Melissa Harris-Perry has to be the poster child for adage, “pride comes before a fall.” She is continually stuck in an altered universe where the only inhabitant seems to be her.

In Melissa’s world, everything is racist. Why is burnt toast black? Because the bread bakers and the toaster makers are white, and since burnt stuff is bad, then it must be racist.

People are afraid of the dark. The dark is sometimes referred to as “black as night.” A racist must have coined that phrase.

And let’s not forget that “Star Wars’” Darth Vader wore black and was evil; therefore, people who wear, or are, black are evil, and that’s racist.

“Planet of the Apes” was racist because the apes were black.

Melissa Harris-Perry is an expert at twisting harmless scenarios into racist offenses. And she actually thinks she makes sense. Look, if it were just me and a few other white commentators, I’d say you may be correct. But guess what? It’s not just a few of us. Her guests, co-hosts, other anchors and even experts she’s interviewed have called her out on her lunacy.

When pictures of Mitt Romney’s black grandchild appeared (and for the record, I hate that term. He is simply his grandchild, but they’ve made it a “race” thing) Melissa’s guest sang the “Sesame Street” song to describe the family photo: “One of these things is not like the other; one of these things just isn’t the same.” Why wouldn’t the grandchild belong? She belongs in the family, doesn’t she? Oh. It must be that a “white” family couldn’t or shouldn’t be able to have or raise a child who is black. Who, exactly, is the racist here? And she wasn’t fired.

Melissa went ballistic on a guest when he called Speaker Paul Ryan a “hard worker.” She said we shouldn’t use that term because that only applies to “folks working in cotton fields.” Not only was she not subjected to a sanity test, but she kept her job and got away with it. Why? You figure it out.

Well, last week she stepped on someone’s last nerve, albeit a white nerve.

Her show had been preempted a few times because of breaking news coverage with MSNBC reporting election race results, caucuses, and even shootings. You know, the normal breaking news that we see interrupting our favorite shows on any given station.

However, in Melissa’s case, she was certain it had to do with the fact she was black and that her white “owners” didn’t value her enough. Yes, she played the race card against the network executives. And she did it in a big, public way. Did you hear the snap?

She has since been fired, as well she should have been. I don’t care what color you are; just because you have a camera and a mike and you’re full of yourself doesn’t give you a right assume anything, and certainly not on live TV.

Does she feel entitled? Why would that be? Because she’s black? Or a professor? Or a kinda-sorta famous MSNBC commentator?

Based on her comments, apparently she feels that anything negative that happens to her is simply because she is black and not because as a human she is flawed and makes mistakes.

So who is really perpetuating racism now?

Joe Messina is host of The Real Side (TheRealSide.com), a nationally syndicated talk show that runs on AM-1220 KHTS radio and SCVTV [here]. He is also an elected member of the Hart School Board. His commentary publishes Mondays.