How to Say Sorry to Sarah Palin

Politico Magazine ^ | December 6, 2013 | Playbook Readers

[2ndDivisionVet]

Each Friday, Politico Magazine picks the political scandal of the week, and our colleague Mike Allen asks Playbook readers to weigh in with their crisis-management expertise, both professional and otherwise.

This week’s scandal: the spectacular implosion of Martin Bashir, the MSNBC daytime host who resigned Wednesday as controversy mounted over his remarks about former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Here’s what got him in trouble:

On his Nov. 15 broadcast, Bashir called Palin "a world class idiot" because she made a comparison to slavery while discussing U.S. debt to China. The host then read an excerpt from the diary of a former plantation manager who wrote of forcing one slave to "S-*-*-T" in another slave's mouth, and said "if anyone truly qualified for a dose of [such] discipline... then she would be the outstanding candidate."

Bashir initially took three days to apologize for his comments. "Last Friday, on this broadcast, I made some comments which were deeply offensive and directed at Governor Sarah Palin," he said on his Nov. 18 show. "My words were wholly unacceptable … They were neither accurate nor fair. They were unworthy of anyone who would claim to have an interest in politics, and they have brought shame upon my friends and colleagues at this network, none of whom were responsible for the things that I said.”

Could Bashir have handled this better? If you were his PR adviser, what would you have told him to say or do? What would you tell him to do now? We asked Playbook readers to give it a shot, and here’s what they came up with. We’ll announce a winner in Monday’s Playbook.

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Gene Grabowski, executive vice president, LEVICK’s crisis practice

Martin Bashir’s response to the crisis he created centered on his apology. That apology violated some basic rules....

[2ndDivisionVet]

Three page article.

[basil]

I didn’t read the article, but I would tell him to go eat dirt until he died.

[faucetman]

“If you were his PR adviser, what would you have told him to say or do?”

RESIGN, immediately! and then go crawl into a hole and die.

[EagleUSA]

“..Could Bashir have handled this better?”

::::::::::

Yeah, he could have just kept his sick, twisted, liberal, DemoRat mouth shut. But their mental disorder just keeps getting in the way of sane and civil behavior.

[Cyber Liberty]

Find another line of work, like dog-walker.

[Gaffer]

As apologies go, to me it was only about apology and error. However, there are some actions that are so egregious that any apology still isn’t enough to clear the slate. He deserved firing outright.

Additionally, there is also the question of this coupled with Alec Baldwin’s debacle. My guess MSNBC had no excuse to keep Bashir even though they didn’t care what he said. They couldn’t take the risk of a Baldwin out there making trouble.

[JoeDetweiler]

I think the article sort of misses the point. It doesn’t matter what sort of apology Bashir offers to Palin. The real point is that someone as foul and stupid as Mr Bashir should never have been on national television in the first place.

[DManA]

Unfortunately for Bashir, MSNBC fired Baldwin for remarks (off camera) that were 1/10 as offensive. Bashir wasn’t getting the heat, MSNBC was.

[Robert DeLong]

Eat “S-*-*-T” and then resign.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Check out the guy who says not to apologize!

[a fool in paradise]

For example, Bashir’s apology, like Paula Deen’s series of apologies this past summer, went on for too long and focused too much on the mistake itself. Moreover, Bashir’s statement undermined his own credibility when he noted that his words were “unworthy of anyone who would claim to have an interest in politics.” He also failed to talk about his future behavior.

Missed the point completely. OF COURSE he had to focus on the mistake and his credibility HAS been compromised. He's a libtard prone to potty mouth outburts about scatalogical fantasies. What part of misogyny is this PR specialist in the dark about? Because it was "just Sarah Palin" it was okay? Sounds like someone who lives inside a bubble, not the real world.

[Cicero]

I won’t read the article, but I will say that I cannot imagine how even the most insane leftists would have gone to MSNBC because they wanted to hear what this jerk had to say.

He never opened his mouth without decreasing their ratings. Even mention of his name worked against them.

[a fool in paradise]

Check out the guy who says not to apologize!

I suspect these public relations persons went to college studying pre-law and poli-sci.

[Texas Fossil]

It is a stupid stance for some “expert” to tell him how he “should have” apologized. THE NETWORK, told him exactly what to say under threat of paying him nothing if he did not. And blackballing him from further employment.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

It seems to me, this scandal turned out pretty good.

The original perp, turned in a later apology by which in my opinion, the genuineness of apologies will henceforth be measured.

At the same time, the guy went over the line. And it turns out, he paid the price for that.

I’ll hand it to him, he climbed down pretty big. And Palin kept this pretty low key.

I would say this turned out well.

[dhs12345]

Glad that Bashir the "basher" is gone.

Basher definition, fits perfectly:

A individual who is unfriendly and/or commits harmful acts to group of people or an individual due to prejudice and/or ignorance.

[JW1949]

I read some of the comments after the article and it’s hard to believe that so many people in this country are so utterly stupid and so full of hate.....

[VRW Conspirator]

The real point is that someone as foul and stupid as Mr Bashir should never have been on national television in the first place.

This is the kind of people they hire. And who will replace him?

[billhilly]

Marry Chris Matthews and live unhappily forever after.

[SandRat]

Find another line of work, like dog crap-deposit collector