“No one has ever seen the president of this league do what I did tonight. That’s leadership.” That’s how Westside Baseball President / coach John Kelly describes his taking his lumps over an ill-advised Facebook post following the passing of Whitney Houston (above). ““I could have gone up there and said, ‘kiss my ass,’ ” argues Kelly to the Oaklawn Patch’s Lorraine Swanson, though that’s sort of what he’s doing after the fact.
Kelly told Patch that he made the comment out of frustration that Houston, who publicly battled drug addiction throughout her singing career, was being elevated as children’s role model by the news media.
“I’m so sick if reading about this dumb stupid N—– Whitney Houston..she’s the dumb ass that decided to do drugs n kill herself stay with that woman beater … she blew more $$ up her nose than most of ye will make in yer lifetime … there are kids dying real fathers n mothers fighting for their lives…grow up ye dumb assess…think she’d give a flying f— about u???? Just saying.”
Kelly, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2008 Democratic primary for Cook County Recorder of Deeds, admits to posting the comment on his Facebook page.
“I made the comment,” he said. “I had a bunch of friends and cousins making comments about Whitney Houston. I’m sorry I did it. I deleted the post and then I went and apologized. I apologized 100 times over. This is a personal vendetta against me.”
“We’ve fought wars for the right of freedom of speech,” he continued. “It’s my personal Facebook page. I put stupid stuff on there.”