Mike Greenberg's slip of the tongue gets him in hot water

[Bang]

I love how folks can smear African American heroes and get a pass.

I love how folks say someone got a pass because they aren't hanged from the nearest tree within 24 hours.

And yet those same folks bring up the history of lynch mobs to make their point about how awful people are all the time.

~Bang

[jnhay]

It sounds like he meant to say King Junior and combined them into "coon". Makes sense when someone is talking fast.

It's kinda funny that he probably noticed the slip and could have ended any controversy immediately, but is too uptight to acknowledge anything.

[Bang]

No matter how much you love Rush, you can't defend this. You really can't.

Wanna bet?

~Bang

[Dallascrushers]

Lynch mobs...this **** is getting out of hand from a comment made on accident by a sports commentator and we are going to relate to hangings in trees come on

Gang bang

[isle-hawg]

This is nothing more than a mashing of the words "king and junior" that produced a sound that happens to correspond to a racist term. It was NOTHING MORE THAN THAT. If he had uttered "jing" instead of "coo" this wouldn't have even been a blip on the radar. It's so clear from listening to the audio. I question whether he even voiced the n sound at the end of the utterance before he corrected himself.

i pride myself on being fair, so dont take this question the wrong way, its just a question. here goes...

is it ever ok to say "Martin Luther C**n"???

i ask because i have shared this story with a few friends (black) and they are all up in arms, saying thats not a slip of the tongue. what say you?

Oh it was definitely a slip of the tongue, no way he intentionally meant to make a racial slur over the air. The question is, is it the slip of the tong the way Dan and some others think it is (in which case completely harmless, get off his back) - or is it the slip of the tongue as in a phrase he has used in private settings that inadvertently came out over the air, before he caught himself (in which case he's got to get fired)?

I don't know (none of us do), but after listening to it about 15 times in a row, I think it was the later (but again don't know?).

[Dallascrushers]

Oh it was definitely a slip of the tongue, no way he intentionally meant to make a racial slur over the air. The question is, is it the slip of the tong the way Dan and some others think it is (in which case completely harmless, get off his back) - or is it the slip of the tongue as in a phrase he has used in private settings that inadvertently came out over the air, before he caught himself (in which case he's got to get fired)?

I don't know (none of us do), but after listening to it about 15 times in a row, I think it was the later (but again don't know?).

great point

[KingGibbs]

Please. Greenberg wouldn't hurt a fly.

[Chachie]

I'm sorry, but that's not even close to a defense for what Rush actually said.

Over a hundred thousand people are dead in an enourmous natural disaster right in our backyard, the USA is trying to respond, trying to help, and this is how Rush chooses to go?

This is the kind of person Rush is. He is politicizing a horrific tragedy and using it to attack the president. No matter how much you love Rush, you can't defend this. You really can't.

What was Obama supposed to do? NOT offer aid to Haiti so Rush wouldn'y claim the prez was grandstanding? Limbaugh was ready to jump on him either way. Anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves. Obama can do no right in Rush's eyes because Rush's agenda is Rush.

How absolutely moronic to think that when the Prez of the USA should restrain from offering help in a crisis like this. Rush Limbaugh is a stooge.

[Bang]

Lynch mobs...this **** is getting out of hand from a comment made on accident by a sports commentator and we are going to relate to hangings in trees come on

Gang bang

If you knew Thanos' posting history and his views, you'd get the comment. He is the one saying the man has gotten a pass because there's no immediate action. In his mind whether it's a slip or not, he demands punishment, trial be damned, or anything else. No explanation will be suitable, no apology will be accepted. He heard what he heard, and to him that is enough to want the man's head on a pike. This comment of his is simply par for the course.

In my own view whether it's a slip of the tongue or not is beside the point, the current climate calls for punishment. It's just the way it is, and not too many people have been spared the swipe of that particular scythe.

As I said before. we'll see what happens. And by that I mean I'll wait before passing any judgment on whether it's right or wrong. Our man Thanos doesn't seem to share that viewpoint, nor does he ever. It seems to me that he wants blood and he wants it now, and that is his usual stance in matters such as this. And as is my usual stance, I bear him the same respect i bear any narrow-minded bigot.

~Bang

[Burgundy Burner]

I'm sorry, but that's not even close to a defense for what Rush actually said.

Over a hundred thousand people are dead in an enourmous natural disaster right in our backyard, the USA is trying to respond, trying to help, and this is how Rush chooses to go?

This is the kind of person Rush is. He is politicizing a horrific tragedy and using it to attack the president. No matter how much you love Rush, you can't defend this. You really can't.

Sure you can - because you simply posted exactly what Clinton said about it. Rush did not politicize a thing - he simply pointed out that the politicizing is coming from the left.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Clinton-Haiti-relief-Dem-politicking-are-two-sides-of-the-same-coin-81878782.html

After you read that article, who took time away from the tragedy and went to Massachusetts? If that had been Bush, the msm would be having a field day with it - and you know that to be very true. Count me as one who is attacking the president and using his office to politicize this tragedy.

And the numbers are up to 200,000 dead and that number will climb. 1.5 million are homeless as well. Mr. Limbaugh has been constantly telling his audience to contribute and he has done the same thing.

However - to be fair - you should be given the opportunity to show where Mr. Limbaugh went to Massachusetts and campaigned for Mr. Brown during this time of crisis.

[Burgundy Burner]

<Some Snippage>

In my own view whether it's a slip of the tongue or not is beside the point, the current climate calls for punishment. It's just the way it is, and not too many people have been spared the swipe of that particular scythe.

