Top Gear host draws fire for suggesting striking public workers should be shot

I always thought Jeremy Clarkson was a car guy who got lucky. I never knew how lucky.

He's the co-host of Top Gear, the Brit show where they take million dollar cars and drive them really fast. I can see that as a fun job. Who wouldn't want to put a McLaren or a Bugatti through its paces?

Clarkson comes across as pretty much a regular guy. That's his audience after all. People who can actually afford those toys wouldn't spend time watching Clarkson drive one. But he showed his true colors the other day when he joked that public sector workers holding a one-day strike should be shot.

Ha ha. Joe the garbage man and Sally the schoolteacher are fighting for their jobs. They won't be driving any of the stuff you see on Top Gear. Ever. But apparently the one day picket inconvenienced Mr. Clarkson. That won't do.

Everyman Clarkson reportedly pulls in a million Brit pounds a year for his car show. That's close to a million and a half in US dollars. The man could actually afford one of those cars he tests! He's a personal pal of PM David Cameron, which I suspect is one of the more important qualifications for getting the job.  The irony is that his show is produced by the publicly owned BBC.

He's a public servant, just like those folks he wants to shoot.