Despite high ratings and a strong local following in Pittsburgh, highly rated and highly controversial local ESPN host Mark Madden was removed from the airwaves almost immediately after saying, “I'm very disappointed to hear that Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts is near death because of a brain tumor. I always hoped Sen. Kennedy would life long enough to be assassinated.”
Tasteless? Yes, but beyond reproach? Hardly.
Ted Kennedy’s recent illness is tragic, but it doesn’t make him above reproach, nor does it rehabilitate his odious, “far too liberal, for far too long” stint in the U.S. Senate.
Ted Kennedy’s done this nation far more harm than good, that’s for sure.
Is it sad when anyone gets an almost certainly terminal illness?
Sure, but Ted Kennedy’s had a long run and a very privileged life, so it’s hardly as “tragic” as a younger person coming down with that same affliction.
While the 1st Amendment DOES NOT protect controversial speech from private sector sanctions – anyone CAN be fired for making any number of controversial statements, from comparing the Bush administration to the Third Reich, to wishing Ted Kennedy a violent death.
That said, I think there is too much of an overreaction on the part of many commercial outlets, for as tasteless and controversial as Mark Madden’s comments regarding Ted Kennedy were, he merely said out loud what millions of Americans thought privately.
