Ugh I hate having conflicting feelings so early in the morning before I’ve even had my coffee.

This morning I woke up to a video clip from Jerry Lewis’s famed Muscular Dystrophy Telethon with him referring to something (it’s unclear what this blathering buffoon was actually talking to) as an “illiterate faggot.” Oh yeah, that’s right…Mr. Charity dropped the F bomb.

Jerry Lewis

On the one hand, I agree with the cries of “Where’s the outrage? Where’s the perfunctory visit to the Larry King show before he’s whisked away to rehab?” But then again, this man has raised countless money to help battle a debilitating disease that isn’t even really in the public eye anymore. In fact, just speaking ill of Lewis is tempting me to make my own donation to the MDA.

Is this just a case of moral relativism — let the less-important actor hang and the more socially necessary person continue on in front of the cameras for another day? Yeah, sadly enough, it probably is. And sadly enough, I can’t really argue with it.

We all make mistakes and all have times we wish we could take back what we said when we were tired, angry, or even just trying to make that tired joke work. Jerry Lewis should publicly apologize, much like Washington did and the countless before him have, and that embarassment, in and of itself, should be punishment enough.

His good deeds shouldn’t be wiped away because of a word. Even if it was a word used to describe me countless times as a kid.

I’m willing to forgive. Let’s just hope he doesn’t forget.

Video: Jerry Drops the F-BombÂ