Current Events Round-up: Blue Mooney

Less than a week after Dog the Bounty Hunter's public apology for using the n-word on Larry King, comedian Paul Mooney's new stand-up special, "Jesus was Black, So Was Cleopatra" premiered on Showtime last night. Filmed before The Michael Richards Incident, Mooney drops "the n-bomb" literally hundreds of times, with the same eerie Laugh Factory backdrop looming over him as from the now infamous Richards video clip. The connection, and contrast, was striking.

As a diehard fan of stand-up comedy, I enjoyed the hour and a half special, and while many of his view are outright conspiratorial, Mooney's confidence is intoxicating and his affiliation with some of comedy's late-'n-greatest places him in the proverbial hall of fame, even before his beloved cameos on Chappelle's Show.

The thing is, after The Richards Incident, Mooney swore off the n-word. Particularly after The Dog Incident, why would he consent to air this special? Why perpetuate the "n-word alcoholism" he had blatantly denounced almost exactly a year ago? I'm not making a subversive criticism here, I'm genuinely curious.

Is Mooney back on the wagon, or is the implication that the n-word's offense actually wears off?