Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Weather Forecasting and Racism

I just read this on Michelle Malkin's Blog, which is linked to Ben Maller's web site:

Las Vegas' KTNV-TV, Channel 13, fired weekend weather anchor Rob Blair on Sunday, a day after he made an on-air racial slur about Martin Luther King Jr. Jim Prather, vice president and general manager of KTNV, said Blair "stumbled" during a weather update at 7:55 a.m. Saturday but added that "this kind of incident is not acceptable under any circumstances, and I'm truly sorry that this event occurred." Blair was delivering the extended forecast when he said, "For tomorrow, 60 degrees, Martin Luther Coon King Jr. Day, gonna see some temperatures in the mid-60s." About 20 minutes later, Blair told viewers at the ABC affiliate, "Apparently I accidentally said Martin Luther Kong Jr., which I apologize about -- slip of the tongue."

I think he was going for "ML King Kong" but he really screwed up. Not that "King Kong" was any better...

Weather is not supposed to be funny. I may not celibrate the holiday, but many in America do, and I respect that.

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