Ed Schultz Gets Into Bar Fights
Local and national liberal radio talk show host Ed Schultz nearly came to blows with a California Republican donor during a heated exchange about the war in Iraq Saturday night at a bar near Detroit Lakes, Minn.
Schultz, who spent 45 minutes of his local show Wednesday defending his actions at Hotel Shoreham on the shore of Lake Sallie, said a man approached him inside the bar and wanted to talk about politics and the war in Iraq.
Schultz said the man and a woman with the man, both of whom had been drinking, would not end the conversation despite Schultz’s repeated attempts to do so.
“Finally, I put my beer on the bar and put my finger in his face,” Schultz told listeners of KFGO’s “News and Views” morning radio show. “I told the guy, ‘I didn’t come here for this.’ ”
The guy, Kevin Nagle of El Dorado Hills, Calif., offered a slightly different version of events when contacted Wednesday by The Forum.
Nagle, who was visiting relatives in the area, said his cousin introduced him to Schultz Saturday night. She wrongly thought Schultz was still a Republican, as he was earlier in his radio broadcasting career.
Schultz’s views are now Democrat-leaning on “The Ed Schultz Show,” his national program. Talkers Magazine named Schultz the fifth-most important talk show host in 2007.
Nagle, who was with his fiancee Saturday, said he and Schultz had a civil discussion for about 10 minutes and that Schultz didn’t appear uncomfortable.
The conversation went sour when Nagle said he respects Joe Lieberman, the Independent Democratic senator from Connecticut known for supporting the Iraq war.
Nagle said Schultz said he doesn’t like Lieberman, and then commented that if Nagle felt so strongly about the war, his family should go over and fight in it.
The daughter of Nagle’s fiancee serves in the Army and may soon go to Iraq. His fiancee’s son-in-law has served in Iraq.
“It was at that time that Mr. Schultz completely lost control, in my opinion,” Nagle said. “He became enraged, and then our interactions became far less civil.”
Schultz said the woman with Nagle addressed Schultz’s wife with profanity.
“If someone comes up to you in public and calls your wife (references to expletives), what are you going to do?”
Schultz said he engaged in harmless shoving with Nagle, whom he never named on his radio shows. Schultz said he knew if he hit the man, he could be arrested, which could sink his professional career.
This is the best part:
“That’s in my contract. I can’t be arrested,” Schultz said. “Am I now the target? I’m against the war. I think Bush is a fraud.”
Oh man. Big Eddie thinks he’s a “target.” That there’s people lurking around trying to get him to punch them out just so he’ll lose his radio contract. Talk about delusions of grandeur, this Nagle guy apparently didn’t even know that Big Eddie had been bought out by the Democrats a long time ago.
By the way, that little blurb the Forum tossed in about Schultz being the “fifth most important” talk radio personality? Totally not based on actual listener numbers. Instead, one gets the sense he was included on the list so that someone who is liberal would at least be in the top ten.
Update: I just had a reader email to say that Schultz actually read Mr. Nagle’s full name and telephone number out on the air, which is somewhat contradictory to what the Forum is reporting now.
Something fishy is going on here.