<Some Snippage>

~Bang

I think a ninety day suspension is warranted. Performing 100 hours of appropriate public service would be a good idea as well.

My $0.02.

[isle-hawg]

I think a ninety day suspension is warranted. Performing 100 hours of appropriate public service would be a good idea as well.

My $0.02.

I don't think ESPN can go there. That means ESPN is punishing him but not firing him for making a racist comment about MLK (on the holiday named for him no less).

If he combined two words as some think to make a non-word (something I think all of us have done) there is no reason to suspend him just because this non-word happens sound like a racial slur. If this really is the case if I was advising greenie I would tell him to get in front of this yesterday and just explain what happened.

If the thought of ESPN is he said coon instead of King he needs to go. No need to suspend him if the former. A ninety day suspension does not cut it if the later as a professional talking head for ESPN and Disney.

[Predicto]

Wanna bet?

~Bang

You win. :doh:

[Spec138]

It was obviously a slip up.... Whether or not it was a Freudian slip is a different story. I'm sure I'm in the minority but regardless of whether or not he said it because he's "racist" it was a mistake, and I don't think these sort of events deserve the spotlight they get. It's not like Greenie runs around to Klan meetings.

[Burgundy Burner]

I don't think ESPN can go there. That means ESPN is punishing him but not firing him for making a racist comment about MLK (on the holiday named for him no less).

If he combined two words as some think to make a non-word (something I think all of us have done) there is no reason to suspend him just because this non-word happens sound like a racial slur. If this really is the case if I was advising greenie I would tell him to get in front of this yesterday and just explain what happened.

If the thought of ESPN is he said coon instead of King he needs to go. No need to suspend him if the former. A ninety day suspension does not cut it if the later as a professional talking head for ESPN and Disney.

There are those who say this was nothing but a slip. Some may say that he didn't mean to say it, but this could reflect on some of his feelings inside. Others will say that it is racist. I really don't have an answer either way - it's difficult to judge someone's heart in a situation like this one.

However, I do believe that it is nothing like we saw with Michael Richards. Richards was over the top and continued his tirade for an extended period of time. He faced the court of public opinion and paid for it - he will never have a significant presence in Hollywood again.

Mike has this one mistake. Intentional or not, he should receive some kind of punishment. Maybe mine was too harsh or too little. The powers that be can't ignore it though. But it did not rise to the level of Richards, imho. A suspension and public service seems like the right approach here.

[Sikbug]

.....obviously not the first time he's said it.

This. You don't slip up something like that unless it's something you normally say.

[dg28daman]

This. You don't slip up something like that unless it's something you normally say.

Thats not true at all. It sounds like he simply stumbled over his words.

Besides (while I am not advocating racism-I think its terrible) since when is it illegal to have racist thoughts? Even IF (and I don't think there's a chance he is) Greenberg is racist, so what? You're not allowed to have controversial thoughts now? As long as he keeps it to himself, whats the problem?

[Predicto]

This. You don't slip up something like that unless it's something you normally say.

I don't agree at all.

[Chachie]

This. You don't slip up something like that unless it's something you normally say.

:doh:

[The 12th Commandment]

Don't like the little sissy boy, but he just made a mistake. Give him a ration and then let it pass. He doesn't deserve a career ender.

[grhqofb5]

Thats not true at all. It sounds like he simply stumbled over his words.

Besides (while I am not advocating racism-I think its terrible) since when is it illegal to have racist thoughts? Even IF (and I don't think there's a chance he is) Greenberg is racist, so what? You're not allowed to have controversial thoughts now? As long as he keeps it to himself, whats the problem?

For all we know, Greenberg hates jews too.

[grhqofb5]

Don't like the little sissy boy, but he just made a mistake. Give him a ration and then let it pass. He doesn't deserve a career ender.

Well put.

[Ghost of]

I don't agree at all.

We agree. I think a lot of people are overly attuned to hearing and thinking the worst.

I recall the "niggardly" comptroller or whatever he was in DC or the complaint about a councilman using the term "black hole" referring to a budget item.

It's getting absurd.

If you were messing up the words King and Junior, it would make actual total sense to start with the K sound and then insert the second portion of the second word.

Again, someone of Greenberg's background isn't throwing around the word coon, anyway. It's silly to think he uses this on a regular basis.

BTW, for those of you who are perfect in your elocution, just remember your stance if you ever make a mistake. I also think strange thoughts can creep up in your mind like, "What would be the worst possible thing I could say right now...oh my god...I JUST SAID it." It wouldn't indicate anything about your actual views at all.

And the guy who said it was OK to be racist---I actually agree. I've been on all sides on this board in different arguments but I've always maintained that racism is far from the worst sin a person can be guilty of. Many racists are paternalistic in their approach (typically liberals,) some are malevolent but don't do anything when confronted with the individual. They just have a heuristic based on race that they employ but it doesn't mean they take decisive actions on those feelings.

Hell, like Malcolm X said, "I respect a man who tells me where he stands, even when he's wrong rather than someone who comes up like an angel and ain't nothin' but a devil."

Freedom of thought does not mean that you only hear things are you are comfortable with, it means that people can embrace ideas that you find repugnant or simply incorrect. This freedom may not apply to all private spheres but it should apply to the public sphere and people should actually try to understand the situation and context rather than simply impose their binary outlook on an imperfect human being's imperfect expression.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

Who thinks he deliberately said "coon", seriously?

[Sikbug]

I forget so many southerns are racist, but don't think they are. This thread = Fail.