The other night, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell said this:
“As the first congressional election during his party chairmanship approaches, Michael Steele is dancing as fast as he can trying to charm independent voters and Tea Partiers while never losing sight of his real master and paycheck provider, the Republican National Committee.”
Anybody with a lick of common sense could’ve told him how racist this is, which must be why nobody at MSNBC stopped him.
Last night O’Donnell apologized. Sort of:
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“I called him back immediately and apologized for using the word that he found offensive. Those of us who are not descended from slaves can never know the full impact of the word ‘master’ in the ears of an African-American man. Michael Steele told me ‘it sort of stung.’ He could not have been more gracious and forgiving. He also told me, ‘The interview was a lot of fun. I loved our give and take. I will be back on the show.’ I invited him on the show tonight so that I could apologize to him directly, in front of everyone who had seen the interview. He said that wasn’t necessary, and that the apology on the phone was more than anyone had done who had slighted him in the past. He shared with me a bitter memory about a congressman who, four years ago in the heat of a campaign, publicly accused Steele of ‘slavishly’ supporting the Republican Party. Michael Steele is still waiting for a personal apology on that one.”
Yeah, Steny Hoyer should’ve apologized for saying that to Steele back in ’06, but for O’Donnell to bring it up now just seems like blame-shifting. Isn’t an apology where you express regret for making a mistake, without at the same time smugly patting yourself on the back for being awesome enough to apologize?
Well, at least he made the attempt. Does he talk that way all the time? Do people actually listen to it for a whole hour?
(Hat tip: Night Watch)
P.S. If Larry thought he was getting off that easy… nuh-uh. Courtesy of The Right Scoop:
P.P.S. Is it any wonder that even MSNBC.com doesn’t like MSNBC anymore?