I want to get back to the core argument here - the positively incestuous relationship that existed between Imus and many of the Great and the Good in the DC Media World. I’ll forgive the politicians for going on the I Man’s program. They’re in the popularity business and Imus had an audience that, I’m sure, their consultants told them were worth reaching.

But what was the excuse for Oliphant or Russert or Greenfield? To sell books? Well, yes I suppose he did help them flack their books (did you get as tired as I did of hearing about the wit and wisdom of “Big Russ?") and boost their importance as people in the know. And look at what happened to those who would call Imus on his remarks. Clarence Page did that and drew a promise of better behaviour and then was never asked back.

And these media types. It is a cliche by now but true - the DC Media world is like a giant High School and the big players are the kewl kids running the place. And so the famous echo chamber. My favorite recent example is the insistance that Nancy Pelosi was harming the Dems by he “Controvcersial”
stands and trips to places like Syria. Bush would mop up the floor with her. Well see the latest polls - she’s the most popular pol in Washington and the public thinks she was right to go. But it is true, as Glenn Greenwald writes in SALON, the Bush base is down to hard-core Republicans the DC Punditocracy. Is it any wonder that they saw nothing wrong in going on Imus?

First of all I could not understand why MSNBC had Imus on in the morning. He was certainly not funny, and his brand of humor if that’s what you called it was of the “good ole boy” variety. Why the media sucked up to this guy is baffling, but this is the same group who gave Bush a pass on Iraq after 9/11.  The media needs to start doing their jobs as members of the fourth estate again. Imus represented the lowest common dominator of our society - the media too often overlooked that.

Who wins, who loses? The losers here are Imus and his celebrity defenders - and Sharpton, Jackson, and the celebrity critics. The Rutgers team was wounded but vindicated.

The winner is the media business. They always win. It’s like Merrill Lynch: it doesn’t matter whether stock go up or down, as long as they’re being traded, ML is making money.

Imus’s shtick is the curmudgeonly anti-PC everyman. He plays mostly to a conservative crowd, but really to anyone who still has strains of racism, sexism, authority issues (don’t we all!) but who doesn’t really want to give that up and who feel good to have those feelings given voice and made light of.  He’s not a shock jock in the Stern mode, but he’s supposed to push the envelope, take risks. That’s what he’s paid for. That’s what CNBC and CBS have been cashing in on all these years.

Then he crosses a line. It’s bound to happen. A mini wave of controversy develops. The media (when I say media here, I mean the business end of it, including producers who want to build audience, not the creative) see another opportunity to make money. Do you think Reverend Al called the Today show or MSNBC to ask to be put on the air, ‘cause he had something to say? Of course not. They called him – and Jesse – because they knew they’d pump up the volume, build the wave. They knew their comments would be controversial in themselves. They knew other celebrities would weigh in (it’s hard to pass up a cone of light on a big stage). The wave grows, drawing viewers in its current, and the water is green with money – for the media.

NBC may have been surprised that the gambit would result in having to pull a cash cow from their milking machine. But they’ll find a new machine to plug him into – maybe XM radio will pay big bucks to counter Stern’s pull on Sirius. (Directing Imus to do more shock and less awe).

Imus, Al, Jessie – they’re tending their bruises. CBS, NBC, Fox? They’re counting their money.

we, in the general population do have something in common with mr. imus’ core viewers: we are likely to use the same products that sponsors the network and his program.  i knew mr. imus would eventually find a way to REALLY put his foot in it and he did, saving his most vicious and dehumanizing comments for women, black women in particular. so when the time came for commericial sponsors to weigh in on this matter, i welcomed it. i’m tired of paying mr. imus with my product loyalty to essentially insult me. it’s already bad enough that he thinks he’s smarter than the rest of us. don’t ask me to be THAT stupid! oh, and by the way, there is a place where his media and political buddies can “let their hair down” and exercise those first amendment rights we all value: it’s called THE PUB!

