Blacklash
The only thing stupider than Don Imus’ comment the other day is the media’s reaction to it. Most people, black or white couldn’t care less. But the usual race hustlers and white guilt peddlers were out in force and now Don Imus has been fired from all his networks. The self righteousness of these clowns is beyond appalling since it comes on the heels of the disclosure that the accused Duke athletes were totally innocent after being accused of raping a black stripper. The reactionaries like Sharpton, who’s had history of his own hoax racism scams in the past, wasn’t satisfied with Imus coming on his show and apologizing. Nor did he offer any to the Duke players, who he had blasted as rapists.
Imus really didn’t owe apologies to anyone except, maybe the basketball team he mocked. His biggest mistake after his comment was probably going to Sharpton’s show, as if he matters. People really need to stop feeding that troll. He has done nothing but draw attention to himself and call everyone racist, even when they aren’t.
The double standard in the media towards whites as opposed to blacks is really absurd. Whites can’t say anything that remotely sounds critical of blacks, but blacks can say almost anything about whites without reprisal. And white broadcasters lose their jobs even if they just misspoke or said something that sounds vaguely like it might be racist, even if it’s positive (like Jimmy the Greek’s settlement that blacks run better because they were bred that way). But if you listen to a lot of blacks talk on TV you often hear racist comments about whites, or even blacks.
I’m not endorsing racist statements at all, but we’re supposed to have free speech in this country. Events like this always generate calls to limit speech. For example, that other race hustler, Jesse Jackson, is calling for the banning of the N word from all media, even though the N word isn’t the issue here at all. As many people have pointed out, there’s nothing Imus said that hasn’t been said by rap artists on a regular basis. And the word Ho has become almost a joke word. It gets tossed around quite a bit, to the point where it’s almost become cute. The word lacks even a racial connotation at this point.
I’ve never listened to Imus, what little I’ve heard didn’t interest me. Politically, he seemed to favor Democrats (but he hated the Clintons, apparently). But notice how the media creeps are trying to label him a conservative. And now there are calls to go after Limbaugh, Boortz, Savage, etc. The lefties in the media have been trying to shut down talk radio for years, which shows you how much regard they gave for the Bill of Rights.
This whole Imus thing is a media invention. And it’s all about trying to shut down anyone who isn’t PC enough. Political correctness is nothing but censorship and if that hasn’t been obvious to you now, it should be. It’s a tool to control what people can say.
As for the media, their credibility continues to suffer. All the phonies who called for Imus to be fired are only telling you they are gutless slaves to political correctness. And as such they shouldn’t be watched anymore. They should be banned. Maybe then, they will be fired. We need less enablers of censorship and PC and more honesty, even when its ugly.
And now for your moment of Zen. This is a perfect example of how phony media issues are. They are always overblown to the point of absurdity.
UPDATE: Obama should be fired by the people of the US.
Sharpton gets death threats.
Check out what Brin had to say about this.
http://bindyree.diaryland.com/070412_68.html
Posted by Dave Marron on 04/12 at 08:47 PMI wont decry it as censorship, just slot news. The media needed something to fill the void left behind by Anne Nichols baby’s daddy being found.
Thats what happens when you make a dumb comment on a slow news day.
Posted by on 04/13 at 04:30 AMIntersting take on the situation from another blog I go to:
The death of Kurt Vonnegut was eclipsed by two other stories this week. And it’s hard to imagine better bookends for the obituary of someone who poked so much fun at the sort of people who flog notions like “justice” and “decency” while simultaneously showing the rot behind the vacant totems they’ve become…
Vonnegut left the planet a news footnote to the Duke lacrosse and Imus fiascos - two Jerry Springer versions of “Bonfire of the Vanities” played out by a locust swirl of the usual parasites and whores, all in the name of the “Handicapper General’s” do-gooderism that pulled the trigger at the end of his own infamous “Harrison Bergeron."1 Kilgore Trout couldn’t have dreamt up a sillier McScandal than the Imus mess.
Kurt Vonnegut was an absurdist and he died in the proper context. He was old and frail and most would say he lost his voice and prose years ago. It’s nice to see he kept his timing
Posted by on 04/13 at 04:39 AMFirst, they *are* nappy-headed Ho’s. Have you seen these “girls”? I say this as a black person. Second, you’re absolutely right, Hudnall. It’s a shame there’s such a double standard and people like Sharpton and Jackson should be bathed in honey and set loose in the Sahara for their parts.
