The Clintons play smashmouth

In the opinion of America Wants to Know, NBC's David Shuster is one of the finest reporters ever to stand in front of a television camera.

So we were more than a little irritated to read today that he has been "suspended" from appearing on all NBC News broadcasts over a comment he made while guest-hosting "Tucker" on MSNBC Thursday.

Mr. Shuster said the Clinton campaign had "pimped out" Chelsea Clinton by having her call Democratic party superdelegates to ask them to support her mother's candidacy.

His words accurately connoted the creepiness of Senator Clinton's decision to have her daughter plead with Democratic officeholders for their support. Imagine how uncomfortable it would be to get one of those phone calls. It is flatly unprofessional for Hillary Clinton to put people in the position of having to say "no" to her child.

Even though David Shuster's choice of words may have been "inappropriate," as he said in his apology on Friday, no one listening to him could possibly have believed he was suggesting that Chelsea Clinton is a whore.

Yet the Clinton camp made the decision to give David Shuster the full Don Imus.

Campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson held a conference call with reporters to complain about Shuster. "Beneath contempt," he said, "disgusting." Then he threatened that Sen. Clinton would boycott MSNBC's upcoming debate. "I, at this point, can't envision a scenario where we would continue to engage in debates on that network," he said.

MSNBC reacted immediately, issuing an apology, suspending their best political reporter, ripping their clothing and wailing in grief.

It's too bad that insincerity isn't a demonstration sport at the 2008 Olympics. The U.S. team would really bring home the gold.

The Clinton team was undoubtedly happy to slash at David Shuster because Hillary Clinton polls best when she's been insulted and hurt. There's a certain kind of female voter who will feel a sense of outrage and rush to the polls to stick up for a fellow victim.

If you haven't noticed yet, women who have been insulted and hurt and chose to stay in the relationship anyway are all supporting Hillary Clinton for president.

The attack on David Shuster accomplishes something else for the Clintons. It sends this message to every other reporter in the country: The Clintons can call your boss and get you fired, and they will, so watch it.

This is a smashmouth technique that goes well beyond spinning the press. It's like an American version of state censorship -- a nasty warning to reporters that if they don't want to pull their kids out of private school and lose their houses, they'd better not displease the Clintons.

Talk about "beneath contempt" and "disgusting."

In our politically correct country, where we act as if women and minorities are made of sugar and every insult is a bucket of hot water, MSNBC had no choice except to pretend that David Shuster had committed an unforgivable act.

But make no mistake, they're pretending.

Hillary Clinton doesn't make any friends in the media by trying to discredit David Shuster. Bill Clinton doesn't make any friends by sneering, "Shame on you!" at CNN's Jessica Yellin. Chelsea Clinton doesn't make any friends by refusing to answer questions from a nine-year-old reporter in Iowa.

But the Clintons know exactly what kind of headline they need in the morning paper on the day people go to polls and caucuses, and they're going to get that headline no matter whose career they have to destroy in the process.

As one of their friends once wrote, ruining people is considered sport.

And all this time you thought he was talking about the Republicans.


Copyright 2008

Editor's note: You might be interested in the earlier posts, "Female self-esteem and the Hillary Clinton vote," "Chelsea Clinton does Garbo," and "Hillary Clinton changes the subject."

.