You may remember a book called ‘The Jordan Rules,’ which examined the special treatment afforded to Michael Jordan by the NBA and his teammates.  Well, MSNBC’s recently fired host Joy Reid also had her own set of rules. 

 

Everyone is aware of Reid’s recent axing, which was due more to lousy ratings than to her many racist diatribes.  She regularly denounced conservatives in starkly racial terms, compiling an impressive list of slanders that should have had her sacked years ago.

But often forgotten is Ms. Reid’s shameful anti-gay episode for which she emerged unscathed.  Back in her blogging days, Reid frequently implied that twice-married former Florida Governor Charlie Crist was a closeted homosexual, derisively referring to him as ‘Miss Charlie.’  She unleashed other rants against gay men and lesbians.

 

That was Strike One, right down the middle.  Strike Two came when those posts were discovered, by which time Joy Reid was a rising MSNBC star.  With a straight face, she claimed hackers were to blame and that she had hired cyber-security experts to investigate.  Lyin’ Joy promised to uncover the chicanery, just like O.J. vowed to find the real killer.

 

Strike Three: When there was no longer any doubt about her hateful screeds, Reid claimed she couldn’t remember the slurs and that they just didn’t align with her enlightened thinking.  This was 2018, and Joy Reid seemed doomed to be fired by MSNBC.  After all, what other host could possibly get away with such blatant bigotry?  Only one: Joy-Ann Lomena-Reid, the wealthy daughter of highly-educated African immigrants.  She offered a limp semi-apology and conceded that her incendiary words were ‘tone-deaf.’

 

When Joy Reid was finally shown the door last week after years of hurling invective, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow implied that her employer was racially insensitive.  Meanwhile, the web is teeming with people claiming that Reid was fired because she is Black.

 

No, Joy Reid wasn’t dismissed because of her skin color. It was her skin color and nothing else that prevented her from being fired long, long ago.