The fact that there is even a debate about this points to a more subtle and insidious fact of an America that is willing to give a pass to Don Imus and accept institutionalized racism. When should this end if not now. How do we attempt to end this? By the way, you can not equate what Imus said with what rappers say and do because 1: He targeted and referenced the women of Rutgers directly with some of the most hurtful language that anyone can say in a very public forum and 2: He is a white man talking about black women. This exacerbates the first point somewhat (he might as well have called them n*!!#rs) but if Imus were black and he made the same remark he would have faced the same fate I believe. But, could we imagine if it were a black man targeting and making direct, disparaging remarks about a white woman or a white woman’s team? Hummm; I wonder what would have happened to him? We are not talking about free speech here. Imus broke no laws but was employed by a company who had to make a decision to keep him or fire him. Just like if I’m a waiter at a restaurant and walk up to a patron and say out loud so that everyone can hear “you are a nasty looking b*@%h; you need some help in the looks department”. There is zero debate about if I should be fired or not and what would mitigate the fact that I made such a remark? The fact that I volunteer at a cancer ward 4 days a week? 

It’s time we realize that institutionalized, casual racism is the card Imus played and thought he could get away with it and that notion is being bolstered by all the people who don’t understand this or have an issue about why he was fired. Don Imus and his employers have a position of influence and they also have a supreme responsibility that goes along with it. I grew up with Don Imus. In my book I don’t think he is a bad person at all. He did make a bad decision that cost him dearly but he made the decision and he has take the responsibility, like the person who has a few drinks and gets in his car and kills someone by mistake.

I’m no fan of Imus, or any of the so called “shock Jocks” who make their fortune just being sensational at everyone’s expense. But , having said that...if that same slur had been uttered by say Dave Chapell, or any one of the black comedians, would there have been any up roar at all ? As has been stated by so many other comments to this article, its a double standard and a gutless media, that williingly knuckles under to being spoonfed the news by a corrupt administration but freaks over a knee-jerk reaction from Al Sharpton who we all know does everything with his audience in mind. Their outrage seems misplaced....this wouldv’e blown over as soon as the limited memory of the audience switched to something else...say a day or two if not for the constant reminder from the media. If our media networks had a backbone, they’d voice some amount of outrage at the lies they bought into and spread to us all these past six years, lies that had a hell of alot more reprocussions then this slur will have. The Girls on the Rutger’s team did not diserve this comment, and did not deserve the disruption and spotlite that followed either.This is just another Michael Jackson, Nicole (whats her name) , moment...its called “Info-tainment” and thats all our media seems capable of delivering to us.

Let me assure you that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are not representatives of all African Americans. Just like Imus is a representative of all Caucasians.
These are opportunist and if you look at each case of where Al Sharpton shows his hypocritical head you will soon find out he is being paid by those very same corporations who hired Imus.

What Imus said was ignorant and uncalled for an the only people he need to apologize to was the women at Rutgers. These media outlets wanted rating and controversy and they got both.

As far as Al Sharpton or Jessie Jackson look at who host their radio show...Clear Channel,then you can see why I say they are hypocritics.

Imus has been on the air for damn near 8 years and not one word for Sharpton or Jackson but now that Sharpton is campaigning with Hillary CLinton he thinks he is the mouthpiece for African Americans..well let me assure you he is not.

Just imagine if someone had fired Limbaugh 40 years ago.
What kind of country would it be?
Reagan would be in a old actors home. Gingrich would teaching badly in a small college. Nixon would have stayed in the grocery business. Cheney would have been caught by “To Catch a Predator”. G.W. would still driving small oil businesses into bankruptcy. And his dad would still be baling him out.
What a different world.
And all those people would be alive.

The real question is why is it so easy for a group of people to tell everyone how they should feel when confronted with racism when they have NEVER been on the receiving end of it? Opinions are just like assholes, everyone has one. However,if you have never been subjected to overt racism yourself you really don’t have a clue to how it feels. It’s always easy to give thoughts using hypothetical situations, but it’s harder to actually experience them. No one is looking to be embraced by this illusionary society, but if you don’t know by your OWN experience how racism affects someone, then just shut the hell up. And also, Rev. Sharpton and Rev. Jackson are not the spokesmen for black Americans. They represent themselves. And if you don’t want to hear what they have to say don’t listen. Black people are not monolithic. They are just as varied and diverse as any other ethnic group. So quit letting the media play with your mind. They air the views of the people they want you to hear so that they can get the response they want you to have. So the next time change the channel.

