Before we get into the whole “what’s with the Will Leitch abuse?” question CSTB neophytes occasionally ask, I’ll remind you there’s a whole category to your right that you can peruse and come to your own nutty conclusions. But I will point out there have been a handful of occasions in which I’ve given the Spicy Crunchwrap Supreme Munching Motherfucker his props, the big one being the time he risked sending his own pretty face to hell by stepping into the box against John Rocker.

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I’m truly sorry to say that said thumbs-up to Screechy is officially revoked. Leitch interviews Rocker at Deadspin today, and depending on your point of view, he either gives the former Brave ample rope with which to hang himself, or provides a strangely sympathetic shoulder for this lamebrain to cry on. Though there’s a handful of revelations (eg. Rocker was barred from entering Bungalow 8 because of a “Dominican doorman”, he describes John Schuerholz as “a real asshole…a complete moron…a piece of shit,”) the following excerpts are my favorite portions.

Leitch : What I find amazing about the aftermath of the story, and this is what I wrote in the Deadspin piece, was that Americans love second acts. No matter what a celebrity does, if they say they’re sorry for it, and seem legitimately apologetic, we tend to root for them to recover, at least until they screw up again. But that never happened with you. You gave that interview, and from every day since then until now, you were The Racist. You never got a second act. I’m not saying you necessarily deserved one, but people usually don’t deserve one. Why do you think that interview just set it all in stone like that? Did you ever try to resalvage your reputation? Are you still trying? Is that what the book is for?

Rocker : Naw, I don’t think the book will help with that, and I don’t care. The book is more conservative Republican rantings. The Bill O’Reillys of the world, they will appreciate it, the Rush Limbaughs of the world will appreciate it, but, unfortunately, most members of the media – well, I don’t know what you are politically.

Leitch : I’m an agnostic. Politics terrify me.

Rocker : Well, anyway, those liberal media people, they’ll appreciate some things, but I am a Republican. I’m not Republican in everything – I mean, look at my girlfriend – and I’m not a huge pro-lifer, but I think 95 percent-plus of the media is liberal, and they see me as the antichrist of liberal views. It’s much easier for them to just keep piling on than to look closer and realize that, hey, we might have been wrong about this guy.

Leitch : When you guys walk down the street, and people see that you’re John Rocker, do they say anything?

Rocker : I don’t ever make eye contact with people on the street. I’ve become like a New Yorker in that way. People want to say, “Hey, has John Rocker changed, has he turned over a new leaf?” I haven’t changed at all. I don’t understand why it’s so hard for journalists to admit that I haven’t changed; they were just wrong. Maybe they made me change by writing an article or something. That song by Joe Walsh, “Life’s Been Good To Me So Far,” that’s totally how it is. I haven’t changed.

Leitch : How far along with the book are you?

Rocker : I’ve got about 70 pages written. I’ve put it on hold for a bit until I find a publisher. When the deal is done, I’ll finish it up over the course of the next couple of months. That’s the thing, though: When people have an agenda, that’s all that matters. Jeff Pearlman is who he is: A liberal Jew from New York. He’s one of their own, who spent a couple of hours with me, pulled things out of context, and you’re trying to create a persona of an individual when you don’t know them.

(prior liberal Jew from New York postings on the subject of John Rocker :
Noted Free Speech Advocate Dimisses Sensitivity Training, 6/25/06
Some Of John Rocker’s Best Friends, 6/01/06
Rocker Still Smarting Over Glavine Blow-off, 3/29/06
Panic In Needle Dick Park, 3/7/06
Racist Fuck Down On His Luck To Appear On The Deuce, 3/6/06
Ladies Of Long Island, Take Note, 2/27/06
Grassroots Effort To Give Guns To Quail Picks Up Steam, 2/19/06
Racist Fuck No Longer A Duck, 6/27/05
Dumb Rocker Aspires To Deafness, 05/13/05
Pete Jr. Sticks Up For Rocker, 05/12/05
Rocker Compares Self To Jackie, 05/6/05
Rocker, Still A Millionaire, 05/04/05
Racist Fuck Extends Olive Branch, 04/15/05
Ducks Sign Racist Fuck, 04/8/05