Well, that only took nine days. On the 12th, Allahpundit wrote “MSNBC now using ‘R-Word’ in place of Redskins:”
Via the Corner. Is this a network-wide policy or is it just Maddow setting the rules for her own show? You’d think MSNBC executives might want a team huddle to decide before their 9 p.m. host implicitly pronounces everyone else on the payroll who uses the term “Redskins” guilty of “painfully racist” language. Turns out the YouKnowWhatsits play twice in primetime on sister network NBC this fall and I’m pretty sure “R-word” ain’t going to cut it in the booth. Time to boycott “Sunday Night Football”?
Actually, it might be time to boycott MSNBC itself. Oh wait, I’ve been doing that ever since Soledad O’Brien and her digitally animated sidekick Dev Null left the NBC albatross network in the late 1990s, at the conclusion of its first incarnation as a proto-TechTV. Fortunately, Allah and Newsbusters are both willing to take one for the team; Paul Bremmer, blogging at the latter Website spots MSNBC’s Alex Wagner moaning about the three Miami Dolphins who decided to sit out the 1972 team’s photo op with the president yesterday:
ALEX WAGNER: It was one of the few Washington traditions that was above politics, but apparently not anymore. Today the 1972 Miami Dolphins will visit the White House 40 years after their 1972 Super Bowl victory and their unmatched 17-0 NFL record. President Nixon did not host the team at the time because, in typical Nixon fashion, he wanted to snub his opponents. For the record, Nixon supported the Dolphins’ Super Bowl opponents, the Washington Redskins. That’s something Richard Nixon and I could have agreed on. But even the most feel-good White House ceremony seems to be threatened by ideology. At least three ‘72 Dolphins players are refusing the White House invite because — wait for it, Joy — politics. Former lineman Bob Kuchenberg told the South Florida Sun Sentinel, quote, “Mom said if you have nothing good to say about someone, then don’t say anything. I don’t have anything good to say about someone.” Center Jim Langer added, “We’ve got some real moral compass issues in Washington. I don’t want to be in a room with those people and pretend I’m having a good time.” Because it would be impossible to you to pretend to be having a good time when being honored by the president of the United States at the White House.
No word yet on what sort of recrimination Wagner faces for violating the policy regarding “the R-Word” laid down by Maddow, who has several years worth of seniority with the network. But does she have the clout to cause a fellow newsreader to be dismissed for uttering such “painfully racist” language on-air?
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