John Nichols

Nation Writer: Ralph Nader Should Moderate Presidential Debates For Both Parties
By Tom Johnson | August 7, 2015 | 8:45 PM EDT

If you watched Thursday night’s Republican debate and wished that a onetime Green Party presidential nominee had been asking the questions, then you agree with Washington correspondent John Nichols, who thinks Ralph Nader would be the “ideal prospect” to moderate presidential debates for both major parties.

Spoilsports might argue that Nader’s fifty-year record of lefty activism would make him a problematic choice to host a GOP debate. Nichols sidesteps that issue by pointing out that Nader is “neither a Republican nor a Democrat” and, besides, “he knows every issue, and he is on to every dodge that every contender might attempt when it comes to addressing the issues.”

Fail! Schultz Show Compares Scott Walker on Harley to Dukakis in Tank
By Mark Finkelstein | June 8, 2015 | 9:18 PM EDT

Apples and oranges: or shall we say, Harleys and Abrams.

On this evening's Ed Show on MSNBC, guest John Nichols of the far-left Nation mag and guest host Michael Eric Dyson lamely tried to analogize Scott Walker riding a Harley to the infamous episode of Michael Dukakis in a tank. The difference?  Walker is a for-real biker and Harley owner.  Dukakis did serve two years in the Army, but there's no evidence he did tanks before his ill-fated ride during the 1988 campaign.  Check the photos at the foot to see the difference.  You'll note that the hopelessly buttoned-down Dukakis is actually, yes, wearing a button-down shirt and tie.

Bill Press and Lefty Scribe Agree: Obama Foreign Policy is 'Most Nuanced' Since Nixon
By Jack Coleman | February 14, 2014 | 12:19 PM EST

Never thought I'd see the day that a prominent member of the liberal media establishment praised the Prince of Darkness himself, aka Richard Milhous Nixon, and one of his liberal media cohorts agreed.

Moreover, Nixon was described favorably while being compared to the erstwhile would-be Messiah occupying the Oval Office, Barack Hussein Obama. Strange days indeed, to borrow from John Lennon, the high priest of hippies. (Audio after the jump)

Ed Schultz Steps In It, Boasts That Housework 'Obviously' Beneath Him
By Jack Coleman | November 7, 2013 | 5:35 PM EST

Looks like Ed Schultz won't be a guest speaker at any upcoming gatherings of the National Organization for Women. He remains quite willing, however, to let its members clean up after him.

The blustery radio host and self-appointed MSNBC football coach revealed something about himself on his radio show yesterday that surely didn't go over well with roughly half his listeners. (Audio after the jump)

MSNBC's Harris-Perry: 'We Want to Politicize' Newtown, Calls for Parents to Release Photos of Victims
By Andrew Lautz | June 12, 2013 | 12:54 PM EDT

Governor Dan Malloy (D-Conn.) recently signed a bill preventing photos and videos of the Sandy Hook shooting victims from being released to the public. The bill had broad support from the victims’s families, and was the subject of a petition on change.org that gained over 100,000 signatures.

But MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry and her Sunday panel’s desire for gun control apparently trumps the concerns of these Newtown parents. Harris-Perry and all but one of her guests called on the parents to “break” the “evil of government” and release the photographs of their slain children to the public. Harris-Perry had spent part of her opening monologue decrying the politicization of photographs by “rabid anti-choice demonstrators” in the pro-life movement. But then Harris-Perry did just that with the December tragedy, asking:

'Ed Show' Returns With Pep Rally for Schultz in Guise of 'Town Hall' Meeting
By Jack Coleman | May 7, 2013 | 2:40 PM EDT

Yes, MSNBC has booted Ed Schultz from its primetime lineup to the the penal colony that is the network's weekend schedule.

Now MSNBC wants to show you how popular Schultz is -- and what better way to do that than record the first weekend broadcast of "The Ed Show" before a live audience of rowdy liberals in Madison, Wisc., one of the most left-wing towns in the country. While MSNBC viewers will be none the wiser, everyone else will see through the ruse. (Audio clips after page break)

Ed Schultz's Advice on Dealing with North Korea: What Would Reagan Do?
By Jack Coleman | April 16, 2013 | 7:20 PM EDT

That month-long hiatus enjoyed by Ed Schultz since MSNBC put "The Ed Show" on hold has made him unusually perceptive, if only momentarily.

On his radio show Friday, Schultz made a suggestion about handling the crisis on the Korean peninsula that will have many liberals spitting up their decaffeinated double lattes. (Audio clip after page break)

Better Late Than Never - Ed Schultz Finally Grasps That Bush Tax Cuts Help Middle Class
By Jack Coleman | December 6, 2012 | 5:00 PM EST

Sometimes the obvious stops being elusive even to a liberal.

For most of the young millennium, use of the term "Bush tax cuts" by anyone left of center has more often than not been accompanied by the words "for the rich." The pair have been joined at the hip so often that a Google search for them yields more than 5 million hits. (audio clips after page break)

Chris Matthews on Hurricane: How Long Before Trump Accuses Obama of Engineering This?
By Noel Sheppard | October 29, 2012 | 6:42 PM EDT

For at least 24 hours, the mainstream media have been trying to figure out a way to make Hurricane Sandy an aid to Barack Obama's re-election.

On Monday, MSNBC's Chris Matthews had a related concern asking guest John Nichols of the Nation magazine, "How long do you think it’ll take for Donald Trump to take a crack at the President for engineering this?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Ed Schultz and The Nation's John Nichols Duped by Politico's 'Stench' Satire
By Jack Coleman | September 27, 2012 | 5:45 AM EDT

Libtalker Ed Schultz and The Nation magazine's John Nichols could soon be receiving a flood of offers to buy swampland in Florida. Perhaps by then they will each be a bit more skeptical.

Both were among numerous liberals who yesterday took hold of a bogus story by the hook and swam for all it was worth. (audio clips after page break)

MRC Study: Ed's Obsession, Anti-Scott Walker Guests Dominate The Ed Show by 237 to 1
By Geoffrey Dickens | May 31, 2012 | 9:33 AM EDT

Tuesday’s recall election in Wisconsin marks the end point of MSNBC’s Ed Schultz’s 15 month-long mission to destroy Scott Walker. The conservative Republican governor’s attempt to fix that state’s budget crisis, by reigning in the public unions’ influence, sent Schultz on a rampage. The liberal talk show host turned his self-titled program, The Ed Show, into a hyper-partisan platform from which union activists, liberal journalists and Wisconsin state Democrats could join Schultz in his drive to oust the “radical” Walker out office.

From February 14, 2011 through May 18, 2012 anti-Walker guests dominated by a count of 237 (99.6%) to 1 (less than .5%). In that same span Schultz devoted a portion or a majority of 128 episodes to attacks on Walker. (chart and video montage after the jump)

Mike Papantonio Actually Claims Huffington Post is 'Not Left Leaning'
By Jack Coleman | May 7, 2012 | 12:49 PM EDT

... which proves one thing, namely that attorney and "Ring of Fire" radio show cohost Mike Papantonio doesn't read The Huffington Post.

How can you tell you're dealing with someone whose politics could not be more obviously, obliviously liberal? When he or she denies being liberal. Conservatives, on the other hand, don't scurry from their conservatism. (audio clips after page break)