Some things, though great individually, make for terrible combinations. Clam chowder topped with crumbled Famous Amos cookies, for example, or a sequined bustier paired with corduroy slacks. In that same vein, the coupling of Brad Paisley, a country singer, and LL Cool J, a rapper, was fraught with inevitable awkwardness from the giddy-up. But the fruit of their partnership, a song called “Accidental Racist,” is purposely disastrous. No accidents about it. Everyone is talking about it and both artists declare they have zippo regrets about doing the little ditty. I’m trying to imagine how this debacle of a musical collaboration came about. I guess on the short list of who’s who in “safe” hip-hop, LL Cool J’s number came up and the nuevo “Ebony and Ivory” duet was born. In trying to pitty pat the state of longstanding racial tension in America, they actually work to make a mockery of it. 

Guess the apple doesn't fall far from this tree. Sean Penn is famous for his violent outbursts directed at the paparazzi, and now his son, Hopper Penn, has been caught on video not only physically bashing into an African American photographer, but calling him some really ugly names.

Hopper’s parents must be mortified -- I sure would be if I found out my kid used words like this for ANY reason, no matter how provoked. And this outburst didn't even look like it took much provocation!

Online bullies are pretty tough so long as they've got their keyboard and anonymity to hide behind. But expose those buggers to the light and they scream, scurry -- and even cry, as this New York Fire Department EMS Lieutenant Timothy Dluhos did after reportedly being outed behind a string of offensive and racist tweets that he sent out with a picture of Adolf Hitler as his profile shot. But when confronted by a reporter asking about his idiotic tweets, he broke down and began to blubber -- and it was all captured on camera.

Hold the presses! This conservative Republican chick agrees with John Kerry about something. While addressing a group of students in Berlin, the Secretary of State said that in America, “you have a right to be stupid if you want to be.”

That’s completely true. In the land of the free and the home of the brave, we protect people’s right to say the dumbest stuff ever. Thank goodness for our politicians, because sometimes they really should think before they speak.

In honor of John Kerry, here’s a list of some dumb things that our elected officials have said recently:

This is the moment. Trayvon Martin died at almost this exact moment one year ago. Candlelight vigils are being held in his honor in Florida and New York City, social media has once again been leveraged to memorialize the tragedy, news outlets have marked the anniversary appropriately with reflective coverage and thoughtful commentary, but nothing will compensate for the final breath that 17-year-old child took on this day. Trayvon didn't make his mark on black history like he could have. He’s not the only young, unarmed African-American boy to be murdered without just cause or provocation and, unfortunately—but very realistically—he won’t be the last. But his is the story that brings the issue to the fore. His death has been the catalyst for the conversation about race that we’ve been avoiding as a country. 

A Brooklyn assemblyman is under fire for wearing blackface to a party at his home. Dov Hikind donned an Afro wig and brown makeup to celebrate Purim, which has been dubbed the "Jewish Mardi Gras" or "Jewish Halloween." It is customary for people to dress up in costume, but this is beyond bad taste and incredibly bad judgement. In light of that, there is only one thing for his constituents to do.

If things went down as rapper MC Hammer says they did, then we have a pretty clear-cut case of racial profiling by a California police officer. And boy did he pick the wrong guy to profile.

It started last week when Hammer, whose real name is Stanley Burrell, was arrested in Dublin, Calif., on charges of obstructing an officer in the performance of their duties and resisting and officer. It seemed a little out of character for the former rapper who has since become an ordained minister, but after Hammer's side came out, it makes a whole lot more sense.

He took to Twitter this weekend, and unleashed on the arresting officer to his 3.1 million followers. By his account, things were not legit at all.

It's unbelievable that anyone would think wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe out in public would be okay, but that's just what three North Dakota high school students did Friday night. To a well-attended high school hockey game nonetheless.

There they were in the stands during the state semifinal game. Shane Schuster, who posted a picture of them on Twitter that has since caused an understandable uproar, told the Associated Press he was in disbelief when he first saw them. "I thought, 'Are those KKK hoods?' I couldn't believe it. I was shocked."

Shocking indeed.