A radio host apologized Monday for calling secretary of state nominee Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) "Aunt Jemima," but refused to back down from his criticism that she is a "black trophy" of the Bush administration.
John "Sly" Sylvester, the program director and morning personality on WTDY-AM, wrote a letter of apology to local newspapers.

"I'm concerned that I have offended many African-Americans by using a crass term to describe an incompetent, dishonest political appointee of the Bush administration. I apologize," wrote Sylvester, who is white.

Sylvester wrote he would not, however, apologize for criticizing Rice, saying "she has allowed herself to be used as a black trophy by an administration

-So that is it, on he goes blabbering his garbage?


Comments

I don't really agree with him.

If there was a "black trophy" out there, would we know?

Should we know?

How would we know?

What's the point?

Let her actions and job performance speak for itself.

What great advertising. Of course he's a scumbag.

I heard this guy on our local Conservative talkshow yesterday and his schtick is to say outrageous things and be offensive - at a political level. Imagine a liberal amalgam of Stern and Limbaugh. He was calling callers stupid, telling Conservatives to get back to the Klan rally, etc. That he called Rice Aunt Jemima is no surprise.

I guess he will go on but with a lot less credibility than he had before, assuming he had any to start with.

I am no fan of Rice, I think she has been a light weight and will continue to be so as Secrtetary of State however, there are lines and whoever this guy is, he crossed that line.

Trophy? Man I wish I had her qualifications. Condi has a lot more on the ball than people give her credit for-though I'm glad she's at State and not Defense.

will he still think she is just a trophy if she is nominated for VP on the Presidential ticket in '08?

This guy is just a loser looking for ratings.

yea, but of course he appoligized so everything is all Ok now in liberal land.

If a white repulican would have said the same thing about a black person, the blood letting would nt stop until dan blather and friends squeezed the last little drop out of his dead hide.

Liberals are allowed to hate Rich. It's just the way it is....

Yep! And conservatives just love everybody, Dontcha know!

yea, I know...I just never stop being amazed.

Me too.

Maybe you would me a little more threatened if you were the brother of say, Emmitt Till? Knowing the guys that killed him have the same constituent base as the modern Republicans.

Maybe that is why they don't get the benefit of the doubt Rich?

What you expect everything to be equal?

Name a liberal counter point to this tale.

Unlike conservatives who can't get away with anything which is why Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage, Falwell, Robertson, Dobson, Jones, Schlesinger, O'Reilly, Liddy, North and lord knows how many others are unemployed selling pencils in the park. Whooops. Forgot. They have millions of adoring fans applauding every bit of hatred they have oozed out of their slime-holes for the last 12 years.

Blah, blah, blah...

1. If they're selling pencils in the park they aren't unemployed. Chances are, they also aren't conservatives.

2. You don't get to whine about the other side if you give a free pass to your own. That's called hypocrisy. There were a ton of people ripping Mr. Limbaugh for his comments about Donovan McNabb. Where are these people now? Why is this not a widely reported story?

I can't speak for whoever "these people" are, but I posted a critical comment regarding what he said. So I agree about the hypocrisy thing but don't see why it is being mentioned in response to my post.

I assume you are planning to comment on the hypocrisy of those calling for this guy's head who have never been critical of all the right wing creeps I mentioned but just haven't got around to it? One could argue that it is hypocritical to comment on the hypocrisy of one side while ignoring the hypocrisy of those on the other side.

This guy is a nobody from nowhere. I have never heard of him. As bad as he apparently is, people with huge audiences like Coulter and Limbaugh are of more concern to me when it comes to beyond the pale rhetoric.

They're all a concern to me. That's why I tend not to listen to any of them. Occasionally I listen to Hannity on the radio because he interviews alot of Congressmen.

You find one post of mine that has something lauditory of Limbaugh, Coulter, Ingraham, etc.

I don't care if he's a nobody. If he were some 2-bit conservative from Sheboygan CNN would be leading with it.

LOL, silly liberals.

Throwing around Sambo references at black people who embrace the GOP sort of defeats the purpose of claiming to be less racist than republicans.

Hey, I like and respect Condi Rice. How can I do that if I'm a biggotted racist? I'm all confused now.

What you didn't know? Her radio call sign is "token".

Why the lovefest for Condi?

She's definately a crappy cabinet member, but it has little to do with those delicious pancakes and syrup she makes.

What was the name of that memo?

"Osama bin Laden determined to strike within US" or something equally as vague?

