Longtime NBA followers, executives, employees and media know Clippers owner Donald Sterling as a moneyed fool. Not a terrible man, but a jerk with dough who likes to show off, pop off and, increasingly, think too late, if at all. He’s someone best — and easily — ignored, especially at 81.
Well, not anymore.
Yes, what he allegedly said was painful, indefensible and inexcusable, except why would we expect him, at 81, to be less loony and more discreet and clear-headed than he was at 75 or 78?
Visit any assisted living facility. Or think of that aunt or uncle all of us have known and suffered with a wince because we knew they were off. And they come in all races.
Not everyone, at 81, should reasonably or humanely be held accountable for whatever ugly comments come out their mouths._ Phil Mushnick, New York Post, 4/28/14
I think those denied housing in Sterling’s properties by virtue of their race would describe as something worse than a monied jerk. But putting aside the question of whether or not the embattled Clippers owner is the worst person on the planet versus merely an exposed racist du jour, let’s consider Phil’s argument that no one should take the rantings of an elderly person seriously, nor should the that person be held accountable.
As of this writing, there’s 3 U.S. Senators over the age of 80. There’s 11 over the age of 75. The guy who owns Phil’s newspaper is 83. Rather than finding a way to shrug off the racist sentiments of a guy who has hiring/firing power and owns a major sports franchise in the country’s second biggest market, why doesn’t Mushnick insist Rupert Murdoch be shipped off to an assisted care facility, before he says or does something really fucking stupid?