Comedian: 'I kept expecting a punch line' from Richards

First things first, I've admitted I was wrong in arguing "Kramer's" outburst was a failed attempt at a "heckling the hecklers" joke with ethnic humor. But apparently I wasn't alone in thinking that in the first place.

Comic Paul Rodriguez, an audience member at the club, said at a news conference:

"I kept expecting a punch line. It didn't come."

He also said:

"Once the word comes out of your mouth and you don't happen to be African-American, then you have a whole lot of explaining."

As I pointed out in my initial reaction to the matter, however, that latter statement isn't exactly true. Minorities can jab at other minorities. Hispanic comedians get get away with the N-word (Carlos Mencia), as can Jews (Sarah Silverman), if they're funny. Pretty much anyone, whites included, can say "cr-cker," and The New York Times will even use "redneck" in the author's voice.

The only question left is whether white males can go after minorities if the jokes are funny enough, and I'm not sure yet what the answer is.

As for Kramer, it will be up to fans to decide whether to forgive him. He's admitted that he wasn't kidding, that he lost his temper and vented racist sentiments. Normally I caution against oversensitivity on racial matters, but here's a case where someone wasn't misunderstood. He crossed the line and should be held accountable.

Robert VerBruggen blogs at http://robertsrationale.blogspot.com.

UPDATE: Nick Gillespie of Reason also shared my reaction:

"Here's video of Michael Richards, a.k.a. Seinfeld's Kramer, stinking up the joint recently at The Laugh Factory. Responding to a heckler, Richards goes on an n-word tear that starts out like a Lenny Bruce/Dick Gregory-ish bit that's trying to straddle off-color (literally) humor and social commentary but then never climbs above simple offensiveness...

"You see a guy who reaches first for the easiest comeback to an African-American heckler and then can't trade up to actually being funny, to pull himself out of a simple assertion of power (whether based on skin color or, tellingly, celebrity)."