American broadcasting this week featured the worst example of hateful religious bigotry broadcast to a national audience since the days of Father Coughlin's antisemitic rants.  MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell, a former Democrat congressional staffer, launched an astonishing attack of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints, the religion of Mitt Romney.

"Now part of Romney's religion problem is that he's a part of a new religion. Established religions like Judaism, which is about 4,000 years old, and Christianity, which is about 2,000 years old, don't easily warm up to new religions like Romney's, which is only 182 years old," Lawrence O'Donnell said on his MSNBC show last night after the former Massachusetts governor swept the three primary states.

"Mormonism was created by a guy in upstate New York in 1830 when he got caught having sex with the maid and explained to his wife that God told him to do it. Forty-eight wives later, Joseph Smith's lifestyle was completely sanctified in the religion he invented to go with it. Which Mitt Romney says he believes," he also said.

Left unmentioned by O'Donnell was that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is also a Mormon. Which creates a serious dilemma for Reid. MSNBC might as well be called MSDNC, so slavishly is it devoted to promoting the Democratic Party and its positions. Prominent Democrats frequently appear on the network.

Does Harry accept this kind of hate directed at his church with no comment? Does he think it is OK for Democrats to appear on the network absent the firing of O'Donnell for his shameless attack on a religion practiced by millions of Americans?

O'Donnell would never have the guts to make a similar criticism of the founder of Islam, of course, the religion of President Obama's father's lineage. Latter Day Saints do not go about beheading people who insult their founder.

The next time Harry Reid stands in front of a bank of microphones he should be asked about MSNBC's broadcasting of hatred toward the founder of his religion.