In Brett Favre video, Twin Cities reporter calls Mississippi a cesspool, apologizes

Satire is tragedy plus time. You give it enough time, the public, the reviewers will allow you to satirize it. Which is rather ridiculous, when you think about it. — Lenny Bruce
Usually, my work weekend doesn’t begin here at Out of Bounds until Saturday morning, but I thought I would give you readers a treat with this little exercise in wry humor which some would say – specifically the folks in Mississippi – went horribly wrong.
Above is a video prepared by St. Paul Pioneer Press reporter Jim Ragsdale which I believe was intended to be a tongue-in-cheek plea to convince Brett Favre to return and play for the Minnesota Vikings next season. The problem is most people don’t take too kindly when someone refers to the state in which they live in as a “cesspool.” Especially when one takes into account the current tragedy afflicting the residents and coastline of Mississippi in light of the BP oil spill. Um, yeah.
As you can see by watching the video, it’s kind of funny. Unfortunately, once the southern Mississippi-based Sun Herald caught wind of the video and uploaded it to their site, things got a little sticky. To say that the commenters who came upon the story were none too pleased with his shenanigans would be a huge understatement.

Clearly, Ragsdale meant no harm and he even prepared an apology video. Unfortunately, Ragsdale, the so-called “intrepid reporter” kind of lays it on a little thick so I’m not entirely sure it technically qualifies as an apology.

Yeah, this probably isn’t going to end well for our intrepid reporter. At the very least, I wouldn’t book any vacations to The Hospitality State anytime soon. My guess is the residents wouldn’t be too hospitable to this particular repoter/satirist right now. You see, it’s all about timing with these kind of things. Ragsdale just made an honest, yet boneheaded, mistake.
But most importantly, as a Minnesotan and Vikings fan, allow me this thought: come back to us Brett Favre! We need you and Mississippi totally sucks!
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Plea: Come back to Vikings, Brett Favre! Minnesota’s great for grandpas! [Pioneer Press]
ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS VIDEO: Reporter Jim Ragsdale video calls Mississippi a ‘cesspool’ [Sun Herald]
Intrepid reporter apologizes to ‘cesspool’ Mississippi: He loves the state, the Vikings AND Brett Favre [Pioneer Press]