I think this is all a manifestation of a culture which is ruled solely on the basis of market forces. As has been pointed out many times this isn’t the first time Imus has made such comments but it is the first time that it broke through the A.D.D. American Sheeple consciousness. The predictable comments that start , “I don’t have anything against, fill in the blank but”...... When you hear that “but” that is a the signal to head for the B.S. bomb shelters for a carpet bombing is sure to follow.
Imus is just a symptom of a depraved DC culture based on divide and conquer and the publics fetish for celebrity status .
All these platitudes about free speech are laughable. Imus is perfectly entitled to say anything he wants but that doesn’t mean he can say them over the public air waves. If that is the case why don’t we have Skin Head Radio?
I’ve said many times, there is nothing I’ve heard on talk radio, that I haven’t heard before but usually it was at the local beer joint and the poor sucker who was saying them wasn’t making eight figures to do so.  Meanwhile, the clique of haves, that play to the reptilian brain of the have nots are all laughing their way to the bank.

For most of us comprising the non-celebrity masses, cursing the boss, insulting the spouse, stepping on the foot of an irritable fellow bus rider, pinching the butt of someone’s else’s spouse at the water cooler, blathering racial humor in a bar may earn some getting fired, a punch in the mouth or worse.  But not always.  You get away with spouting crude foolishness and you feel emboldened and will likely blurt it again.

Shlock Jock Don Imus had been doing this sort of thing for years, most emboldened, no doubt, by his corporate millions, and encouraged in the last decade or so by the self-important aura of the political and journalistic toads hopping to the microphone of his boring radio show.

Does anyone remember when Imus was the self-styled rebel of the radio-waves?  Guess he was playing dress-up back then, too.

Not to be vengeful but perhaps Imus finally received his comeuppance.  Call it a corrective response from an offended audience, an instant message from the fed up masses in our more technologically astute age.  Don’t believe the cynics saying this was simply a business call by the media conglomocrats pulling the strings at CBS, and MSNBC.  Popular pressure helped stick the sock in the I-man’s mouth alongside both his feet and various other appendages.

Hey, Don, after 40 years, you’re finally seeing the cost of your “free” speech.  Good luck with the job search.

Paintball Johnny Federici
New Lebanon, NY

sorry i misjudged truthdig for a moment.  i should have known robert scheer wouldn’t let me down.  now you need to take up de camp’s fight, and the fight of noreen gosch and kristin breitwieser and william rodriguez, of dylan avery and jason bermas.  yes, truthdig, it’s time to take them on.  the waiting has gone on long enough. writeabout these issues.  it’s why john peter zenger went to jail.  it’s why our ancestors died at valley forge. to stop tyrants from thinking they could buy everything and everyone. bring truth and justice for these specific people mentioned above and tell the real story of what is happening.  do this, robert scheer, and you will alter human history for the better.  do this.  you’re strong enough and you have right on your side.  and it’s your obligation.

Just imagine if someone had fired Limbaugh 50 years ago.
What kind of country would it be?
Reagan would be in a old actors home. Gingrich would teaching badly in a small college. Nixon would have stayed in the grocery business. Cheney would have been caught by “To Catch a Predator”. G.W. would still driving small oil businesses into bankruptcy. And his dad would still be baling him out.
What a different world.
And all those people would be alive.

Nowadays we find a common quality in all these madmen, prophets, teachers, rappers, TV and talk show host and disturbers of the mental peace; that quality is they all need a scapegoat to justify their menial existence.

There’s a song called “Wildflower” by a group known as “Skylark”.  Imus should be made to listen to it and possibly try to take it to heart.

Tell him there’s an excellent guitarist in the group and he just might.

What I find more offensive than Imus, are the racial opportunists, that surface each time an event occurs—-the issues they bellow about are always politically shallow—-real concerns are never tackled, they don’t want to upset the applecart; “bourgeois,” activists of “all races” rant about petty, paltry matters—-they are professional activists, enjoying a fine lifestyle at everyone’s expense.

We need do NOT need censorship from these OPPORTUNISTS.

Does free speech have no meaning anymore?

Lenny Bruce demonstrated years ago that all words have at least two meanings, the one meant by the speaker (or writer) at the time he speaks, and the one heard by the listener at the time he hears it.

