I’m truly disgusted by all the faux ‘outrage’ over what Don Imus said on his syndicated morning show last week. He’s spent every day since then on a tour of apology, from visiting Al Sharpton’s show ‘Keeping It Real’ to appearing on the Today show this morning.
It’s nothing but a witch-hunt. Imus does a comedy show. It was a stupid remark for which he has rightly apologised, but the remark certainly doesn’t rate him as a racist. Sharpton is a sanctimonious imbecile and Imus made a mistake by going on his show in the first place, which, by the way, is one of the most racist shows I’ve ever heard. How many times does a guy have to apologise before the self-righteous morons put their guns away?
I think what Sharpton doesn’t realise is the final upshot (ie. the inevitable product) of his demand. He is demanding Imus be fired because we must take a stand against all racism on all “public airwaves.” But the definition of ‘racism’ he uses is a very broad brush. “Nappy-headed ho’s” was Imus’ way of describing how tough, grisly, severe, the women of Rutgers looked, in comparison to the competition. THAT was the humour. Seconds earlier he mentioned their tattoos. The humour was similar to saying, “I wouldn’t want to meet any of THEM up a dark alley.” But because he used the words “nappy-headed” to describe their appearance, he should be fired.
Now that’s very interesting, because there’s plenty of humour that relies upon describing different people in different ways. “Looks like he slept in a cardboard box last night.” Should the jock who said that be fired? “She had a blonde moment.” Should the jock who said that be fired? “He’s a redneck.” Should the jock who said that be fired too?
Do we want to live in a world where Patty Englishman, Scotsman and Irishman disappear forever and the airwaves are all as bland and dishonest as Sharpton’s show? Irish jokes are among the best in the world. Should I be offended, outraged, and demand the firing of whichever jock allowed such a joke to be aired on their show? WHY NOT? Or is it very simply just extremely easy to offend some people?
Don Imus is a legend of the radio industry. He’s been a staple of broadcasting for almost 40 years in America. Now, because Sharpton’s sharks and Jackson’s jaws want blood, because of a stupid comment for which he has already sincerely apologised, it should end?
These people need to GROW UP.
Now, I’m off to take a cold shower before I break something expensive in anger.
John Wright
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UPDATE 4/12/2007: Imus has just been fired and will no longer have a show on either television or radio.
10 responses so far ↓
1 Rosalita Paglia // Apr 10, 2007 at 6:52 pm
I couldn’t agree more John. Imus’s show is a normal part of my weekday morning and he couldn’t fit the bill of a nasty racist shock jock less. This was just unfortunate but these people should be ashamed of the way they are raking him over the coals.
2 Anonymous // Apr 11, 2007 at 8:24 am
sorry to break in JW
I have posted further comments on Will and Testament on is God a psychopath etc.
But the only way you can read them is to post a comment as a PREVIEW and then read.
If you do this we should be able to continue the conversation.
In this manner I also was able to read the rest of the Shibboleth thread.
In it you suggested the bible merely reflects cultural views.
This is because of your assumption is it not divinely inspired.
I cant agree on this of course; Shibboleth clearly showed the bible showed leadership in resolving the slavery issue consistently over thousands of years. That is very different from merely reflecting the cultural views of the time and corresponds to the idea of a divine mind guiding matters.
You nor I may be happy about how that was done, but it was.
If you say the bible is not inspired you are effectively calling the authors mad or bad every time they quote God as saying something.
While I appreciate you dont accept the viewpoint, it is not especially difficult to take the entirety of what the bible says on a topic and to discern a single rational mind behind the words.
Any further comments, see you on the “Pscyhopathic God” thread.
PB
3 Peter // Apr 11, 2007 at 8:50 am
People should be ashamed of themselves for treating Imus this way, I hope they never have the scrutiny applied back to them, what goes around comes around.
4 Frank // Apr 13, 2007 at 4:39 pm
I know there are a lot of people who seem totally outraged by this but it’s important to remember where this even came from: a leftist think-tank which employs a ‘media watcher’ who happened to be watching the Imus show for his job. He put a clip on the think-tank website and fed it to hundreds of journalists where it exploded in the news-starved media. THAT is the only reason Imus is jobless today. I would argue this makes it not only ’selective outrage’ which is a great term by the way, but discrimination, the kind they’ve been berating Imus for.
5 Anonymous // Apr 15, 2007 at 11:34 am
Good riddance to the racist fuck. And you should be shamed of youtseld for defending him. You a selective idiot.
6 John Wright // Apr 25, 2007 at 10:19 pm
“You a selective idiot.”
Practising your English? You’re almost there.
7 Anonymous // Apr 28, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Of course he’s a racist. He’s also an idiot for seeking out Sharpton to apologize to. Those aren’t competing truths.
8 Helen // Apr 29, 2007 at 11:26 am
I tend to agree. I think Imus must have thought Sharpton would acknowledge his apology and that the whole thing would help him keep his job. unfortunately Sharpton is too racist himself to pardon or forgive such a thing. His attack dogs went out for blood, and they came back with it.
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