CNBC host and professional "moderate" Donny Deutsch is hosting a one-hour show every afternoon this week on MSNBC. Deutsch is usually a condescending blowhard, so I didn't expect much from his new show -- but I was really surprised that he decided to start the week by bashing Keith Olbermann and Ed Schultz, comparing them to Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. It was rude and inappropriate, but more importantly, it was complete bullshit.
Deutsch started his "America The Angry" segment today by playing clips of several media personalities, including Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, and Keith Olbermann. The clip of Olbermann was part of a commentary he did on Joe Wilson's State of the Union outburst.
Deutsch then had this to say:
Of course there's anger in the media. Of course all of these guys are crazy. So what? Entertain. Say what you're gonna say. Who cares?
His first guest, Karen Hunter, responded:
I think we need to stop referring to these people as journalists and as part of the media. They are entertainers. Even Glenn Beck said that about himself. That's all reality TV right there that you just showed. That was not media. That was not journalism.
Deutsch didn't respond at all, but moved on to his next guest, Hugh Hewitt. Here's what Hewitt said:
Physician heal yourself. When you guys get rid of Ed Schultz and Keith, then I'll start to think that you're actually serious here, because they are the biggest hate mongers in television.
Deutsch's response:
I'm not taking the side of either one. The point is however you come out on Ed and Keith, wherever you come out on Glenn and Bill O'Reilly, it's like so what. I could line up a thousand guys in a room and you'll always have guys that are outrageous and over the top. But why are we even allowing America to believe that these people are really kind of informing our brains?
Hewitt then continued bashing Ed Schultz, calling him "a joke" and "not serious." And, to his credit, Deutsch finally defended Ed, saying that "he's trying to do the right thing" and blasted Hewitt for being "part of the problem." But I guess calling other MSNBC hosts "crazy" is okay. Talk about a lack of self-awareness.
Really, Donny Deutsch is a fucking idiot. The problem with Beck and Limbaugh is that they're liars and racists. It's not about the anger. And it's beyond obtuse to lump Olbermann and Schultz in with right-wing haters, simply because they all get angry.
So let's review what I learned from MSNBC host Donny Deutsch today:
Olbermann and Schultz are "crazy...outrageous and over the top" and they don't "[inform] our brains."
In response to being told that Ed and Keith are "the biggest hate mongers in television", Deutsch responded, "I'm not taking the side of either one."
In response to being told that Countdown is "reality TV...not journalism," Deutsch said nothing.
Great job, MSNBC. Maybe tomorrow Deutsch can take down Rachel Maddow.