Surreptitiously videotaped comments by senior NPR exec Ron Schiller that described Tea Party faithfuls in blunt but — let’s be honest — more-or-less accurate terms has led to his dismissal along with the resignation of NPR president and CEO Vivian Schiller (i.e., no relation). The male Schiller was recorded saying that Tea Party-ers are “weirdly evangelical…white, middle America, gun-toting….seriously racist, racist people.”
Gaffes are called gaffes not because they’re untrue, but because they’ve been spoken in the wrong mixed company and deemed impolitic or insensitive.
