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National News Piece
Nov. 19th, 2004 12:12 pmMadison DJ Makes an Ass of Himself for the Upteenth Zillionth Time. Okay, the article is actually titled "Wisconsin Radio Host Calls Rice 'Aunt Jemima'". It was on front page headlines on yahoo this afternoon.
So before any of you jump all over this headline and start pontificating about how racist Madison liberals are when an African American isn't one of their own, let me say a few things. John Sylvester, known locally as "Sly in the Morning," has been busily making an ass of himself every weekday morning since before I was in middle school. As best I can tell, he primarily aims to offend Madison's PC sensibilities, while not pissing enough people off that no one tunes into his station. I don't actually know what his political allegiance is because he constantly plays devil's advocate. In some ways, Madison needs a DJ like this because it's easy to cruise through life in Madison without ever having your views challenged by anyone who can coherently argue both sides. Everything in Madison gets politicized, because many Madisonians seem to feel like they not only have to have an opinion on everything - it has to be a really strong opinion that they won't compromise on. In trying to get a reaction out of his audience, Sly has often crossed the line, but usually he doesn't make national headlines for it.
Maybe it will get him on the 'no-fly' list and he'll never be able to leave Madison again.
(Note: It's my hometown and I can diss it if I want to. There are many things I love about Madison, and I like visiting, but I've never had even the faintest desire to go back and live there again.)
So before any of you jump all over this headline and start pontificating about how racist Madison liberals are when an African American isn't one of their own, let me say a few things. John Sylvester, known locally as "Sly in the Morning," has been busily making an ass of himself every weekday morning since before I was in middle school. As best I can tell, he primarily aims to offend Madison's PC sensibilities, while not pissing enough people off that no one tunes into his station. I don't actually know what his political allegiance is because he constantly plays devil's advocate. In some ways, Madison needs a DJ like this because it's easy to cruise through life in Madison without ever having your views challenged by anyone who can coherently argue both sides. Everything in Madison gets politicized, because many Madisonians seem to feel like they not only have to have an opinion on everything - it has to be a really strong opinion that they won't compromise on. In trying to get a reaction out of his audience, Sly has often crossed the line, but usually he doesn't make national headlines for it.
Maybe it will get him on the 'no-fly' list and he'll never be able to leave Madison again.
(Note: It's my hometown and I can diss it if I want to. There are many things I love about Madison, and I like visiting, but I've never had even the faintest desire to go back and live there again.)
