A liberal radio host who in 2004 referred to Condoleezza Rice as an "Aunt Jemima," is at it again with hateful rhetoric against a female Republican politician. [h/t e-mail tipster Gerald Harrison]
Just don't hold your breath for the guardians of civility in politics at MSNBC to make a federal case of it.
On Monday, WTDY radio host John "Sly" Sylvester mocked Wisconsin's new Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, a cancer survivor.
As WKOW.com reported on Tuesday:
During the Jan. 17 segment in which Sylvester criticized Kleefisch's cold-calling attempts to try to woo businesses from Illinois to Wisconsin, Sylvester mockingly impersonated Kleefisch and attributed sexual acts as the reason for her election. Sylvester made a later, additional sexual remark about Kleefisch as the on-air discussion turned to high speed trains.
Sylvester's on-air segment also included references to Kleefisch's colon cancer, including discussion of whether Kleefisch uses a wig or has a poor hairstyle.
A statement from the American Cancer Society called the references "disrespectful" and said Sylvester made light of Kleefisch's fight with cancer "under the guise of political discourse."
WTDY program director Rex Charger defended Sylvester's remarks.
"It was obvious sarcasm and was not intended to be taken literally."
Since then, reportedly, Sylvester has apologized in a letter to Kleefisch, although it appears he only told his listeners on Wednesday that he "might have been a little too crude."
