Did Michael Richards think he was funny?

I heard about this lovely incident this morning on the radio. The long and short of it is, some black people were heckling Michael Richards (AKA Seinfeld's Kramer), and he called them the N word and told them 50 years ago they would have been strung up for speaking their minds.

The whole incident reminds me of when M and I were watching Comic Relief on HBO this weekend, and they brought out our favorite comedian , Sarah Silverman. She proceeded to joke about her ancestors being Mongolian rapists. How is that funny? M shut the TV off in disgust, saying, "There's funny and edgy, and then there's just being disgusting for the hell of it." (Check out these quotes from her movie, Jesus is Magic, for proof.)

In the meantime: Michael, you're pissed you're being stereotyped as Mr. Cosmo Kramer. I didn't see you complaining when you starred on one of the most successful (and lucrative) sitcoms ever. Get over yourself.