Dim And Dimmer

Captain Ed regales us with a "Dumb and Dumber" story from California - Former Los Angeles mayor and current California Education Secretary Richard Riordan insulted a schoolgirl over he name (I am not kidding, but Riordan thought he was):

The conversation, videotaped by KEYT-TV, took place Thursday at a promotional event for summer reading at Santa Barbara's central library. The unidentified girl, who appeared to be a preschooler, asked Riordan if he knew that her name meant "Egyptian goddess."
Riordan replied, "It means stupid dirty girl."

After nervous laughter in the room, the girl again told Riordan the meaning of her name.

"Hey, that's nifty," he said.

California Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally got involved:

The NAACP had decided to lead a coalition of civil-rights groups in a demonstration at the capitol, and Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally had organized the event. Yesterday, his office issued a scathing broadside at Riordan:

His office issued a statement Wednesday calling Riordan's remarks to the girl "outrageous and irresponsible," ... Dymally was quoted in the San Jose Mercury News Thursday saying the child was "a little African-American girl. Would he (Riordan) have done that to a white girl?"

Evidently, Riordan would, since the little girl was. Red faces everywhere! (NO, not Native Americans, embarrassed people). It gets better...

Now, folks who follow the California media will want to puzzle over the slacker coverage in the LA Times compared to the Sacramento Bee. Maybe it's a "state capitol" thing, but the Bee runs the inflammatory quotes from Mr. Dymally, an outraged response from the mom, and more, while The LA Times misses all the good stuff..

Comments

[Brad DeLong]

Let me, for one, be the first to offer thanks to the LORD that our state Secretary of Education is not a racist idiot, but just an idiot.

[TM]

We count our blessings.

[Mahatma]

I am so relieved that the LA Times exists to remind all of us that there is no media bias. I mean if they were not always balanced and careful in their reporting the public would have no way of knowing that Bremer addressed the Iraqis when he left Iraq or what the Honorable Mr. Dymally's initial reaction to the Education Secretary was or that Gray Davis was going to defeat the recall or that the accusations against Scwartzenagger were baseless.

Yes thankfully the LA Times is not like the New York Times or the Washington Post or worse that evil Fox News.

[sym]

That's one extremely sensible mom that girl's got.