Well, I did it. Didn't do it I mean. Didn't listen to Imus this morning. The I Man issued a lame apology for his remarks and those of his cohort, Bernard McGuirk. Last week both of them called the Rutgers womens basketball team " Hos. " There's been a huge backlash.
Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are calling for him to be fired. Rutgers coach Vivien Stringer is livid. Columnist Clarence Page says Imus promised him six years ago - SIX years ago! - that he would put an end to the racist humor being spewed on his show. Page likened his intervention to that of one trying to get a drunk to stop drinking. Imus is a recovering alcoholic and substance abuser, who now constantly reminds us that he is a " good man " whose demons have been replaced with kids with cancer and autism.
" I guess he's fallen off of the wagon, " Page said yesterday.
So we'll see how this goes. Will it blow over? Or will Imus go down? Stay tuned. But not into Imus. Not into WFAN between 5:30 a.m. and 9 a.m.
6 comments:
like you I have watched or listened to Imus for years. One thing that they often do is incorporate what could be called homophobic references; up to and including the dreaded "F" word. As a gay man do you know what my response has been? Not much other than laughing, if it's funny. And rolling my eyes to myself if not. There is no over the line here as far as I'm concerned. Where is/was your high dudgeon over these indiscretions? As a Catholic am I to be offended by the Cardinal Egan skits? Have you jumped to the defense of helpless members of the Church of Rome?I don't have to watch it if I'm so delicate as to not be able to handle it.
The great thing about being able to include comments on this blog is that it makes one think, and at times rethink what one has written. I'm sticking by my " It was over the line " opinion concerning the " Ho " reference. I guess it's like what the Supreme Court justice said about the definition of porn. Sometimes you just know it when you see it. Calling a group of young black athletes hos is obscene. That's my opinion. That said. You make some excellent points and I wonder: There must have been other times in the past, as I listened to the show, that I felt someone or something went " over the line. " Why didn't I get angry about it then? Clarence Page said of Imus over the weekend that he might have " fallen off the wagon. " He wasn't referring to drinking. He was referring to a time, six years ago, when Imus promised him he would stop with the racist schtick. Maybe, as far as this writer is concerned, it's not about falling off any wagons - but boarding one: A bandwagon of indignation re: Imus's and Bernard McGuirk's remarks.
Touche Terrance Collins.( And pardon my French )
well, and I just can't let this go, and it's been addressed countless times for years...where is the anger and the calls for boycott, or resignations of nearly every single Black Hip-Hop, Rap "artist" (Gangsta or not)who refer to women as whores incessantly, or gays as fags. Yet the genre has been increasingly celebrated over the years (despite my prayers for a miserable death). Where the fuck is that shameless thug "Rev" Sharpton and that dullard Clarence Page when they have to patrol their own race? Are these things over-the-line or are they getting a pass? What does double-standard mean to you?
I listen to Imus every day; have for the last several years. Sometimes, I get so angry by his "humorous" bashing of women--especially women athletes...
(I've even shot off emails, about women (of all races) he and Bernard have so shamelessly made fun of, and especially when he was so adamently supportive of Joe Lieberman.) I move on and laugh again minutes later at something else that I do find funny. Usually, I skip Donald Trump and Bo Dietle, and I dread those right wingers whose views I find so offensive, but I love the Cardinal. Many say HE is over the line, and he is.
Where do you stop this? Do we remove "offensive" people from the airwaves? For what reasons? Don't I have the option of turning off the radio?
I listened very carefully this morning to Imus's remarks, and like most people, I have some conflicted feelings about all of this.
Imus is arrogant. He is a bully.
He is nasty and vindictive. No one is off limits--or at least, until now.
One thing he mentioned this morning is in one of his conversations with an African American preacher last night, he was made to understand that words DO matter. I have offered the suggestion that perhaps he would understand more fully how hurtful he can be if someone were to rail on and on about Wyatt Imus's weight problem--and make fun of the kid relentlessly. Maybe Imus would understand what this is really about.
Is he a racist? This has come up before...I say NO.
Should Rob Bartlett stop playing Attorney General Gonzalez? Is there a place for political satire (the Rutgets comment was not political satire--it was Imus being really stupid and needing to get called on it)?
Try to get to Tom Oliphant's comments this morning, if you can.
He made a lot of sense.
I am predicting that Imus is finished for now...
I say he needed to be humbled.
I know Terry McCarthy believes that we have all been enablers all these years.
I've just got to think this over...and over and over.
jane c.
You're right, Jane C. Imus is finished. For now. It's being reported that MSNBC has suspended the simulcast of his show for two weeks. What's MSNBC going to fill that three hour hole with? More Anna Nicole garbage? More missing women stories? Resurrect the Duke Lacross story? Whatever transgressions Imus is guilty of, he's not guilty of what Dan Abrams is guilty of: Constantly pushing mindless drivel onto the daily TV docket. I've said it before. I don't want Imus fired. I don't want him to resign. And I certainly don't want the morons who set the agenda at MSNBC telling us what's right and what's not. Let the market decide. Let us make the call.
lots to think about this morning...like the 24/7 "news" stations, OY VEY!
This is one of the things I hate about that...we're now going to have to decide whether Imus is a SAINT or a SINNER--those who think he should stay will elevate him to new heights; those who think he should go will make him the devil.
Meanwhile, we're missing out on the humor and sharp edged analysis of events....
In the end, it's about the cash, no? The stations are going to lose big bucks if he is gone, and that counts for everything.
Post a Comment