Insincerity: The Imus Suspension

The lib media are so weird.

What's the big story right now? Don Imus.

Iran, Iraq, Election 2008 -- those stories are taking a backseat to the morning talk show host.

The Imus controversy is being promoted like it's the latest reality show.

In the grand scheme of things, who cares about Don Imus?

I don't.

In the minute scheme of things, I don't care about him.

I don't listen to his show, but I know he stepped over the line and used a racial slur.

Imus made his remark the day after the Rutgers team, which includes eight black women, lost the NCAA women's championship game to Tennessee. He was speaking with producer Bernard McGuirk and said "that's some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos ..."

"Some hardcore hos," McGuirk said.

"That's some nappy-headed hos there, I'm going to tell you that," Imus said.

In my opinion, what he said was highly objectionable.

It's a popular opinion, shared by many.

On Monday, Imus apologized for his racist remark, was browbeaten by Al Sharpton,and received a two week suspension starting next Monday.

OK. Whatever.

Enough already.

This is Entertainment Tonight, People magazine stuff. Taken at face value, it's not a major story. Imus is receiving a ridiculously disproportionate amount of attention.

NEW YORK -- Don Imus' morning talk show will be suspended from CBS Radio and MSNBC for two weeks following protests about his reference to members of the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos," both networks said Monday.

MSNBC, which telecasts the radio show, said Imus' expressions of regret and embarrassment, coupled with his stated dedication to changing the show's discourse, made it believe suspension was the appropriate response.

"Our future relationship with Imus is contingent on his ability to live up to his word," the network said.

The suspension begins next Monday.

Imus, who has made a career of cranky insults in the morning, was fighting for his job following the joke that by his own admission went "way too far." He continued to apologize Monday, both on his show and on a syndicated radio program hosted by the Rev. Al Sharpton, who is among several black leaders demanding his ouster.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson said that Imus' suspensions would not halt the protests.

"This is a two-week cooling off period," Jackson said. "It does not challenge the character of the show, its political impact, or the impact that these comments have had on our society."

Imus could be in real danger if the outcry causes advertisers to shy away from him, said Tom Taylor, editor of the trade publication Inside Radio. The National Organization for Women is also seeking Imus' ouster.

...Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP board of directors, said it is "past time his employers took him off the air."

Imus was mostly contrite in his appearance with Sharpton, although the activist did not change his opinion that Imus should lose his job. At one point Imus seemed incredulous at Sharpton's suggestion that he might walk away from the incident unscathed.

"Unscathed?" Imus said. "How do you think I'm unscathed by this? Don't you think I'm humiliated?"

I'm not defending Imus.

I can't boycott him because I'm not one of the few that make up his insignificant audience. The guy is not entertaining. He's annoying.

If Imus got the axe, I wouldn't consider it a loss. I wouldn't know the difference.

All the usual suspects are lining up to condemn Imus -- Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Julian Bond.

As ugly as Imus' remarks were, I don't think Jackson, Sharpton, Bond, and other hypocrites should be casting stones.

Jackson and Sharpton are anti-Semites.

Where does anti-Semite Jackson get off leading protests against Imus?

Time for another Jackson boycott, I guess. Nevermind that Jesse Jackson, moral leader, called Jews "Hymie" and New York City "Hymie-town."

And Al Sharpton, another moral leader, referred to Jews as "diamond merchants."

Recall this incident:

In 1991, Sharpton turned the death of a black child in a traffic accident in Brooklyn, involving a Hasidic Jew, into a racial incident. Sharpton led 400 protesters through the Jewish section of Crown Heights. There were four nights of rock- and bottle-throwing, and a young Talmudic scholar was surrounded by a mob shouting, "Kill the Jew," and was stabbed to death.

In spite of Sharpton inciting riots and spewing hateful rhetoric, he took a holier-than-thou stance on his radio show when he publicly flogged Imus.

Read the transcript here.

Sharpton is demanding that Imus resign.

And what did Sharpton do after his anti-Semitic outbursts? Instead of begging forgiveness, he ran for the Dem nomination for president!

Apparently, the "reverend" Jackson and the "reverend" Sharpton only believe in forgiveness for themselves.

