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Radio talk show host Ed Schultz has taken all he can take and he can't takes no more. On Anderson Cooper 360 yesterday, he blew up when PNACer Cliff May, Director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, suggested that the left wants us to lose in Iraq as a way to teach the US a lesson on the evils of imperialism.
MAY: Yeah, I think also on some of the left wing blogs, Obama is taking some hits. But this does move him to the center and look, I want to put the...I'm not a big fan of his, but I'm going to put the best spin on it, which is that he understands the situation...fairly...well. Certainly better than the Daily Kos does and some of those on the left who would like to see America defeated in Iraq as a demonstration exercise that US power can never, never be used for good.
SCHULTZ: That I am...whoa, whoa! That is absolutely outrageous! That is outrageous for you to say people on the left want to lose in Iraq. I'm not going to sit here and listen to that. This is the Fourth of July, we are Americans, we don't believe in fighting in Iraq the way we are doing. We are depleting our resources. That's ridiculous. That's absolutely ridiculous.
Now this kind of cheap shot with no foundation infuriates me as much as it does Schultz, and his anger is certainly understandable and justified. But this is where I have to split from Big Ed and suggest that we on the left have to get a whole lot smarter about these kind of appearances. The key to these kind of exchanges is not to get angry, but to rob them of their framing and put them on the defensive. May's assertion is absurd on its face, so put that back in his lap and ask him to prove it--name these mythical leftists. And then ask him how he defines "winning" in Iraq. I mean, you have a signatory to the infamous PNAC letter to Clinton recommending that he take out Saddam, how well have any of their premises turned out in reality? Don't dignify this guy who has been on the wrong side of every argument by accepting his frame, Ed. Show him for the chump he is.
Full transcripts below the fold:
MAY: Yeah, I think also on some of the left wing blogs, Obama is taking some hits. But this does move him to the center and look, I want to put the…I’m not a big fan of his, but I’m going to put the best spin on it, which is that he understands the situation…fairly…well. Certainly better than the Daily Kos does and some of those on the left who would like to see America defeated in Iraq as a demonstration exercise that US power can never, never be used for good.
SCHULTZ: That I am…whoa, whoa! That is absolutely outrageous! That is outrageous for you to say people on the left want to lose in Iraq. I’m not going to sit here and listen to that. This is the Fourth of July, we are Americans, we don’t believe in fighting in Iraq the way we are doing. We are depleting our resources. That’s ridiculous. That’s absolutely ridiculous.
MAY: Well, Ed, tell me how you’re going to win in Iraq. Just tell me how you’re going to win in Iraq if you have no troops there.
SCHULTZ: You don’t even know the definition of “win” is.
MAY: Tell me the definition of win. If I don’t know, you tell me. Tell me.
SCHULTZ: The fact is we’re depleting our resources. We don’t have enough money to do this. We are absolutely hurting ourselves staying in Iraq. The Iraqi people need to step up.
MAY: They do. They do, and they are.
SCHULTZ: The real enemy here is in Afghanistan. For you t sit here and say that liberals don’t want to defend this country is unconscionable. That is absolutely outrageous.
MAY: I didn’t say it of you, I didn’t ….there are those on the left who would think that a US defeat in Iraq would be like the US defeat in Vietnam: an object lesson on the use of force.
SCHULTZ: Listen, Mr. May, I don’t know where you get your information but I spoke to Barack Obama face to face today.
MAY: Oh, congratulations to you.. I’m very….
SCHULTZ: And I asked him if he wanted to get out of Iraq. He said he was going to get us out of Iraq. I asked him if we were going to into Afghanistan with more troops, because that’s what President Bush wants to do now. He said he would support sending more troops into Afghanistan.
MAY: I’m glad they agree.
SCHULTZ: Now that is fighting the War on Terror.
MAY: I’m glad that Obama and Bush agree on the need to also fight the battle in Afghanistan. These are both very important battles in one global conflict. We don’t want to lose either one.
SCHULTZ: It’s something Bush hasn’t done well, I might add. It’s something Bush hasn’t done well at all.
