Whatever happened to the good old days when you joked about assasinating people and got visits from the Secret Service? It happened to my crazy ass father-in-law when he was off his meds (RIP).
Al Franken joked about that after the whole “homos and abortionists caused 9/11” thing from Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. The interviewer’s questions are in bold, with Al’s responses following them:
So it’s possible. Anyone got the preceeding 4 seconds from that clip? 
Here’s the full three-minute segment.
The fact that something is couched as a “joke” doesn’t change the message. For example, we have a rule on this message board about wishing death on another poster. You can’t get around the rule by making a joke out of it.
Imagine if Keith Olbermann ended a report on John McCain’s cancer with “Well, maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll drop dead before the election … ha ha!” Would that be acceptable discourse?
Tritter has apologized…sort of
Somehow, that doesn’t really seem to cut it with me. She offers no explanation for her remark and make it seem as though it was an unintentional gaffe or slip of the tongue.
I don’t know what else she could have said besides “Sorry, didn’t mean it”. On with the chastising and, hopefully, some penalization. Don’t think FOX will do any penalizing though.
That’s a good apology, actually. The more you explain something, the more it sounds like you’re trying to justify it; and that is the province of weasels. Just say “I’m sorry,” and move on.
Good apology. “I feel all over myself” makes me chuckle.
I think it was actually a better apology than we normally see in this sort of situation. It’s a far sight better than, “I’m sorry if anyone was offended by my words”.
Because it probably was, duh. Sheesh, you really are a cynic.
“Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
Ok, I won’t harp on the apology.
Q.E.D.:
But it wasn’t an unintentional gaffe or slip of the tongue. She herself calls it “a lame attempt at humor.”
She knew exactly what she was saying; she just thought it was funny.
Being mistaken about what is and what isn’t funny (in real time, on live TV) is a pretty good example of a gaffe, IMO.
I disagree, her attempt at face-saving notwithstanding. Her laughter after she made the remark sounded very uncomfortable to me; of the “oh, dear, did I just say that?” variety.
Exactly. I realize that anchors are chosen more for their looks and “presence” than their intelligence or journalistic savvy these days, but with that microphone and seat comes responsibility. She failed miserably at it and her “apology” was as shallow as I suspect she is.
Well frankly, I appreciate any sort of apology, and this one wasn’t too bad.
What I’d like to see though, is an admission by Fox News management that they should have immediately backpedaled after Tritter’s remark. Specifically, Shawn and his producers should let us know what they should have done under such circumstances.
I have some sympathy for those who say things they regret.
But is it too much to ask that Fox News maintain a prohibition on jokey advocacy of political murder?
Now it just remains for the rest of the network to apologize for being shameless partisan hacks and toadies.
Wow. I saw this clip earlier today and it was really disturbing, actually. The Netherlands has experienced a couple of assassinations in the last couple of years and quite some politicians are being protected around the clock now, as I’m sure lots of American politicians must be. If any journalist or pundit or talking head or whatever so much as suggested violence against a politician they’d be sacked even before the show went off the air.
(bolding mine)
I’m confused by this. You seem to be in complete agreement with what was said in the quote you responded to:
… but hose statements contradict one another. The first one claims that her attempted humor missed the mark. The other that she did, in fact, think it funny.
Can you help me here? If you were registering agreement with the last line, is that just an opinion, or has she stated that it was 1) a joke and 2) a funny one?
Her apology is appropriate, and it’s all she can do.
Fox News Channel, on the other hand, has yet to reprimand her for displaying an obvious political bias. On a channel that markets itself as “Fair and Balanced,” for something so outrageous, she should probably be fired.
This is me, holding my breath.
If contributors are to be reprimanded by news networks for displaying bias, Keith Olbermann would be out of a job. News anchors should avoid bias (IMHO), but really, that’s it.