we're here ...

WTF about Chris Matthews? He says/implies that about the Clintons and worse Every Single Day. Let's face it, every single "news" program does this and it's always tolerated when it's about a Democrat.

Does anyone believe that the next time Matthews says something rude he'll be suspended?

[ejbr]

23. I think the matter went too far.

All this talk about sexism is crazy; they want their cake and eat it too. If Schuster said this about a Romney son, which he most certainly would have, nothing would be said about it. But since Schuster treated Chelsea WITHOUT any misogny in mind, but just as a figure of speech, applicable to either a man or a woman, people are screaming chauvenism. What the fuck ever.

[mitchtv]

24. I tend to agree with your last sentence

He should be suspended , not fired. The punishment should be appropriate. The language was inappropriate. its like when they say the word "fag" means a cigarette also. The meaning was unambiguous

[iris88]

25. Shuster

The whole thing is ridiculous. He was obviously speaking figuratively. I will miss his reporting and hope he will be reinstated soon.