How To Get Yourself Fired, In Two Seconds

Yesterday, St. Louis sports radio station KTRS fired host Dave Linehan after he used a racial slur to describe Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The mistake was accidental, but the station felt it had to fire him. We, uh, kind of hate racial slurs around here, but we feel obliged to repeat the slur, if just so we can track the depth of Linehan's mistake.

In fact, that the slip was so blatant doesn't seem to be the problem; what doomed Linehan was his stupid attempts to dig himself out. It's the old rule about TV or radio; when you make a mistake, don't try to correct yourself. Just keep going. Here, then, is a tracking of Linehan's statement and the according percentage chances of him saving his job.

"She s just got a patent resume, of somebody that s got such serious skill ..." (100 percent chance of keeping his job.)

"... She loves football, she s African-American ..." (99 percent)

"... Which would kind of be a big coon ..." (29 percent)

"... a big coon ..." (7 percent)

"... oh my God, I am totally, totally, totally, totally, totally sorry for that, OK? ..." (0 percent)

"... I didn t mean that. That was just a slip of the tongue." (Toast.)

Talk Show Host Fired After On-Air Racial Slur [St. Louis Post-Dispatch] We Are Totally, Totally, Totally, Totally, Totally Sorry For This [Wonkette]