McCain furious at Schultz over "warmonger" remark

Proving that there's more going on than Randi Rhodes' "Whoregate," fellow progressive talker Ed Schultz is also making waves. He gets back clearances in a couple markets in Southern California, and now, he's also becoming a target in this year's election campaign.

Following on the heels of the whole Rhodes brewhaha, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, John McCain, is calling on Democratic front-runner Barack Obama to condemn Schultz for remarks he made while warming up the crowd at an Obama event.

So what did Big Eddie say? Did he call McCain a 'whore?' No, even worse.

Actually, what he called McCain was probably even more offensive. So devastating that people should take to the streets of Schultz' hometown of Detroit Lakes, MN with torches, pitchforks and shotguns. Okay, not really

Because you see, Schultz had the audacity to call McCain a... get ready... "Warmonger."

Yes, you read that right. I am not making this up. And as you can see from the link above, it appears that McCain's protectors at FOX Noise, the same network where John Gibson demanded Rhodes apologize for her 'whore' comments the other day even though Gibson often says way worse, are gearing up to spread this ridiculous meme.

To make it even more ridiculous, the McCain campaign likened the insult to the language used by conservotalk radio goon Bill Cunningham, who warmed up the crowd for a McCain rally in Cincinnati in late February by repeatedly invoking Obama’s middle name, “Hussein,” mocking him as a “hack” and suggesting that as president he’d cozy up to Hezbollah and Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. McCain, in quick damage control mode, condemned Cunningham, and Cunningham subseqently turned on him.

So, what provoked this vile insult? Could it have been that time last year at a VFW hall when he launched into a clever little ditty called "Bomb, bomb, bomb. Bomb, bomb Iran?" Or the fact that he's long been one of the most vocal cheerleaders of the war in Iraq? The guy who said that if it came right down to it, spending 100 years in Iraq "would be fine by me." Yeah, doesn't sound like a warmonger to me.

You see, there's a big difference between the race-baiting antics of Cunningham, and calling a spade a spade (figuratively speaking). McCain certainly ain't no agent of peace. And it's likely this ridiculous demand from the McCain camp will open up a can of worms that he doesn't really want opened.

And yes, the Obama campaign responded promptly to McCain's finger-pointing. And they didn't even throw Schultz under the bus in doing it. Campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement: "John McCain is not a warmonger and should not be described as such. He's a supporter of a war that Senator Obama believes should have never been authorized and never been waged."

Notice the nice little polite dig at McCain there? It was a classy and clever response.

Meanwhile, Schultz didn't back down in a telephone interview. He said he has used the term many times on the air to refer to McCain because of his support for the war in Iraq.

"He voted for this war. He's a perpetrator of the war. He's an advocate of the war," Schultz said. "In my personal definition, that's a warmonger."

Needless to say, this proves once again how thin-skinned crybaby conservative Republicans really are. In a nutshell, anyone offended by the 'warmonger' slur has serious self-esteem issues, especially McCain. Rather than call out his opponent over this ridiculous matter, perhaps McCain should prove to the voters of America why he isn't a warmonger.' But that would be only slightly easier than squeezing blood out of a rock. Therefore, labeling a notorious war hawk like McCain a 'warmonger' is not a slur. Anyone who thinks it is should go suck on a pacifier.

Just another twist in this often silly election cycle. Sometimes I wish this whole campaign cycle would just end. But where would I get my laughs?

Speaking of Schultz, Big Eddie fans in Southern California will be able to hear him via the airwaves once again. The co-owned combo of KGIL (1260AM) and XESURF (540AM) in Tijuana/San Diego have added Schultz's show, albeit only on Saturday afternoons for now. Listeners can tune in from 4-7P PT.

Schultz was previously heard in the market on KTLK (1150AM), until the station dropped his show a few months ago. He was also on KLSD (1360AM) in San Diego, which flipped to sports last fall and has since spiraled down the ratings sewer, dropping almost 75% of its Arbitron ratings share.