STAFF NEWS & ANALYSIS
Political Correctness Watch: ESPN Editor Fired Over 'Chink in Armor'
By Staff News & Analysis - February 20, 2012

Jeremy Lin headline slur was 'honest mistake,' fired ESPN editor Anthony Federico claims. EXCLUSIVE: 'This had nothing to do with me being cute or punny' … The ESPN editor fired Sunday for using "chink in the armor" in a headline about Knicks phenom Jeremy Lin said the racial slur never crossed his mind – and he was devastated when he realized his mistake. "This had nothing to do with me being cute or punny," Anthony Federico told the Daily News. – DailyNews

Dominant Social Theme: When you use a bad word, be prepared to pay.

Free-Market Analysis: What in the world is going on? The last we looked, the US was directly or indirectly involved in about six shooting wars, threatening a regional (world) war with Iran and the nation's president has recently asserted that the US has a right to kidnap and torture its own citizens at will.

None of this is reported with any objectivity that we can see by the mainstream media; in fact, much of it is not reported at all, as important as it is. But let a sports editor make an honest mistake with wording and he's gone in an instant. This is a really incredible state of affairs, reminding one more of a faux USSR than (the remnants) of a republic. Here's some more from the article:

Jeremy Lin headline slur was 'honest mistake,' fired ESPN editor Anthony Federico claims … The ESPN editor fired Sunday for using "chink in the armor" in a headline about Knicks phenom Jeremy Lin said the racial slur never crossed his mind – and he was devastated when he realized his mistake. "This had nothing to do with me being cute or punny," Anthony Federico told the Daily News.

The headline … appeared on ESPN's mobile website at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday and was removed by 3:05 a.m. Battling to contain a furor, the sports network fired Federico and suspended anchor Max Bretos for 30 days because it turned out he had used the same expression on the air last week. ESPN offered profuse mea culpas and promised to be "better in the future."

Federico, 28, said he understands why he was axed. "ESPN did what they had to do," he said … He has used the phrase "at least 100 times" in headlines over the years and thought nothing of it when he slapped it on the Lin story. Federico called Lin one of his heroes – not just because he's a big Knicks fan, but because he feels a kinship with a fellow "outspoken Christian."

Federico is also quoted as saying he admires Lin because of his "faith" and that his faith "is his life." And he adds, "I'd love to tell Jeremy what happened and explain that this was an honest mistake."

Perhaps it was marginally comprehensible when Tiger Woods didn't respond to Fuzzy Zoeller's "fried chicken" remark after Woods won his first Masters. But Lin is on record as saying, "They've apologized, and so from my end, I don't care anymore. You have to learn to forgive, and I don't even think that was intentional."

If that's the case, isn't he worried that a man's livelihood is gone over a mistake? Couldn't he have spared a word or two to indicate that even forgiveness wasn't necessary given that he considers the use of the word unintentional? Instead, he merely indicates that he "doesn't care anymore." The Daily News characterizes this as "graciousness."

Given the sensitivities of modern society, why would anyone risk his job over a racist pun anyway? We certainly believe Federico's protestations that he had no idea what he was doing. It was an honest mistake. Who gets fired over an honest mistake that cost no one money and didn't harm Lin's reputation?

We've read other stories on the issue and we are surprised at the number of people, black and white, who are angry with Federico. They believe his firing was warranted and seem to believe he meant the headline as a slur, even though Lin himself has stated otherwise, as has Frederico.

The Daily News article is also weirdly celebratory. "It was Federico's last headline of the night before heading home at 2:30 a.m. It might be the last he ever writes."

"I had a career that I was proud of," mourned Federico, who worked at ESPN since getting his start there as a temporary intern in 2006. "I'm devastated that I caused a firestorm."

Federico was not alone in being disciplined. ESPN suspended anchor Max Bretos for 30 days for saying the following: "If there is a chink in the armor, where can he improve his game?" Bretos asked.

The Daily News article reports the statement passed almost unnoticed and that a replay of the statement shows Bretos made a "poor choice" of words. Additionally, Bretos himself mentioned he had an Asian wife when "tweeting" an apology on the matter.

We remember when the word "niggardly" became a subject of controversy, even though niggardly means "stingy" or "miserly." This kind of stuff is truly aberrant in our humble view. It is a sign of a much bigger social sickness. Look how fast they ESPN acted. You can just about taste the fear and it runs right to the top.

The public discourse in the US is out of control. In Iraq and Afghanistan, depleted uranium use by NATO is poisoning millions and causing an epidemic of birth defects. In the US itself, the shattered economy is giving rise to unprecedented poverty, misery and hunger.

But a sports reporter gets fired over an unintentional use of a slur – and the subject of said slur, while admitting it was likely unintentional – doesn't even bother to mention that perhaps the punishment is a good deal more severe than the unintentional "crime."

Such incidents are truly sub-dominant social themes, memes that are being floated by the Anglosphere power elite to distract people from the issues that matter. When even a careless sentence can cost one his living, the stakes are high indeed.

This is how the elties construct their global society. Only when people are thoroughly frightened about speaking up will the elites have accomplished one of their main objectives: silencing even the average-man-on-the-street.

it is true of course in this era of the Internet Reformation that the elites themselves are as frightened as anyone else. Their exposure has been merciless and ongoing. Thus, it can be argued even a single, whispered word of dissent is too much. They will never have their perfection, though. And it is another reason they will never realize their goals.

After Thoughts

Lin turned the ball over nine times the other day but nobody fired him. They were mistakes, even though they cost the Knicks the game. He didn't make them on purpose. Federico obviously didn't, either.

Posted in STAFF NEWS & ANALYSIS
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