If free speech is going to be regulated by the meaning assigned by the listener, which cannot possibly be known to the speaker, we’re going to be reduced to unintelligible grunting. (Not that that wouldn’t be an improvement).

That’s why PC is a pile of crap, and laws against using certain words are even worse. Especially laws that demand that certain people can (or cannot) use certain words. If I were a nigger, I’d sure want to know, out front, which MOFO OFAYS thought of me as one, instead of having all the white folks jiving and shucking and stealing from me and mine in secret, while smiling at my nappy head.

As far as Nappy-Headed Ho’s being ‘hurt for life’ because of what a freaked-out nut like Imus said, get a life. Who gives a sh*t what Imus says?

As - let’s hope - the furor and unrelenting coverage of the Imus affair dies down, let me add a parting thought to those expressed earlier. I still think that the firings amount to overkill, as stated:

“And when generals and other high officials get away with reprimands or less for such actions as permitting Abu Ghraib or lying about Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman or Iraq’s connection to 9/11 or nuclear materials, cancellation of Imus in the Morning would be overkill.”

Yes, Imus’ remark was reprehensible and deserved some punishment. However, it was obviously not serious. Just think of the result if Imus had stopped to think and had disowned and apologized a few moments after utterance. No firestorm, no terminations. It would be clear that Imus is not a bigot or racist.

However I do understand the terminations, although they would have been more sincere and pristine if done right away instead of after pressure from advertisers and the usual preachers, as well as those genuinely offended. It is just a shame that there will be so much collateral damage, to charities, to millions of viewers, and to the public good by removal of a voice that constantly attacked political and other wrongdoers

Homer http://www.altara.blogspot.com

I guess the Rutgers girls basketball team has a new team nickname courtesy of the sensationalism given it by Sharpton and Jackson.  What was it before?

Nappy headed ho’s - three words which incite rebellion (thanks to Sharpton and Jackson) in Women and Black’s, at least those who don’t use them in their everyday vocabulary.

Imus remark was offhand and not malicious, a poor attempt at comedy and perhaps unintentional bigotry which most people in this country, Black and White, at the age of 80 give and recieve as a result of history.

When god closes a door in your life he opens another,
Imus can now go into Pay radio and make the case against Sharpton and Jackson and the hypocracy they represent. 

The hypocracy being that the 15 to 20 percent Black population in this country has so many Black only caucauses, associations, contests, fraternities, they use the words nigger and ho to describe each other in comedy and song. 

Sharpton and Jackson while taking advantage of the tax-exempt status of their faith are not representative of what that faith implies, forgiveness and understanding.  Rather they are lobbiests for Black America and more concerned for what they can get for their constituancy right or wrong.

I heard the comments that caused this controversy and just chuckled. Imus was making fun of a culture that these people created and feed off of. Doesn’t anyone have a sense of humor anymore ???

“Piling on” has become a new American National pastime. Imus was making people laugh and raising millions for all kinds of charities before some of you were born.As for his ‘elitist’ status, well let’s just say that it wasn’t always that way. He is a self made man. The rush to trash Imus is shameful. But while you’re all on your moral rampage you might want to clean up the rest of the real crap on radio and what passes for comedy on TV. Then move on to Rap music which is an insult to everyone. Let’s clean up everything, not just one guy.

63729 by Mick Hargreaves

Here here! You gave me hope!

your article was about the good old boy network in washington and how it has corrupted the media.  so i put forth a post about the “conspiracy of silence”, which gets to the heart of what this corruption truly is.  it is no more “off topic” than many of the mindless rants posted above, in fact far less so.  but you didn’t post it, and so i take it you stand with those cowards who committed these crimes. if i’m wrong, then writeabout lawrence king, the franklin savings and loan, the media, the washington elite, the discovery channel and the telecommunications bill.  that’ll get to the heart of your “boys club”. on topic enough for you?

and by the way, if somehow the editors of this site determine that my previous comment was an “off-topic post”, it will show that the alternative media is as dim and as cowardly as the men who run this sad, embarrassing nation. so post it. and get to work.

