I'm glad he got fired (Don Imus)

[laci59]

I'm glad he got fired, Don Imus, ugly rasiest SOB. I don't like his looks and his remarks

[one]

Quite frankly I don't think they were racist remarks at all, and I think the media took advantage of the chance to make a huge stink about it.

Insensitive remarks? Yes, but everyone has the right to be an a$$hole.

[xterragirl]

I can't believe that he got fired over this. While I can't stand the man, firing went overboard. Al Sharpton and his bandwagon literally ruined lives when he chose not to wait on the facts and believed a real lying "ho" in the Duke case.

And the Rutgers girl who said she was scarred for life? She needs to get one.

[osrb]

Let here it for freedom of speech.

[Bloodhound]

There is no freedom of speech when what you say is controlled by your sponsors.
Welcome to the United States of the Offended.

[Warkitty]

He was offensive, yes. He's a frelling shock jock, of COURSE he's offensive. This hue and cry about it would be more believable though if it also went up over the use of the exact same language by rappers.

[ScarlettP]

THANK YOU Kitty! I'm getting a little tired of the double standard. THIS person can say some words but THAT person cannot just doesn't fly with me. Either the word is offencive and should be striken from the airways, or EVERYONE gets to use the words.

[Copperhead]

I am continuously reminded of Orwell's Animal Farm: ..."some are more equal than others"

If Sharpton & Jackson paid as much attention to what African Americans are saying about each other & worrying less about what "whitey" has to say, there might actually be some positive change in the media. As it stands now, if you're white & offensive, you'll lose your job. If you're African American & offensive, you get a record contract. Irks the tar out of me.

And yes, I am overgeneralizing & I know it. I am frustrated with the continuous idiocy I see permeating our society.

[alphacelt]

<begin two cents worth> What I find so disturbing is the fact that black leaders such as Al Sharpton do jump on this sort of thing and young people like the ladies from Rutgers are being taught that this is the correct thing to do! It seems to me that leaders such as Al S. are doing young people a dis-service, teaching them to react inappropriately. Too much hollering about trivial things will eventually diminish the importance and significance when real issues come up. Also, the issue is so over sensitive these days that African Americans are (possibly) being robbed of some of their heritage in it's wake. Take "tar baby" for example. (I know that Wikipedia is not a scholarly source, but for your reading pleasure en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_baby ).

While a DJ is an employee of a corporation and his speech can be curtailed by his employer, the rest of the world needs to decide on a standard and stick to it. In my opinion, if it's not right for me to say it then it's not right for you to say it. </end two cents worth>

AC - I really need to start using the spell check feature.

[osrb]

Howcome Jessie Jackson gets a pass describing NYC as "HYMEITOWN" (sp?) but if a white person says something that HE deems wrong HE is all over them. Seems to be a double standard by a Rasist Bigot.

[Gary]

So when is ABC going to fire Rosie O'Donnell for her totally off-the-wall comments about 9/11?

Oh wait, she's not an old white man.

[alphacelt]

OSRB - I don't know, but that's part of the issue. Why do some get to use the language and others don't? As to Rosie, it may be irresponsible but it isn't racist (unless she has brought up the Jewish conspiracy theory as well) so I guess it doesn't count. We'll leave that up to Donald Trump I guess.

[gridbug]

Sharpton makes his living off of racism, and adds to racial division in the process. When can we can him for his racist slant? Who is more of a racist in this issue - Imus or Sharpton?

It is a sad day when a shock jock gets canned for offending someone. Anyone filing a complaint for this needs to be slapped and handed a sheet with directions on how to turn a radio off and change a channel.

I could be wrong, I've never heard Imus' show. Maybe he needed to be canned. But for saying "hos"

As for Rosie, there is obviously some "bitch niche" that she fills. We are stuck with her as long as her ratings hold.

[Babs]

It was a too swift and harsh punishment. I hope this hasn't destroyed him professionaly. He made a living by being sometimes offensive. Live with it or ignore it. I don't particularly like him, but I liked his show.

[Crash0]

CBS fired Imus not for his comments, but for the bottom line... he lost over 100 of his primary advertisers this week, over this mess. When you lose those kinds of numbers, CBS has no choice but to fire you. If the advertisers hadn't dropped Imus, he would have gotten a slap on the wrist and been back on the air in 2 weeks.

