Rick Sanchez's Casual, Dull Anti-Semitism Shows Exactly Why He Was a Terrible News Anchor

Even before Rick Sanchez went into full self-destruct mode on the satellite radio show 'Stand Up With Pete Dominick,' the former CNN anchor had plenty of reasons to be irritated about his standing in the world of broadcasting.

Sanchez's fill-in prime-time slot on CNN had recently been pushed aside to make way for the new show 'Parker Spitzer,' and his new book, 'Conventional Idiocy,' had been roundly labeled a flop.

But perhaps worst of all, Sanchez was swimming in the stark reality that he was probably better known for having his extemporaneous, gaffe-filled on-air demeanor mocked by much more famous television personalities -- such as Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Glenn Beck -- than for being a television personality in his own right.

All that seething resentment bubbled to the surface during the interview with Dominick, when Sanchez blasted Stewart for having the gall to make fun of him.

In Sanchez's worldview, Stewart was a "bigot," part of a group of "elite, Northeast establishments liberals" who "deep down, when they look at a (Cuban-born) guy like me, see a guy automatically who belongs in the second tier, and not the top tier."

What ultimately sealed Sanchez's fate at CNN was how he responded when Dominick brought up the point that, as a Jewish person, Stewart might actually be more sensitive to the challenges minorities face than Sanchez was giving him credit for. When thrown a life-line, he just kept on flailing.

"Very powerless people," Sanchez sarcastically said of Jewish-Americans. "(Stewart's) such a minority, I mean, you know ... Please, what are you kidding? ... I'm telling you that everybody who runs CNN is a lot like Stewart, and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart, and to imply that somehow they -- the people in this country who are Jewish -- are an oppressed minority? Yeah."

And with that single incredulous diatribe, Sanchez managed to both insult his employers and advance the timeless, poisonous, tired meme that "Jews control the media." Whether the man really is a racist or was simply over-compensating for his own wounded pride is immaterial; the die had been cast and within hours he would be out of a job.

But really, what led to Sanchez's firing was what made him such a lousy cable news anchor in the first place, and such an easy target for ridicule. His show 'Rick's List,' was a highly ad-libbed take on the news of the day, overstuffed with Tweets from his viewers and his own patented nonsensical musings and adventures. Who could forget the time he passingly referred to President Obama as "our cotton-picking President," or when he insisted that it was impossible for a volcano to exist in Iceland, or when he had himself tazed for the benefit of the viewing public.

With looks straight out of news-anchor central casting and a voice that always sounded like he was narrating a "World's Best Police Chase" video, Sanchez couldn't help but come off as the real-life version of fictional broadcasting boob Ron Burgundy. Why CNN saw fit to give the most gaffe-prone host in cable news a show that relied so heavily on his ability to stray from the teleprompter seemed bizarre on the surface, and made less sense with each passing blunder.

There may well be room on cable news for a show like 'Rick's List,' but Sanchez was the wrong anchor to helm it. Such a format would have required a host who was quick on his feet, insightful, and sharp. Someone like, well, Jon Stewart. And every weekday between 3 and 5 PM, and again at 8, Sanchez made a habit of proving that he lacked those requisite qualities.

But it wasn't until Friday, during what should have been a run-of-the-mill interview to promote his book, that he dug himself into a hole so deep that CNN was finally forced into the realization that Rick Sanchez is not a man to be trusted around a live microphone. Why did it take them so long to see that? Well, like a lot of people, they had probably tuned out Rick Sanchez a long time ago.