in 1994 the discovery channel was about to air a bbc produced documentary called “conspiracy of silence”, which chronicled the disocovery of a child prostitution ring run out of omaha that reached the highest levels of washington.  the show was listed in tv guide for the night of may 4, 1994, but it never aired. members of the us congress pressured the discovery channel by threatening to kill the telecommunications bill(which helped monopolize the airwaves as never before) if they aired this piece.  what else they might have been threatened with is an open question.  they were also paid to destroy all known copies of the work.  in 1995 someone mailed a bootlegged rough-edited copy of the video to nebraska republican lawyer john decamp, who was representing some of the children. the video can be viewed on google video and is, again, called “conspiracy of silence”.  it contains interviews with three of the children involved, with decamp and with former cia director william colby, who expressed the opinion on this tape that the child prostitution ring reached to the highest levels of the us government.  the documentary was canceled, though its journalsim was sound(view for yourself), and colby was found dead in an odd canoe accident two years later. check it out. and read de camp’s book, available at amazon, called “the franklin cover-up: murder, child abuse and satanism in nebraska”.  after that, google search bohemian grove. and while your at it watch loose change, terrorstorm and 9/11 press for truth.  our problems are worse than you think.

AHA! This (below) from the AP wire… anyone see what they’re up to here? There’s NOTHING stopping Imus from being a call-in guest to a show that his WIFE hosts. This is far from over.

(AP Excerpt) - “Imus was fired in the middle of a two-day radio fundraiser for children’s charities. CBS announced that Imus’ wife, Deirdre, and his longtime newsman, Charles McCord, will host Friday’s show.”

I love the “I never saw his show, but good riddance” comments. Real intelligent. Do you review movies you haven’t seen as well?

I started listening to Imus back when he was the one in NYC who broke Cheech and Chong by playing “Sister Mary Elephant”. It was unlike anything anyone else was doing at the time.

More recently, every MLK Jr. Day, Imus played Dr. King’s “I have a Dream” speech IN ITS ENTIRETY over the air. To hear this entire speech via the magic radio always felt truly inspiring, often bring on a tear or two.

Who else did this on the air?

Who else in the mainstream media booked the Blind Boys of Alabama (Gospel Singers) to perform on their morning show with regularity? Apparently, he got a lot of flack from redneck yahoos about featuring an all-black, blind singing group. He also apparently told these yahoos to go screw off.

This has more to do with Advertising dollars pulling out, the reactionary Sharpton and Jackson, and the fact that Imus’ radio program was being simulcast on television, on a NEWS network, and his ratings and ad dollars were peaking. Much more hi-profile than some radio-only rant-jock. If his show had been simulcast on the Comedy Channel, would all this have happened? If it had been radio-only, would we be having this discourse?

Perhaps a comedic radio show on a news network wasn’t such a good idea.

Anyone listen to a rap record lately, or attend a stand-up comedy club? The former often has lyrics that are so disgusting it’s unlistenable. In the latter, race is fodder for much of the jokes. Ever see the Carlos Mencia show on Comedy Central? Often hilarious, but VERY VERY race & stereotype-fueled. Hey, it’s OK though kids - he’s Latino, and he’s allowed!!!!

The Imus show was always an equal opportunity comedy review. EVERYONE got roasted - bad. But, Imus finally made a tuly tasteless joke that committed the cardinal sin of comedy: it wasn’t even remotely funny. But as Bill Maher said this week, YOU try being funny 20 hours a week for X amount of weeks a year on live radio/TV without making a misstep. It ain’t easy, baby.

And Truthdiggers - Imus has been absolutely BANGING THE DRUM about the total disaster that has been the Bush Administration, calling the entire cadre of Bushies WAR CRIMINALS. And he’s a registered Republican. Still hate him?

If you didn’t check out the show, you should have been there. He backed your (our) guys Clinton and Kerry. When it had all cylinders firing, it was a good program.

True irony: Imus was terminated in the middle of his annual Radio Telethon for Charity. Real smart. Next stop: Satellite Radio. Or maybe just The Ranch.

Like Doug Stanhope says - Standup Comedy is the last form of free speech left. That’s all we have now.

We’ve all gotten too thin-skinned. I ABSOLUTELY HATE Bill O’Reilly’s show, but I’d never advocate him being taken off the air. If you don’t like it, turn the darned dial. Vote with the knob, and stop whining.

PS - Watching the band “Of Montreal” perform on Conan right now. What utter crap - a crime against good Art. FIRE THEM!

