Mascia said….. he meant…..

What?!?

The hearing on Joesph Mascia's use of the N-word just took a trip into weird land. 

Not Donald Trump weird, but pretty close.

Just some history: Mascia was talking about some of Buffalo's leadership while being secretly recorded by Paul Christopher, a friend of his. He used the N-word to describe Mayor Byron Brown, Council Woman Crystal Peoples-Stokes, other African Americans, and one white person in the City of Buffalo government.

He claims he is not a racist and that his use of the word was “political speech.”

I know people that do yoga. That's more twisted than some of the body positions they get into. Some of the pictures of the body positions that they are aspiring to achieve don't get that twisted.

Yes, his comments are vile. We get that.

He 's apologized. Repeatedly. We get the apologies.

We don't get the explanations. These go beyond Common Core math problems. (5x3 = 15. I really don't care how you got there.)

Somehow, Mascia meant “corrupt.”

Right. (Listen to the Bill Cosby “Noah” skit for how I mean to say that.)

(Note: Accusations about Bill aside, I still laugh at his early work. I wonder how many white entertainers have done exactly what he is accused of doing and are or have “got away with it.” And how can he get a fair trial with all the stories being splashed all over the media?)

Tangent over – Back to Mascia.

Now a word that has been used to mean: slow, stupid, ignorant, lazy, and a whole host of other negativity about African Americans now gets “corrupt” added as a definition or a synonym.

I don't want to ask either Mascia or his lawyer about that one. My mind is already twisted enough about this case as it it.

Evidently Mascia was complaining about a lack of transparency in the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority. Then he should have talked about that. With specific examples.

He also says that his anger is rooted in fiduciary issues. Then talk specifically about the financial issues.

Can the name calling and inappropriate terms that address nothing and do nothing but throw gasoline on a burning fire. BHMA has had enough problems over the years. This is just one more piece of ammunition that Republicans and their ilk are going to use to eliminate public housing in the city and make it harder for those that need help with housing to get it.

Mascia, for all the good that he says he has done for the African American community all these years, seems not to have learned a thing about the community which he was selected to serve. Some words, terms and phrases are just off limits. No questions asked.

Mascia has a classic case of foot in mouth disease.

There's no questioning that.

What I want to know is: How does he heal the damage that's been done?