Posted by Fred Woodbridge on 04/13 at 06:36 AMI really dislike how many people are bringing up free speech, political correctness, or the “double standards of the media.” It misses the point entirely.
This has nothing to do with free speech or censorship because Imus is not being censored as he is still able to say whatever he wants. He just cant get paid for it, or do it over a mass medium. Having a radio show is not a right; it is a job whose goal is to bring in advertising money. He botched it pretty bad.
In regards to political correctness and double standards; there really is a difference between what rappers say and Imus’ previous rap sheet and what he said last week.
Saying incendiary remarks about white men, black women, Asians, or midgets is fine as long as it is kept general. People can walk away from a generalized comment. Public figures also fall into this category, (e.g. other rappers, politicians, newscasters, Paris Hiltons, etc.) as criticisms are just part of the job. That’s why Imus can call Clinton a bastard, and Snoop can call other rappers bitches and ho’s, ho’s.
Specific 19 year old college students, on the other hand, don’t fit into this category. They, like most of us, are not fair game for public humiliation and satire. As such, Imus committed slander. (Slander is a published message, implied to be factual, that may harm the reputation of an individual.) There is legal precedent here. As a veteran broadcaster he should have known where the line was between defamation and just plain ole’ bad radio.
And just to be clear Imus wasn’t fired because MSNBC or CBS Radio thought it was the right thing to do or because they wanted to keep a clean image… Imus was fired because advertisers were pulling out and without advertising dollars, there’s simply no show.
And the reason advertisers pulled out of the show is that customers were likely calling them. People like Imus have a national platform to make their points. They can make their points over and over on this platform. Our platform is calling the sponsors and that is just what happened.
This is democracy folks…get used to it!
p.s. Fred, if you were famous, you could be sued for that statement.Posted by on 04/13 at 06:48 AMT,
I realize that the government isn’t shutting Imus down, it’s a business decision. But the fact is, people get fired all the time over stupid comments. The guy had a popular show. So if advertisers pulled out, they would have come back or been replaced.
The media created this joke of a mess. They blew it up. As you say, the Anna Nicole story losing steam, they needed something to replace it with. But there is a deeper agenda. They are trying to use this as an excuse to institute even more censorship.
Yes, it is censorship. Whether a government or a corporation does it, they are limiting what someone can say. Imus was a shock jock. So no one should be surprised by his comment. Further, it was throw away line like many he is known for. This is not untypical of his show. So the focus and attention on this line is almost like someone was looking for it.
We live in an age that is getting more repressive than the 50s. Back then, the restrictions on speech in the media were pretty tight. They seem to be going that way again.
Posted by James Hudnall on 04/13 at 07:53 AMI think you’re getting a bit over zealous with you fization on PC, Hud. Calling a spade a spade is one thing - calling an entire girl’s basketball team what he did is another. It was wrong, inappropriate and uncivil.
What’s particularly appalling to me is that the sponsors didn’t pull out from this jerk years ago and that there are people who actually listen to him and Stern. It’s a sad state of our society.
As far as Sharpton goes he is as big a racist as there ever was. I despise the man. But, he can say whatever he wants. Again, woe to us if he has the audience.
Posted by on 04/13 at 08:05 AMWithout our defamation laws to protect innocent folks from bulllies with microphones, printing presses and television shows, plenty of our rights would get trampled on. Just becuase you have a microphone, doesn’t give you all the rights to say anything you want.
There is no censorship here. Imus can still say anything he wants. The question is, will the free market support it. Right now, it looks like it won’t.
Posted by on 04/13 at 08:55 AMPC is censorship. I’m opposed to censorship.
As I said, Imus comments were stupid. But I don’t think he should be fired over them or ths huge media storm is deserved over it. It;’s not like he was making Michael Richards type comments.
When we get to the point where any kind of critical comment is banned (and we’re heading in that direction) our society is done. We need open and free expression in America. It is one of our strengths. Even stuff we disagree with or find distasteful.
Personally, I think we can do without the word ho, it’s become a cliche. But the bigger issue is free speech.
