Homophobic tweets

Roland Martin Goes Pink for GLAAD (PHOTO + Audio Commentary)

February 9th, 2012

No, Mo’Kelly will not be signing any petition to get Roland Martin reinstated. You can either be a respected CNN commentator (eventually an anchor) or you can try to be a social media comedian. It’s one or the other…you surely won’t be both.

Bernard Shaw would never have been so careless. Soledad O’Brien would never blur such a line. The blame is with Martin and the behavior, not those who were offended by it. Every media person has a clause in his/her contract which prohibits engaging in behavior which brings infamy, negative press or undue criticism to the company. CNN is no different.

You may call the issues of GLAAD petty or “overly-sensitive” but in the end, Martin knew the rules of his trade as well as anyone and frequently took others to task for violating them all the same.

It doesn’t matter whether you personally didn’t find the tweets insulting or offensive, Martin’s behavior was clearly in violation of appropriate conduct by an agent of any respectable news organization. This isn’t BET, it’s CNN.

Martin frequently engaged in unbecoming behavior on Twitter. Not a value judgment, just a statement of fact. He routinely engaged in “the dozens” with friends and foes alike, as if it were an episode from Good Times or Baretta in 1976.

Like Sammy Davis says (in the Baretta theme song)…”Don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time.”

It’s 2012 and some conversations are simply inappropriate in the public space while representing respectable news outlets. Save the comedy bits for after the news career is over.

And speaking of “saving”…

Save your petitions folks for something far more substantive. Martin was suspended, not fired. He will be just fine. In the meantime, let’s not lose sight of the more important issues, more deserving of our rally cries and calls to action.

Mo’Kelly’s Two Minute Warning – Roland Martin is NOT the Victim by Mr. Mo’Kelly

The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly. Contact him at mrmokelly@gmail.com.

Follow The Mo’Kelly Report