As for Jessie Jackson, he was on Countdown this week, and spoke out about racist comments from both sides of the line. Olberman called him out on why Imus was beening burned at the stake but rappers get away with murder, to which Jackson replied that he is fighting this kind of language from both white and black people. He mentioned several radio DJ's who now refuse to play 'gansta rap' that uses offensive or racists language (the 'N-word' was mentioned several times). So, it's not that Jesse Jackson is just going after whitey, he's going after anyone who's preaching hate.

Now, I think anyone can agree that Jackson and Sharpton appear to be targetting whitey, as the vast majority of the people they go after for this behavior are white. I don't think that's counter-racism though, I think it's just a matter of priority. When a black man calls another black man N*****, he's doing it for shock value or a joke, or because it's the what he has seen everyone else doing as he grew up. There is no hatred inherent in that comment. It's offensive to the rest of us, if only because we were brought up to believe that the 'N-Word' was a horrible offensive thing, and it should never be uttered. However, when a wealthy, educated middle aged white man makes the same comment, it's a reasonable assumption that there is some level of hate, racism, or demeaning intent behind his words. Jackson and Sharpton are going after 'whitey' because when 'Whitey' makes a racist joke, it's likely to do more harm to our society than when Snoop Dogg drops the n-word and a couple dozzen f-bombs in his next single. That's not to say that Jackson doesn't object to Snoop's use of language (as he reaffirmed in his interview the other day), he just doesn't see it as the same level of issue as Imus's comment.

That said, I think this mess got way out of hand, but Imus should have known better than to make that kind of joke to begin with. I don't know (and don't really care) if Imus is a racist, but I agree with his dismissal. That kind of 'humor' doesn't need to be broadcast, in my opinion.

Crash

[one]

well he's no "Kramer"............

EDIT: Oh, and did you see Hillary Clinton taking a chance to win the womens and black vote by getting up on her pedestal and making a statement? That's exactly why she'll never be president as long as anyone with common sense has a voting card.

[daworm]

However, when a wealthy, educated middle aged white man makes the same comment, it's a reasonable assumption that there is some level of hate, racism, or demeaning intent behind his words.

And I say, so what? What if you are specifically intending to demean someone? What if you really do hate someone, or a whole class of someones? What if you really do think your "race" is better? Words, despite what some basketball player claims, do not hurt you unless you choose to be hurt by them. Its all about freedom of speech. You should be able to call anyone anything under the sun and not be sent up the river for "hate speech".

Of course, on the other hand, if you do, advertisers are also perfectly free to pull their advertising, networks are free to fire you, and consumers are free to quit buying your products or services afterwards. And the Jacksons and Sharptons of the world are free to call you names in return. And those you called names are free to tell anyone and everyone what an idiot they think you are.

And that's exactly what we've seen here. Isn't this a wonderful country?

Remember, Imus didn't go to jail. Cosell didn't go to jail. Jimmy the Greek didn't go to jail. (There are laws on the books about hate crimes concerning speech that might land you in jail, but I for one don't see how they could realistically be interpreted as constitutional.)

[alphacelt]

Crash, I have to disagree with you a little here. What if a white person uses the same language but doesn't mean it in a racist way? How would we know? What if Imus was just lamely trying to use some street lingo? He obviously f*cked it up but hey, he's the "pro". And, it's cost him.

But what is being learned/taught by all of this restrictive "PC" speak? For many of the bigots it simply means that they learn how to not broadcast their real thoughts and instead they will "talk amongst themselves". Changing the speach doesn't necessarily eliminate the ignorance, just makes it more difficult to detect.

[Crash0]

harder to detect might also make it harder to spread, and that is really what people like Sharpton and Jackson are going for. If they happen to smack down a couple whities, hey it's bonus points for them. The issue that is being fought is is the mainstream acceptance of language that can be used as hate speech. People get desensitized to it, and when white people start spewing out racist terms (even in jest), they begin to undo the past 50-80 years of civil liberty victories.

Do I think that Imus is racist? Based on what I've heard about him, his charity efforts, and his public record, probably not. You're right, this was a botched joke that got out of hand. But if the networks don't do something about this, to 'make an example' of him, more and more of the mainstream will begin to slip in their own color comentary, seeing how far they can go with it. I think it's better to stop this kind of thing before it gets out of hand.