###

NEWS FLASH:  The Rutgers gals are deciding whether or not to accept Don Imus’ apology.

Here’s another news flash: Ladies, you didn’t deserve to win the NCAA championship!

Hugh E. Scott, editor of http://www.King-George.biz—the only website with hardcopy proof of White House corruption.

Here in Australia we have a similar reprehensible shock jock called Alan Jones in Sydney.  Recently he called Lebanese youths “middle eastern scum” because of recent
disagreements with “Aussie” youths at the beach. Even though the regulatory body found him guilty of inciting hatred etc., our illustrous prime minister John Howard and close crony of George Bush, distanced himself from any criticism of Jones for fear of on air retribution.  And because he is close to Jones for political reasons.
So much for statesmanship.

I am offended by Bill Boyarsky’s use of the term “white” to refer to European-Americans. Notice that he did not use the term “black” to refer to African-Americans. No, his only reference to skin color was reserved for European-Americans. Disgusting.

“The Imus story reflects something else.  It shows elite journalists becoming part of a club they shouldn’t join, sharing the values of those they are supposed to cover.  It’s a stuffy club composed generally of middle-aged or older white men who, while differing on partisan politics, share a comfortable don’t-rock-the-boat view of the world.  In this club, Imus is the loudmouth in the locker room with a gutter style the more refined members probably envy.”

Puleeze, these elite “frat boy” journalists work for huge media conglomerates—-they’re part of the in-crowd, because they do what they’re told.  These successful tough guys, with oversized mouths and enormous egos capitulate on bended knees to corporate bosses. Why do you think the Iraq invasion was so palatable in 2003-—pundits were reading press releases from the White House.

In fact, how many were killed in Iraq today—-a huge bomb exploded in the Green Zone at the Iraqi Government offices—-why aren’t we discussing this.

How many young African-Americans died in Iraq, or have lost their arms and legs fighting a meaningless war, only to make war profiteers rich.

Why don’t crowds gather with the same ferocity, demanding that mainstream media show the flag draped coffins of dead serviceman returning from Iraq and Afghanistan; why don’t crowds gather with the same ferocity demanding that the news investigate what happened to the nine billion tax dollars stolen in Iraq; why don’t crowds gather with the same ferocity demanding that mainstream media investigate the Bush administration, and how they lied about WMDS in Iraq.

Perhaps, the real “ho’s” are the reporters and pundits who worship cash and adore being celebrities—-they pretend they’re tough guys, but they’re really mealy mouth lackeys, who answer to corporate bosses; that’s why it’s just a BOYS’ club.

One by one we watch our freedoms disappear, enough of the PC crap. Imus had the right to say it (Freedom of Speech), CBS & MSNBC had the right to fire him but the charlatans who exploit this type of crap are the worst of all. The only reason Imus was canned is because his advertisers pulled out. Their bean counters saw a temporary possible loss of sales. It’s all about the dollars folks no one involved will be up for sainthood any time soon.

As a believer in free speech, I didn’t advocate firing Don Imus. That doesn’t mean that I like him. I stopped listening to him years ago. I find him to be offensive. The Rutgers team should give Don Imus a piece of their mind about what he said. THere are others that I find to be more offensive. They include Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakhan. Again, I advocate, in the name of free speech, the right to say their mind, as long as I can speak mine.

Well I hope the not so silent minority are happy. I have yet to see a poll that was not at least 60 percent happy with no more than the suspension. Could someone put a contact number for Mr Sharpton and Mr Jackson on a post. I need to know from them what other shows I can’t watch or listen to. Also what sponsors I can support.

What Imus said was wrong. He knows it. He said he was sorry and accepted his suspension. But I guess the minority rules!

Don’t fret about Imus. He probably will sign a lucrative deal with Sirius and will reign again with his alter-ego Stern.

While other, more subtle and arguably far more damaging forms of racism/sexism/classism et al remain a part of the fabic of American life, there still has to be consequences for this sort of public outburst.

These dickheads that are defending him, despite their claims of supporting free speech, are really trotting out their true nature for all the world to see.

Jackson and Sharpton could not lace Martin Luther King’s shoes. Both are hucksters.

