Abusive? Or Politicaly Incorrect?

[Me-Patch]

BOSTON - A radio talk show host was fired Friday after he made a derogatory comment about the weight and sexuality of the Green-Rainbow party candidate running for Massachusetts governor.

The host, who calls himself the "Independent Man," said he made the remark because he was exasperated that Ross and independent candidate Christy Mihos were eating up time during a debate earlier in the week that included Republican candidate Kerry Healey and Democrat Deval Patrick. He said it was then that he told listeners he wished someone would "tell the fat lesbian to shut up."

http://c.moreover.co..9516&z=950238330

[Begoner]

It is the prerogative of the company to fire him if he makes such comments. I don't believe he had to resort to such language to get his point across, and it did border somewhat on abusive speech. In either case, it was an offensive comment and he should have been fired.

[Me-Patch]

At 11/3/06 06:33 PM, Begoner wrote: It is the prerogative of the company to fire him if he makes such comments. I don't believe he had to resort to such language to get his point across, and it did border somewhat on abusive speech. In either case, it was an offensive comment and he should have been fired.

I agree that it was offensive, but only to the canidate. Lesbian is the proper terminology last time I checked. Fat seems like the only real insult actualy used.

[Begoner]

Lesbian is the proper terminology last time I checked.

It was intended as an insult, the same way "get away from me, you homosexual" would be. He used "lesbian" as a derogatory term to describe her, as mentioning her sexual orientation was completely unnecessary. He should have said something along the lines of "will somebody tell Mrs. Whatever to shut up?"

[Me-Patch]

At 11/3/06 06:46 PM, Begoner wrote:

Lesbian is the proper terminology last time I checked.

It was intended as an insult, the same way "get away from me, you homosexual" would be. He used "lesbian" as a derogatory term to describe her, as mentioning her sexual orientation was completely unnecessary. He should have said something along the lines of "will somebody tell Mrs. Whatever to shut up?"

I agree that it was used in a derogatory sense, and that in context it was an abusive statement, but I also beleive that it is unnecessary censorship.
He may have said it with a bad tone, or even simply because he wanted to say dyke but knew he couldn't, but that doesn't change the word itself. He used the acceptable terminology and is still being censored, and I believe that that is unnecessery.

[Dash-Underscore-Dash]

They should have given him a promotion.

[troubles1]

At 11/3/06 06:33 PM, Begoner wrote: It is the prerogative of the company to fire him if he makes such comments. I don't believe he had to resort to such language to get his point across, and it did border somewhat on abusive speech. In either case, it was an offensive comment and he should have been fired.

So if someone says you are a fat heterosexual they should loose there job? and mentioning her sexual orientation is, something that should be addressed because it will influence her decisions and policies she stands for, so knowing intimate information about a candidate is very useful in knowing what they will do in office.

[Musik-of-Anarchy]

I say abusive, homphobia like that only hurts. He could have called her anything else but making fun of someones sexual preference is idiotic.

[aviewaskewed]

At 11/3/06 06:46 PM, Begoner wrote: It was intended as an insult, the same way "get away from me, you homosexual" would be. He used "lesbian" as a derogatory term to describe her, as mentioning her sexual orientation was completely unnecessary. He should have said something along the lines of "will somebody tell Mrs. Whatever to shut up?"

Agreed, you don't need to bring up anybody's sexual orientation in a situation like this unless you're trying to be insulting and derogatory. The guy got what he deserved, there's free speech, and then there's just using your venue to speak to the public in an abusive and irresponsible manner.

[KingCharles]

Come on people, like you've NEVER called sombody a name before.

[Der-Ubermensch]

Mincing words makes all the difference, yes?

What an ass-backwards society.

[Begoner]

At 11/4/06 11:47 AM, mofomojo wrote: Oh bollocks.... People should have the right to be outright rude and snively towards eachother and have the right to hold prejudices.

That doesn't mean that they should be able to express them on the radio at the expense of their employer. Everyone can believe what they want to believe, but if someone says "I masturbate to the videos of 9/11" on a radio show, they should expect to be fired. In this case, a rude and offensive statement was made, not to mention bigoted. That is ample reason to terminate someone's employment, especially if you are endeavoring to create a tolerant and refined radio station.