You might have seen the story in the past few days about the black Dallas county commissioner who objected to a white commissioner referring to the paperwork backlog within the bureau that handles traffic tickets as a “black hole,” which caused another commissioner, also black, to vigorously object to the term as – get this – racist. Another commissioner, a judge no less, seconded that opinion, and demanded that the offending public official apologize for the "racially insensitive analogy.”

I know: That’s about as stupid as it gets. But, as always, there’s more.

The first of the two affronted politicians, John Wiley Price and Judge Thomas Jones – I name them becauseanybody that ludicrous deserves to named, loud and clear – didn’t know when to leave bad enough alone, and took his complaints outside for a TV interview. That’s when the stupidity compounded, with an assist from all sides.

To begin, the interview, on a local Fox station in Dallas, was introduced by a very serious woman who declared that the story heralded “a tense debate over race. The story is receiving national attention.” Calling this is a “debate” implies some level of thought and discussion, as opposed to a mindless rant by a publicity-seeking rabble-rousing, Al Sharpton-wannabe idiot. And adding that this has received “national attention” grants it a gravitas it surely does not deserve.

Then to the interview, where John Wiley Price was allowed to prattle on nonsensically. From Fox:

You tell me one thing in this society that when you say white, you get a negative connotation. So if it's 'angel food cake,' it's white. If it's 'devil's food cake,' it's black. If you're the 'black sheep of the family,' then you gotta be bad, you know. 'White sheep,' you're okay. You know?

Personally, I never heard of a “white sheep” in anybody’s family, and devil’s food cake is a lot tastier than boring old angel’s food cake, but maybe that’s just me. But what was just as interesting to me was the reporter, who just stood there with his microphone out and didn’t offer any rebuttal. Everything white is good? Didn’t either of them ever hear of “whitewashing,” or covering up a crime? How about “waving the white flag,” or surrendering to the enemy? Do you want to be caught in a “whiteout,” a highly unpleasant and often dangerous condition, when visibility is severely impaired by snow and diffused lighting from overcast clouds. And do you want to be a “white dwarf”, a small, dense star, (read squat and fat) also known as a degenerate dwarf?

By the way, a black hole, which sucks everything in to oblivion as a result of its massive gravitational pull, isn't any more unpleasant than a “white hole,” a theoretical object that acts in the opposite manner, ejecting matter from beyond its event horizon, rather than pulling it in.

You get the idea. Nonetheless, Commissioner Price went unchallenged, and prattled excitedly on. And in a flash, he went from simply dumb to something much worse:

I think people should always be careful. You know, I'm okay if I'm 'bartering' with you. ... But if I try to 'Jew you down,' Oooooh. Is that racist? I thought it meant the same thing? No, maybe it doesn't.

Again, the reporter had no comment, did not feel it useful or interesting or necessary to distinguish between a scientific term, not to mention a type of delicious cake, and an expression whose origin is based on the belief that Jewish people are miserly and unethical in business dealings, an expression that is based in prejudice and hate.

So Price is an idiot, and revealed his true colors as a bigoted idiot at that. But what is just as disturbing is the reporter’s acquiescence in simply accepting what Price had to say without comment or question, and then the anchors and producers and writers back at the station, with ample time to prepare an adequate response, remaining silent as well. That silence granted Price a respectability and consideration he did not deserve.

In contrast, people on the web got it in droves, writing to condemn Price and Jones, as common sense won out across the board. For the main, the media did not do its job, especially not that Dallas news station, which employed neither intelligence nor judgment in presenting the story. But that’s the news business for you today, and one more reason why it is dying.