LOL, easy mistake... its like forgetting to carry the one in long division.

Well Belafonte called Colin Powell an Uncle Tom too. C'est la vie. It's probably not the first time.

At least Belafonte can't be accused of racism. And anyone who's ever read Uncle Tom's Cabin knows that Tom was not a wimp but rather a devout Christian who trusted in his God, suffered much, never compromised his principles or integrity and went to his reward much too early. It's too bad that the name has been twisted to become a negative label.

You know as well as I do Mick that if Limbaugh or Savage had said this it would have been blown way out of proportion by the mainstream media. My point is that having witnessed a brutal campaign for the last two years, there is much more hate being spewed from the left and it is being accepted as the norm because it is directed at us evil conservatives. Howard Dean's campaign, Franken's Lies, Farenfatass 9/11, Kerry's "I'm not Bush" theme are all fine examples of the recent flurry of hatred.

I think this comment is a worse personal attack than what Limbaugh said about McNabb, but hey that's just my opinion. Like you said, this guy is a nobody and in stark contrast Limbaugh had a big fat bullseye on him.

If liberals had any talk show hosts with the kind of standing Limbaugh and Savage constitute, there'd be more of a story here.

But its John Sylvester from Wisconsin... which means 95% of Americans have never heard of him until today.

If he ever gets 10-20 million regular listeners, the stakes will be higher.

Sorry, but I have heard this stuff from Limbaugh and the rest now for 12 years or so. I see no comparison at all. If Al Franken said it, I think it would get a lot of coverage but some nameless jerk on some radio station no one ever heard of? Savage had a gig on NBC didn't he? Rush in on the radion 24-7 and on tv plenty.
I heard worse stuff at the game on Sunday but nobody cares what a nobody says. Limbaugh has a massive audience, hence the big fat bullseye, it is in proportion to his notoriety.

Really, the right invented this stuff. Limbaugh predates anyone you can name on the left. I think the first book Franken wrote on politics was Rush is a Big Fat Idiot. It was a reaction to this kind of thing. I actually posted critical comments on what this goof said. I can't recall the last time I heard someone from the right on this board stand up against one of their own and call foul when this kind of stuff surfaces. More often, the posts are to defend or rationalize it.

I love politics, I really do. I find the machinations of government, the aspirations, the battle of ideas to be endlessly challenging. I am almost ready to chuck that interest though because I just don't think I can stand arguing anymore with someone who thinks I am a baby killing, terrorist sympathizing, sodomite worshipping, America hating, kool-aid drinking commie. I have had my intelligence, my integrity, my profession, my patriotism and my sanity questioned, mocked and maligned. It is why so many people drift in and out of this board. They love a good discussion but those are almost impossible to have in this format where anonymity encourages the worst instincts.

Before the civil war, there were ridiculously overheated debates that took place between political leaders on either side of the big issues. They were known as "fire eaters". Their divisive, bombastic and meansprited rhetoric made compromise increasingly impossible. That is what these people are, "fire eaters". How do I sit down and have a meaningful discussion with an eye towards common ground and possible compromise with someone who just spent their hard earned money on a book that claims that I am guilty of treason and believed every word of it? We could argue over who does it more or who started it but does that really matter? Who cares how the corpse of compromise got so cold? Fact is, it is dead, dead, dead.

You are a racist, nazi, fascist, bible thumping, queer bashing, creationist zeolot and I am a baby killing, treasonous, christ hating pagan. Let's just leave it at that shall we?

Great post Mick, and I am sincere when I say that. It's not going to stop me from listening to Savage on the way home but it's a great post nonetheless.

I think we're all burned out on the last two years and I think it's because we care about the world more than your average Joe. Savage has been bitching for weeks that he's burned out and now his biggest target of criticism of late is that liberal George W. Bush. Crazy aint it?

Just the facts man. Just the facts...

This remark was stupid and offensive, but this guy has gotten tons of publicity from his stupid remark.

Here is a link explaining why this term is so offensive:

http://www.tolerance.org/images_action/12_answer.html

Yes, I've been called this, and the "n" word too.

You throw a plastic cup at them?

It is disgraceful that this man was not at least suspended for a period of time and only allowed back on air when he was ready to give a proper apology. Such statements are repugnant from bongo Congo to medicine hat, liberal, conservative or in between, that he utters them on a small market station do not make the comments any less, plant the seeds of hate in two and they become four, in four they become eight, it is not a small thing to be respectful to each other.