Like Sharpton, Julian Bond wants Imus canned. What a hypocrite! The chairman of the NAACP is an absolute disgrace.

Here's a sampling of a few of his choice comments:

Civil rights activist and NAACP Chairman Julian Bond delivered a blistering partisan speech at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina last night, equating the Republican Party with the Nazi Party and characterizing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her predecessor, Colin Powell, as tokens.

"The Republican Party would have the American flag and the swastika flying side by side," he charged.

Calling President Bush a liar, Bond told the audience at the historically black institution that this White House's lies are more serious than the lies of his predecessor's because Clinton's lies didn't kill people.

...He referred to former Attorney General John Ashcroft as J. Edgar Ashcroft. He compared Bush's judicial nominees to the Taliban.

...In July 2001, Bond said, "[Bush] has selected nominees from the Taliban wing of American politics, appeased the wretched appetites of the extreme right wing, and chosen Cabinet officials whose devotion to the Confederacy is nearly canine in its uncritical affection."

Bond can't claim any moral high ground.

This whole thing has become a joke, a media circus. Someone call in Judge Larry Seidlin. At this point, he's about all that's missing from the Imus saga.

I think everyone involved is exploiting the matter.

It's like a contrived event, a staged publicity stunt by media whores.

Imus, Jackson, Sharpton, and Bond are all getting exactly what they want -- attention.

MSNBC may get a bump, temporarily of course, from all the press.

Imus' apology tour is just goofy. The posturing by his critics is embarrassing.

What's missing from all the professed outrage and Imus' repeated apologies is sincerity.

I believe that Imus truly regrets his statement and I believe that people were genuinely offended.

So apologize and move on.

If you don't want to support Imus, then turn him off. Don't listen to CBS radio. Don't watch MSNBC. Don't watch NBC, either.

During primetime on Monday, NBC was hoping to capitalize on the controversy du jour by plugging an EXCLUSIVE Today show interview with Imus scheduled for Tuesday morning.

How many exclusive interviews is Imus planning on doing?

It's ridiculous.

When I think of all the horrible, slanderous things that come out of Rosie O'Donnell's mouth, I wonder why people don't demand that she be fired.

Perhaps the people that are offended by O'Donnell's daily stupidity are able to deal with her vitriol by taking a different approach to make her stop.

They seem to understand how to use the TV remote.
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After seeing Imus with Matt Lauer and Al Sharpton on Today this morning, I'm convinced that all parties involved are milking this for personal profit.

The double standard at play, Imus' offensive remarks compared to Sharpton's drivel, is so glaring that the debate between the two men over the matter has no credibility.

The Imus remark has snowballed into this huge deal.

While it's valid to debate standards of decency on the air waves, this story has spun out of control.

Absolutely ridiculous.

Al Roker says it's time for Imus to go.

The strikingly hypocritical Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial Board, defender of racist radio personality Michael McGee, Sr., says the same thing -- time for the curtain to come down on Imus.

Spivak and Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel give a taste of some of the most flat-out racist, anti-Semitic, violent bilge on the air.

Every so often, you just have to turn on ex-Ald. Michael McGee's "Word Warriors" radio show on WNOV-AM (860) to hear what the self-proclaimed commander is spewing.

Thursday morning was one of those days.

Less than 24 hours after his son, Ald. Mike McGee, was arrested in a courtroom, accused of threatening his former girlfriend, his father was on the air offering up a smorgasbord of anti-Semitism, threats of violence against the city of Milwaukee and rants about the difficulty of growing up McGee.

...First off, the elder McGee started with a little humor, if you can call it that.

"Look, I have a joke for you - well, not really a joke," said a female caller. "But what (does) July mean?"

"What do July mean?" replied the commander. "The Jews lie."

Caller: "Uh-uh, and what do picnic mean?"

Commander: "Picnic mean, pick a (n-word)."

(This is a reference to a bogus Internet story about the origins of the word picnic.)

Caller: "There you go. Y'all have a good day."

Again, I want to make it clear that I'm not defending Imus' offensive remark.

It's also clear that the way this entire incident is playing out is drowning in hypocrisy.

There's a lot of shame to go around. Many apologies, for past and present sins, are in order.
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