I'm really of two opinions about Don ImusA radio talk show host, best known for his sarcasm and often harsh language. getting fired.The first reaction is that the punishment doesn't fit the crime, and that's a fair conclusion at face value.
However, the second reaction is that Imus has been saying stupid stuff like this on New York City's airwaves for 35 years. Sometimes he pissed off dozens of people, sometimes he pissed off thousands. It was inevitable that eventually — given 35 years of chances — he would piss of millions. That was the minefield he played around in, and this time he got blown to smithereens. As we say in Thailand, "Som nom naServes you right.."
What is really laughable are all the people who are rushing to Imus' defence, making this a free speech issue. If you are one of those people, I mean, seriously: If every time you walked into the local convenience store, and the cashier behind the counter who handed you your change then said, "Have a nice day shithead." Would you just say, "Oh, that's free speech. I simply won't shop there any more." Would you be pissed off enough to ask to talk to that cashier's manager? No? If you didn't, would be surprised if somebody else who was called a shithead did ask to speak to the manager? Would you be surprised if that cashier's manager fired him when the manager heard what the cashier had been saying? That's what Imus' managers did. Imus insulted every black person in America (apparently... as I'm not black), and his managers fired him for it. Sorry... that's not free speech. That's about public relations and operating a business.
Well, I guess I'm not of two opinions then. (That's why I like blogging... I get to win debates with myself.) Imus finally made the mistake that cost him his job. He went too far, and making the same apology that he has made 40 or 50 previous times in his career didn't cut it with the people he insulted. They wanted Imus fired, and CBS apparently decided that Imus wasn't worth as much to their broadcasting revenue as a happy African-American public was. Som nom na.
8 comments:
Well, I'm of mixed emotions, too...
He does a lot of good things behind the scene, etc..
His mistake was making racial slurs of members of a runner-up collegiate basketball team...one is a valedictorian, one will be a law student, one is a genius musician..etc..
He's helping to perpetuate the stereotype of the stupid, big, muscular "black woman ho" and that's uncalled for..
If he doesn't like women's college basketball..he should just say "women's basketball sucks"..he doesn't need to bring racism into it...
Well put. Business is indeed the bottom line. Google, who owns YouTube, will bend over backwards to appease China. Offending Thailand is small change in comparison. "Freedom of speech" is not a sacred right, it is a commercial product.
Thanks for the very entertaining blog.
I'm no Imus fan so I'm not trying to stick up for him, but I would like to examine the music collection of the young ladies of the Rutgers basketball team for words and phrases that are offensive to women. I'm guessing that I'd find quite a few slurs in this music and this is something they have paid for and listen to regularly (whereas I don't think any of them listen to Imus or even knew who he is).
The bottom line is that these women we're offended by the words, they hear much much worse every day by their own choosing.
sorry for the typo -- I meant to conclude that they were *not* offended...
This was all a bunch of B.S.! The comment was lame and wasn't even noticed by anyone until Mr. Race hustler Sharpton and Jackson got involved. They did thier usual bribing of the networks and creating an imflamatory panic among companies to give in or be labeled racist. I can honestly say I am not a racist and don't condone it at all. But to say a person using stupid slang is a racist is silly. This is 2007 and if a few minor words affect someone that much they have a serious lack of self image. The biggest issue I see is if indeed this was a racist issue. Why isn't others being held to the same standards? Mr. Sharpton and Jackson who were so enraged by this have a longer history of using racist remarks against white and jewish people than I have the ability to list here. They both came out and used many racist remarks against the Duke Lacrosse players who were recently totally vindicated. Why are they not apoligizing? Why doesn't Sharpton be fired from his radio show? I will tell you why because this race hustling thing is one big scam they use to bribe Networks for financial gain. No one will confront them in fear of being attacked as a racist. It is like the Mccarthyism of the year 2007! As for the freeedom of speech I disagree with previous posters. In my country America! It is a constitutional right and cannot and should not be taken away. That's what makes us different from everyone else. It is one of the core beliefs this country was founded on and I would die to preserve it! From Jakal
Jakal:
Make sure you write to me to let me know when you are coming to Thailand so that I can meet you. You have -- through your postings -- painted a picture of yourself in my mind that I really just cannot wait to see whether or not it is accurate.
Hello Jil, I will definitely be honoured to meet you someday. I am not sure currently when my next visit will be. I had planned a March 07 visit but due to my passport delivery being delayed that all changed. I did get it recently. During that time I decided to return to school and further my college education. I am not sure when I will get a long enough break to return to Thailand for awhile I am afraid. I hope your imagined image of me is positive. I will try to save you some of the guess work. I have nothing to hide like some of your negative posters. I am 40 years old, still single by choice, Caucasion, 5ft 11, 250 pds, short military style haircut, brown hair, brown eyes, and I wear contacts due to lousy vision without. I am now a full time college student. I retired from Military after 20 years service with USAF Special Operations. I live off my world wide extensive investments and also a military pension. I have been all over the world and have visited Thailand many times. I have many friends who retired and live in Thailand and some are in Pattaya. I love Thailand with all of it's imperfections. I am always counting the day's for when I return to Pattaya again. I hope you find this helpful and not too much info. From Jakal a loyal blog reader.
By the way... I will say that Imus compounded his mistake by going on Al Sharpton's radio show, therefore making Al the official "spokesman for the other side." Imus really cooked his own goose when he did that.
Post a Comment