Worm: I agree with you, btw... Imus does have free speech, and has the right to make comments like that, and the industry has the right to react to it as they did. Like I said, Imus wasn't fired for his comments, he was fired because of the industries reactions to his comments.

ciao,
Crash

[Milk]

Well, it's obvious that the word successful and attractive African-American has far too much power. Any word that has that much power needs to be shouted from the rooftops to take that power away. Interestingly enough, I actually cringed as I typed the word successful and attractive African-American, and continue to use Significant Capitals in typing the word. Hrm... It really does have power. Wow.

[Milk]

Censor? And once but not the second time. Interesting...

[one]

^^ You might consider using a space between PEN and IS when you sign up somewhere with that name again.....

[el Gusano]

Well, it doesn't bother me one bit that he got fired, but it's ironic as to why.

I just wonder if his ratings would have dropped? That would be interesting to know, although we never will.

But, when this is treated almost as a crime, I cringe. How long until it is a crime?

On a similar note, one of my students said that some guy jewed him out of some money. I had to tell him that he can't say that on the bus. He came up later and wanted to know why not, and you know what? I think he seriously does not know what a Jew is either ethnically or religiously.

[Justin Thyme]

CBS Radio brought in ~$2 Billion in ad revenues last year of which the Imus show contributed ~$15 Million. MSNBC was paying CBS another $15 million to carry Imus on their morning show. Imus was being paid $10 million a year. When MSNBC dropped the Imus show over this and other sponsors bailed out there was no way that CBS could afford to continue employing Don Imus. It just wasn't profitable.

[RuneDeer]

Gus,
Thanks for correcting that kid, and you're right -- he didn't have a clue most likely. When I first moved to Ga. a co-worker (from way up yonder somewhere in the mountains) and I went to the North Ga. Fair and she lost at one of those try-your-luck booth games. She came away grumbling that she'd gotten "jewed." As a half-Jewish, newly transplanted New Yorker I felt obligated to offer my opinion on the expression--politely. She gave me a blank stare and there were no more invitations anywhere from her after that. Luckily it was a temp job or things would have been awkward in the long run.

[erinslion]

Milk, if you insert a space between "Pen" and "Is" I'll never let you live it down, you silk-wearing, poodle-walking jackanape...

M.

(Will it really "mighty" my penis? I'll take a dozen...)

[Jay]

crash0 said:

CBS fired Imus not for his comments, but for the bottom line... he lost over 100 of his primary advertisers this week, over this mess.

That's a very good point. That's what companies care about...the bottom line. Anything else is usually secondary,


As far as ThePenIsMightier..

everyone should go to

www.penisland.net/ Heh

[Milk]

erinslion said:

Milk, if you insert a space between "Pen" and "Is" I'll never let you live it down, you silk-wearing, poodle-walking jackanape...

M.

(Will it really "mighty" my penis? I'll take a dozen...)

Word.

Word.

[chiliman]

While I am not an Imus fan, it seems to me he is tame by "shock jock" standards, c'mon he is (was) broadcast on msnbc every day. It's terrible that a 30+ year career is shut down by a throwaway remark that took two seconds by a guy that talks on the radio for at least a couple of hours a day.

And of course he is called out by the usual racial ambulance chasing team of Sharpton and Jackson. Furthering the notion that there are words that only black people can use. There are plenty of "black" radio broadcasts that use far worse terminology directed at all races. WGOW used to broadcast a Sunday morning show featuring black hosts that was horribly racist.

[rebelgrunt]

The truly sad this is all of this happened because somebody took offense at words that were said...when are we as a people going to learn, words have only as much strength as we give them...At my job I have actually been called a "Racist Cracker" because I refused to do a job on a guys car...He nearly went insane with rage when I almost collapsed on the floor because I was laughing so hard...I knew the guy was making a racist comment, but I didn't care...
Yes Imus should have chosen his comments more carefully, he knows the climate out here and was careless with his statement...But his sponsors shouldn't have bailed that quickly and he shouldn't have been given his walking papers...I hope he will get another job soon...I hear "Stormfront" is looking for a spokes person (joke)...