Ed Schultz Radio Producer James Holm Actually Slams Paul Ryan ... For Being Fit

August 14th, 2012 5:35 PM

The name James Holm -- not to be confused with accused Aurora gunman James Holmes -- might ring a bell for NewsBusters readers.

Holm first came to our attention back in December 2010 with his alarming suggestion that President Obama "put a gun" to the heads of CEOs sitting on $1.9 trillion in capital reserves. (audio clip after page break)

This was only a month before Jared Loughner's bloody rampage in Tucson that killed six people and nearly claimed the life of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Liberals quickly denounced harsh political discourse from conservatives as triggering the bloodbath -- rhetoric reminiscent of what Holm suggested only weeks earlier.

In August 2011, Holm disparaged Republican state senators in Wisconsin who lost their seats in recall elections as "two old white guys." Imagine any prominent conservative commentator maligning elderly candidates of color in the same manner and visions of enraged liberals burning effigies from sea to stormy sea come to mind.

Back in February, Holm apologized after comparing Virginia Republicans to the doctors in name only who worked in Nazi concentration camps.

Yesterday, Holm may have outdone himself, no small feat, while again demonstrating the occupational perils of working with Ed Schultz. Here's what Holm said on Schultz's radio show about GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan's daily workout routine, the P90X (audio) --

Mr. Paul Ryan, who sleeps in his congressional office, what he does every single day is devotes (sic) 90 minutes to making himself into a perfect physical specimen. And if you want to, you know, play this out a little bit in your Glenn Beck fantasy, I believe that he thinks that every American should exercise and eat the same way he does, for 90 minutes a day, and eat the same way he does every day. Forget Michelle Obama -- this is right-wing social Darwinism and engineering like you've never seen. He wants us all to become P90Xers.

The nerve of that Paul Ryan, taking responsibility for his fitness instead of consigning it to the government. Who knows, if this sort of thing catches on, we might be afflicted with happier, longer lives.

As if this weren't enough, Ryan has the gall to sleep in his congressional office rather than follow the lead of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who prefers the down-home appeal of the capital's Ritz-Carlton.

When liberals see images of the Kennedys playing touch football or sailing the choppy waters of Nantucket Sound, they see embodiments of health, vitality and vig-ah. When it's a conservative pushing himself through a daunting exercise regime, they see a Nazi.

In case Holm missed it, the Summer Olympics ended with American athletes leading the world in the medal count -- hardly what one expects from a "culture" (as Mitt Romney might point out) that places little value on athletic prowess.