Kornheiser's defense is so absurd to read today.
Sure, he's an asshole in private, but don't judge him by that. Judge him by the persona he's created for himself in his writing. And, besides, he would have used a racist term to slur someone who wasn't Asian too.
Would love to see someone ask him if he still stands by it:
Some people have lumped Breslin with Al Campanis, Jimmy the Greek and Andy Rooney, all of whom came under fire for stupid remarks. The differences are in where and how Breslin spoke. Rooney's comments were made to an interviewer. Campanis and the Greek spoke on camera. Had Breslin said this on TV, or written it in his column, he would be fired, and justifiably. He launched his tirade in the newsroom; you'll have to trust me on this, the newsroom has always been one of those places where people rant and rave. To folks who work there, the inside of a newspaper, like the inside of a locker room, is not a public place -- it's more like the family den. Rowdy comments are passed there that are never intended to be brought to public light. You fire all the reporters and editors who've shouted repulsive, obnoxious taunts at one another, there won't be anybody left to turn out the lights.
Campanis, the Greek and Rooney spoke temperately, of things they believed. Breslin lashed out in rage, without thinking. It's how he's always been. "I can control the rage in my writing, which is what I get paid for," he said. "I do not control it when I'm shouting off the record." He's a saloon-meister, a rough-hewn street guy who's sat down on curbs in all five boroughs of New York City. Nobody ever confused him with Prince Charles. If that message hadn't been sent by a Korean woman, if it had been sent by the daughter of a Queens cop, a colleen who'd worked with Bernadette Devlin in the IRA, rest assured Breslin would have popped off in the same foul mouth -- and without thinking twice substituted "mick" for "slant-eyed."