The British broadcaster Martin Bashir resigned yesterday from his daily US television show after failing to calm a storm over abusive on-air remarks he made about Sarah Palin.
The former BBC presenter, noted for his extended television interviews with Diana, Princess of Wales, and Michael Jackson, announced that he had quit MSNBC. He had called Mrs Palin, the former Republican vice-presidential candidate, a “world-class idiot” after she made remarks comparing America’s indebtedness to China to slavery.
In a bizarre insult, he also cited the diaries of an 18th-century plantation owner who punished slaves by having someone defaecate in their mouth.
“When Mrs Palin invokes slavery, she doesn’t just prove her rank ignorance. She confirms if anyone truly qualified for a dose of discipline from Thomas