A short diary....
According to TPM, Rick Sanchez has been fired from CNN.
If this report is true, I think it is the appropriate action. However, that being said, I think his peers such as Keith Olbermann and Jon Stewart would do well to not use their platforms to magnify or exacerbate the situation.
The more appropriate action to me would be to simply let a sleeping dog lie, and let Rick Sanchez clear up some internal issues that he appears to have.
Listen to the entire interview, and it will be very apparent that their is more to this story than jealousy and animosity towards Jon Stewart.
My advice?
Jon Stewart should call him personally and explain to him how wrong he really is and explain his rationale for using CNN and some of his clips as the target of his comedy. Rick Sanchez just ruined his career. Jon could rub it in his face, or he could be the bigger man. Call him to the stage during the 10/30 rally and show how reconciliation triumphs animosity.
Update [2010-10-1 18:53:51 by justmy2]: I should add, that this is only possible if Rick Sanchez apologizes within the next few days and accepts that what he said was wrong, disrespectful, and 100% inappropriate. That must be the first step.
There is something deeper here and Jon Stewart could be just the guy to help a man in need. If you listen closely, he is really attacking all of the people that he thinks held him back over the years. Jon Stewart, through Sanchez' blinded, stereotyping eyes, represents his oppressors and illegitimately has a megaphone.
He has a lot of issues to work out. He feels like "I made it, I proved them all wrong, and I still have this guy making me look like a fool at every chance".
MJ Rosenberg captured the issue succinctly.
That is how it must have been for him at 6. And he still can't get over it.
He thinks that when people like Jon Stewart see him they see a dumb Latino who should be cleaning tables. He's wrong. They see a smart, provocative and movie-star handsome guy who has it all, and got it through hard work (and luck too, like everyone).
As a society, we need to understand that minority kids of all kinds (and the white poor as well) are constantly stripped of their self-worth by a society that still squashes people who are "different." That poor kid who jumped off the George Washington Bridge the other day -- essentially driven off the bridge by hate -- testifies to what an ugly country we can be to children who don't fit in.
And many of them never get over it. After all, if Rick Sanchez is still hurting so badly, imagine all those immigrant kids with accents, or kids from the hood or Appalachia or who are taunted for being gay or Jewish or Jehovah's Witness or whatever. This is a wonderful country for those who fit in. For the others, it's a hell that saps their souls.
This doesn't excuse Sanchez and he needs to go away to figure out why his reality hasn't changed as he has garnered tremendous success. He still needs to understand how hurtful his words are and he shouldn't be on tv anytime soon until he gets his personal demons together. He is no longer a victim. But I hear a cry for help, not a RW wacko.
After hearing the entire interview, I started to feel sorry for him. Jon Stewart is everything that hurt him in his life, and Rick Sanchez just ruined his career because he has animosity built up within him that is brought to the forefront on a regular basis by a comedian. He lashed out in public, when talking it through with a therapist could have been much more helpful. In the interview, he said something about his kids being teased. I understand the impluse to protect and to not let them go through the same thing that you did, but that thin skin, is now his downfall.
On a side note, David Shuster may now have an opportunity at CNN, which I think could potentially be a waste of his talent.
Although I did not watch his show, and thought that his talent was limited, I still hope he now has a chance to address some of those inner demons and learn from this serious mistake.