Man unfairly criticized for calling Marion Barry a 'crackhead'?

Question

http://www6.comcast.net/entertainment/articles/2007/11/13/Barry.Post.Reprimand/?cvqh=ht_writer

Barry smoked crack. Dosen't that make him a crackhead?

Answer 1

It might have been rude, but it sounded to me like it was a private communication, so why the public apology?
And since when is rudeness a shocking event in politics? The President gets called a lot worse every day, and he neither demands nor expects an apology, sadly enough.