How absolutely vile

On his show on Newstalk ZB, Paul Holmes repeatedly referred to Kofi Annan as a "cheeky darkie":

"That Kofi Annan, I have got to say to you, he has been a very cheeky darkie overnight," Holmes said.

"It is all very well giving a darkie that secretary general's job. We will only take so much, I am sorry. We will only take so much. We are not going to be told how to live by a Ghanaian."

I'm appalled that Newstalk ZB would tolerate this sort of racist display on air. Worse, as he works for a state-owned broadcaster, Holmes' position will be interpreted as the NZ Government's position overseas.

Holmes must be made to resign or he should be fired - immediately.

Observant readers will by now have figured out that I'm taking the piss out of DPF and NZPundit's hysterical reaction to recent comments by Pam Corkery. Still, it does raise several questions - like why DPF hasn't condemned this disgusting display by another of our TV personalities, or why NZPundit's reaction is of amusement rather than howls for blood. Could it be that they find such racism acceptable? Or is it simply something they're willing to ignore as an "unnecessarily gratuitous insult :)" [sic] because Holmes is slagging off the UN?

I'd like to see the pair of them front up and explain why Paul Holmes's being grossly offensive merits amusement, while Pam Corkery's got moral outrage. But somehow, I doubt they will.

Oh, and if anyone actually wants to emulate the right and complain to TVNZ about something Holmes said on the radio, then DPF has a great letter of complaint you can steal and rework...