Posted by James Hudnall on 04/13 at 09:01 AMTest,
The free market wasn’t why Imus was fired. His ratings would haev gone up after all this attention. Some advertisers bailed. But they would have been replaced by others. CBS wimped out. They should have put him on probation after his two week suspension.
This whole thing about people’s feelings being hurt has gone way overboard. The media accuses people of rape and murder all the time, without any proof. But some shock jock throws out a one liner and it’s evidence we need to fire him? Come on.
Besides: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8OFQH880&show_article=1
Posted by James Hudnall on 04/13 at 09:05 AMOne thing that amazes me is that someone at MSNBC said that MSNBC “wasn’t aware of the content of his [Imus’] show”.
Hubba hubba WHA?? They had never received a complaint? That’s crap.
Bob and Test - what if, for the sake of argument, Imus had said that they LOOK like “nappy-headed hos”, instead of they ARE “nappy-headed hos”?
Also for the sake of argument - if it had been Dave Chapelle or Chris Rock who had said it, would we even be having this conversation?
Posted by Dave Marron on 04/13 at 09:54 AMAs long as Al Sharpton willingly keeps the company of Jesse ‘Hymietown’ Jackson, I honestly have to wonder who the nappy headed ho really is. Still waiting for them to condemn Crystal Gale Magnum for lying about what happened at the Duke party, by the way.
Posted by Brin McLaughlin on 04/13 at 09:58 AMThere are distinctions here that are not being made. I will keep things separate.
This was not an act of censorship:
Our freedom of speech does not go so far as allowing us to publicly humiliate individuals, who are not in the public arena, via mass media.To me, that is reasonable. It is one of the foundations of our freedom of speech.
That said, the Rutgers Team should could have just sued him. Imus did not need to get fired.
Imus got fired because advertisers pulled out:
That is exactly what a free market response is. That’s how it works. We don’t like it, we complain and the sponsor pulls out. If you don’t want to worry about sponsers, then he should have been in a private enterprise. But he wasn’t. That was NBC’s choice and Imus’s for accepting the job. Once again, nothing to do with censorship.Its not the media’s fault:
It was a slow news day and this insult resonated with a lot of people. So what? That’s not new. That’s their business model. That’s how they make money. (see free market)Why were people so perturbed despite the fact that he says a lot of mean things about a lot of people? I think it was that these girls weren’t the typical target. Instead of being a politician or a movie star, he was calling some young students who just accomplished a great thing whores and this resonated among a lot of people. Although most people don’t know the difference between defamation of a public versus private person, many people intrinsically felt there was difference. It just so happens that there is a law that has been evolving for a couple hundred years backing up that sentiment. The race and sex issue just fueled the fire.
There is not a single aspect of this case that makes it a unique example of censorship.
Posted by on 04/13 at 10:17 AMBTW, I was a journalism major in college. This is bringing back all the old debate we would duke out with our profs.
Posted by on 04/13 at 10:18 AM“Our freedom of speech does not go so far as allowing us to publicly humiliate individuals, who are not in the public arena, via mass media.”
Says who? That’s nonsense. The media accuses people of rape and murder and terrorism, all the time. But that’ not hurting anyone’s feelings? What does feelings have to do with anything? And frankly, do any of those players even listen to the show? So how would they hear about it if not for the media making it a big deal. Moreover, worse things get said in the media all time time by others and nothing gets done about it. So why single out Imus?
“Imus got fired because advertisers pulled out:”
Actually, MSNBC said no advertisers pulled out of their Imus show. Some pulled out of the CBS show. See my response to that above. The free market excuse is weak. If some advertisers pull out of a show, that doesn’t mean others won’t fill the void. They fired him before they bothers to find that out. Plenty of shows have lost sponsors before and weren’t canceled. This is selective discrimination.
“Its not the media’s fault:
It was a slow news day and this insult resonated with a lot of people.”The only people who seemed offended were the usual perpetually offended creeps like Jackson and Sharpton and white guilt ridden media liberals who always want to appear not racist by sucking up to the former. They’re both fake and they’re both the ones who should be fired for perpetuating racism through their bogus arguments.
From all accounts I’ve heard from Imus listeners and even many of his critics, he is not a racist. His comment was a typical shock jock kind of UN-PC statement.
