Don Imus - the double standard strikes again
I'm no Don Imus fan. I think the man liberally sprinkles his political viewpoint into his daily tirades and it comes nowhere close to mine, and I don't particularly care for his brand of humor. Be that as it may, I have the freedom to choose to listen to just about anyone else when I turn on a radio, and I exercise that freedom. Plenty of people do like him though, and that's their prerogative.
Don Imus made a few very stupid remarks on his radio program, for which he has apologized profusely. He even went on a radio program hosted by Rev. Al Sharpton, and got taken to the woodshed for his comments. Personally, I think he got the wake up call he needed, apologized for going too far and the two week suspension he's getting is punishment enough. There are people, including Sharpton, calling for his job, and I think that's a bit much. On the other hand, some want to turn this into a freedom of speech issue, and it's not. Imus is free to say whatever he pleases, but he has to accept the consequences of what he says and does. The police aren't knocking down his door, hauling him off to prison. In his capacity as a radio host, there are things that, if you say, come with certain consequences. You're free to say them, but the consequences come with that. I think the two week suspension is appropriate. Even while suspended though, he's free to stand on a street corner and say whatever he pleases. He is not, however, free to use his employer's resources to take his message to a larger audience.
Having said all that, several years ago, Rush Limbaugh (of the vast right wing conspiracy) was hired to be a commentator of Monday Night Football, and was part of a panel on some pregame show for ESPN or ABC...I can't remember which. On that show he said something to the effect that Donovan McNabb, of the Philadelphia Eagles, wasn't all that great a quarterback, but the NFL really wanted him to succeed because they wanted to promote black quarterbacks. Again, this was something reeeeeeally stupid to say, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the characterizations Imus made about the girls basketball team of New Jersey State U. Limbaugh was fired before you could say "tattooed nappy headed ho."
I think Limbaugh deserved to be punished, but didn't deserve to lose his job, any more than I think Imus deserves to lose his. Yet, Limbaugh was gone before you could blink. Imus will get a suspension - a slap on the wrist by comparison. Just another example of our objective and unbiased media at work.
Don Imus made a few very stupid remarks on his radio program, for which he has apologized profusely. He even went on a radio program hosted by Rev. Al Sharpton, and got taken to the woodshed for his comments. Personally, I think he got the wake up call he needed, apologized for going too far and the two week suspension he's getting is punishment enough. There are people, including Sharpton, calling for his job, and I think that's a bit much. On the other hand, some want to turn this into a freedom of speech issue, and it's not. Imus is free to say whatever he pleases, but he has to accept the consequences of what he says and does. The police aren't knocking down his door, hauling him off to prison. In his capacity as a radio host, there are things that, if you say, come with certain consequences. You're free to say them, but the consequences come with that. I think the two week suspension is appropriate. Even while suspended though, he's free to stand on a street corner and say whatever he pleases. He is not, however, free to use his employer's resources to take his message to a larger audience.
Having said all that, several years ago, Rush Limbaugh (of the vast right wing conspiracy) was hired to be a commentator of Monday Night Football, and was part of a panel on some pregame show for ESPN or ABC...I can't remember which. On that show he said something to the effect that Donovan McNabb, of the Philadelphia Eagles, wasn't all that great a quarterback, but the NFL really wanted him to succeed because they wanted to promote black quarterbacks. Again, this was something reeeeeeally stupid to say, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the characterizations Imus made about the girls basketball team of New Jersey State U. Limbaugh was fired before you could say "tattooed nappy headed ho."
I think Limbaugh deserved to be punished, but didn't deserve to lose his job, any more than I think Imus deserves to lose his. Yet, Limbaugh was gone before you could blink. Imus will get a suspension - a slap on the wrist by comparison. Just another example of our objective and unbiased media at work.
Labels: Politics
John put this out here at 7:16 AM
3 Comments:
how about this? how about we let Imus get fired for being an ass too? Then he and Rush will have been equally treated for equally awful and stupid behavior and you won't be able to blame in on the liberal media? They're both jackasses for thinking the way they think, and even more so for saying what they think in the public domain, as if the rest of the world agrees. They should both not be allowed to use federal programming dollars to spout their prejudicial garbage. How's that?
Well, I guess that's part of my point. I agree with you. I think they're both asses for thinking the way they think, and they both should be shown that they are and why they are, and they shouldn't use the radio, or television to spout prejudicial poop. I just don't know that either of them should be fired for it. Punished, sure. Made to see the stupidity of their ways, sure. Grab the food of their dinner table and the roof from over their head....I don't know. If you had a recurring issue, after repeated warnings, yeah, I could see dumping one of them...or anyone else in that situation.
Of course, the next question is, where do you draw the line? Is three times enough? Is ten times too many? I don't know the answer to that. I just don't think you send someone to the unemployment line for one day of being overcome with a case of the 'stupids'. Maybe that's just my self preservation kicking in, too. If I got fired for every stupid thing I did, I don't know that I'd ever see the outside of the unemployment office.
the difference between YOU (and me) and Imus and Rush is that what we say doesn't necessarily get broadcast to millions of people, and we (I'm guessing) aren't influential in the manner that they are in terms of spouting our personal garbage all over the federal airwaves using (at least some) federal dollars. Anytime a public figure forgets that he/she has influence in their realm, it stops being "entertainment" and treads dangerously close and perhaps ON the lines of propaganda...or something like it. I don't think this is a three strikes rule...and also, don't put yourself in the same category as Imus or Rush in the unemployment line scenario; remember: neither of them has probably EVER seen an unemployment office, and I doubt either one of them ever will. They'd probably send their illegal Mexican maids to stand there for them. Or their chauffers.
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