Murfreesboro Post Editor Apologizes for "Ode to President Obama"
After the uproar caused by columnist Stephen Lewis' "Ode to President Obama" in yesterday's Murfreesboro Post, publisher/editor Michael L. Pirtle offered this apology. Pirtle's response is a classic example of the "sorry you were offended, but not sorry we said it" defense. Consider this sentence: "We sincerely regret that Mr. Lewis’ attempt at humor crossed the line from funny to offensive for many readers."
Furthermore, in the "I'm sorry...but" category: "While not abdicating responsibility for its publication, the Post notes a columnist’s opinion should not be interpreted as representing the opinions or beliefs of the newspaper, its staff, advertisers or the community."
But most amusing was this parry:
In no way attempting to justify or mitigate the situation but to provide some perspective, I would note that Mr. Lewis writes a weekly humor column in which he constantly pushes the envelope with large amounts of sarcasm and hyperbole.Humor can be a dangerous thing as the line between funny and offensive can be a moving target as was certainly the case in this presidential campaign. In Sunday’s column Mr. Lewis pushed past that line, but only, I honestly and fully believe, in the pursuit of humor.
Mr. Lewis writes a weekly humor column? That guy's funny? I don't even think the guy is a racist so much as a bonehead with poor writing skills, a lame sense of humor and extremely poor judgment.
It's like the classic Seinfeld episode wherein Jerry's dentist, Dr. Whatley, converts to Judaism and starts telling off-color Jewish jokes. Miffed, Jerry confesses his frustration to a priest: "I have a suspicion that he's converted to Judaism just for the jokes."
"And this offends you as a Jewish person?" the priest asks.
To which Jerry responds, "No, it offends me as a comedian."
If nothing else, I'm sure the newspaper's website got more hits today than ever before. That's one way to drive web traffic.
And it could be worse. At least the Murfreesboro Post isn't the Sapulpa, Okla., Daily Herald.
h/t: Pith reader Lance
Comments
It's always a bad sign when someone describes a would-be humorist as "pushing the envelope." This phrase has never been used for an actual funny person who does controversial humor. It's like when people describe themselves as "classy."
Posted 11/10/2008 at 07:03:38 PMHe should have tried to rewrite the theme song to "Homeboys in Outer Space." Now THAT'S comedy!
Posted 11/10/2008 at 07:56:24 PMThis idiotic racist does NOT represent the majority of citizens of Murfreesboro. We do not find his xenophobic rants amusing, and the Murfreesboro Post would do well to stop posting such garbage.
Posted 11/11/2008 at 01:10:45 PMThey don't call it Cracker Barrel for nothing.
Posted 11/12/2008 at 08:19:13 PMNow the NAACP is calling for Stephen Lewis to be fired from his job as a school principal for the article he wrote. While I don't think that Stephen used good judgement in his writing (I've known him since grade school, and good judgement has never been his strong suit), he does have the right to say what he thinks no matter how silly it sounds. I also don't think that he should be fired from his job because what he said offended some peoples who have a hard time distinguishing between satire and slander. Maybe we could just have Stephen flogged with wet noodles by his students or made to sit in a dunking booth in early January. Either would be a fitting way to teach him a lesson about where the line for good taste in journalism lies, while letting the rest of us get a good laugh at his expense. That's what he's trying to do with the column that he writes anyway, right?
Posted 11/13/2008 at 12:28:22 PM