Posted by James Hudnall on 04/13 at 10:51 AMIf I were famous ... indeed! It shouldn’t matter whether or not I’m famous, I can insult whomever I want whenever I want. It’s part of that silly part of the Constitution, you know the one. Waaah, he called me a nappy-headed ho. Puhleeze. I’ve been called worse, and I’m not making a case of it.
Was what Imus did in poor taste? Absolutely, and for that, he should be excoriated. But this kind of backlash is absurd when you consider worse is said (sung?) everyday by people making a lot(!) of money.
Posted by Fred Woodbridge on 04/13 at 11:31 AM“Says who? That’s nonsense. The media accuses people of rape and murder and terrorism, all the time. But that’ not hurting anyone’s feelings? What does feelings have to do with anything? And frankly, do any of those players even listen to the show? So how would they hear about it if not for the media making it a big deal. Moreover, worse things get said in the media all time time by others and nothing gets done about it. So why single out Imus?”
THere is a difference. And about 200 years of law say so. I mean, Libel and slander go all the way back to the revolution.
What Imus did was wrong. What newspapers do is not. News papers say that someone has been accused of being a rapist. What Imus did is say that the girls ARE a rapist. There is a difference. One is true, the other is not.True statements are protected by our first amendment. Untrue mass-media insults are not.
He is not the first to go down because of this stuff. Bill Mauer (SP?) and Dan Rather, and probaly thousands of newspaper editors have learned this leason the hard way as well.
Posted by on 04/13 at 11:50 AMFred, I bet you get called worse things all the time.
And I am guessing that you don’t know sh*t about the constitution.
Posted by on 04/13 at 11:56 AMNo, T. It’s not libel since it’s obviously trash talk about a sports team. It’s not about individuals, and the word ho has become pretty generic. It doesn’t mean prostitute.
The bottom line here is, while I don’t feel like defending what he said, because it was stupid, I do think everyone over reacted.
This is a media created brouhaha. I don’t think he deserved to get fired. Not so fast anyway. If they couldn’t get any more advertisers after, say, a month, then maybe. But my bet is, he would have seen an increase in ratings and advertisers would have piled on.
Howard Stern saiid a lot worse stuff and he never got fired.
Posted by James Hudnall on 04/13 at 02:29 PMHoward Stern was fired by NBC radio, though not for anything specific back in the 80’s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJewgWh0SjsThere may be a “Blacklash” but neither Sharpton nor Jackson will feel it, as this issue has raised them to some level of legitimacy after what seemed like a sure slide into irrelevance (Jackson’s atttempt to save a murderer from the death penalty and both’s involvement in the Duke scandal). The people who hate them now, hated them two weeks ago, before this started.
It is interesting to see people like Robert Johnson (founder of BET) try to weasel out of his responsibility and role in poisoning our culture.
Posted by Edshugeo The GodMoor on 04/13 at 04:24 PM“Fred, I bet you get called worse things all the time.
And I am guessing that you don’t know sh*t about the constitution.” - Testify (for the Looneys)
Do you realize how condescending you sounded just then?
Man oh man, it’s true. The most condescending people ARE the Lefties like you.
Posted by on 04/13 at 04:36 PMEdshuego,
I forgot about that. But then, he was a young man. Imus probably won’t be able to bounce back from this. But who knows.
I suppose the worst thing about this is what you said, this gives back some cred to J and S. At least in the PC cops eyes like the media.
The most snivelling thing I’ve heard so far came from MSNBC douchebag Keith Olberman who had Jackson on and called for the firing of everyone in the media to the right of him.
Posted by James Hudnall on 04/13 at 05:40 PMCheck out this article from TIME magazine:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1609490-1,00.html
Posted by Dave Marron on 04/13 at 05:48 PM“The most snivelling thing I’ve heard so far came from MSNBC douchebag Keith Olberman who had Jackson on and called for the firing of everyone in the media to the right of him.”
I caught some of that. I thought the punchline was “I’ll have you know, my replacement when I’m on vacation is Allison Stewart, who is African-American.” I think J.J. was trying to keep a straight face ‘til he could get off camera.
Posted by Edshugeo The GodMoor on 04/13 at 06:51 PMThe way he pronounced African-American, hesitantly, like he was afraid to say it, is so freaking pathetic. JJ should have bust out laughing.
Posted by James Hudnall on 04/13 at 06:58 PM
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