Imus vowed on Sharpton’s radio show, if allowed to stay and as part of his penance, he would raise untold millions of dollars for Sickle Cell Anemina, a disease that strikes thousands of blacks each year. With the influence Imus had with politicians and his fund raising prowess he could have tripled the amount of money raised for SCA. But to Sharpton and Jackson it was more important to humiliate Imus by making him bear his cross in the public square and I watched as these “Reverends” took great joy in placing a crown of thorns on Imus’s head. Remind you of anyone you heard about during Easter?

Jackson was asked this morning about forgiveness. He responded,"Forgiveness is a process.” Does anyone ever remember reading that in the scriptures? I’ve read you should forgive someone, not seven times, but seven times seven. That you should turn the other cheeck, but forgiveness being a process, I don’t rememmber reading about that.

Imus could have raised millions of dollars for SCA if allowed to stay but it was more important that Jackson and Sharpton have Imus’s head as a trophy.

Sorry bastards.

No more I-Man for me, but kick him off the air?  It should NEVER have happened. 

For the past two years, to get my brain working before surfing the Internet each morning, I woke up at three a.m. California time and listened with a headset to Imus while my wife continued sleeping.

While Don’s show was certainly entertaining, I always felt uncomfortable with the “Cardinal Keegan” comedy routine that gave new meaning to the word “tasteless.” The obvious insensitive mindset behind the Catholic satire led to last Friday’s flap and the I-Man’s subsequent, hand-in-the-cookie-jar, teary-eyed apology this week.

I don’t believe Don’s a racist. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have worked so hard to get Harold Ford elected to the Senate. But clearly over the years, the I-Man wandered off the farm of responsible broadcasting. However, rather than fire him, MSNBC and CBS should’ve extended his unpaid leave of absence another two weeks.

On the plus side, having forced Don off the air, the same outraged media critics led by Al “Tanya Brawley” Sharpton and Jesse “Heimie Town” Jackson can go after Rush Limbaugh whose blatant bigotry makes the I-Man sound like Martin Luther King.

Hugh E. Scott, editor of http://www.King-George.biz—the only website with hardcopy proof of White House corruption.

while i don`t agree with imus remarks,censoring one violates the 1st amenment,however you don`t have 1st amendment rights while on the airways,of unless your rush limpbaugh,al sharpto,jesse jackson.its to bad,troops are dying and we are listening to this crap.

There is so much going on in our world today.
We are at war.
People are unsettled and un-stable and emotions are high.
As far as Imus comments live.
Well I just have this to say.
Where is the free speech now?
Hum. Does it only apply when it serves the purpose.
Sure what he said was brash un-called for and totally in appropriate
But if you have watch Imus on the show or radio we or ,I know that what he is all about.
That how he has the viewers and followers he does have .By being obnoxious ,cold .cruel.
So if your life style is one that can not allow for a little humor.
it time to de-stress & detoxify.
Then I say your taking life a little to serious.
But then again like I said emotions are high universal plus the factor of War .
Well, it makes life edgey.
But ,that is why we watch these fellows in comedy to take the edge off.
Don’t we ?
I don’t agree with actually what he said.
But I will defend anyone right to free speech and the right to say as they wish.
Are we so sensitive a populated group that we should let things of this nature
Design , diagnosis and rule us ? I think not.
Remember it all about rating , personal opinion and who really cares.
When it comes down to it .
If we are healthy strong moral individuals.
It will not wavier or actions or our outcome in life.
But then again it just another opinion from another person expressing a view point.

Which might be in our diverse Nation a little different then my neighbors or my friends.
With our population growing with many different new friends and relatives and neighbors
All coming from a different back ground & culture do
we dare let this be a set back to us in our growth as a nation.

I think not.
Does it really mater .

No, cause in most thing in life we rule our own selves and we do as we wish.
The only thing most learn from is life lesson & experience that have a personal
Effect on us on a daily bases.

Free speech should always be upheld.
Look we lost so much that we had gained from our forefathers in this great nation.
So I guess I look for free speech to be outlaw shortly in the future.
Should Imus be fired and lose all his public communication
Abilities
No…. I don’t feel he should .
Hey heck next week topic might be on those that are over weight or the drug addicts or the
Any a many number of problems with face.
I guess it is ok ?  for Rap Artist to use terminology such as this though right?
they get away with selling it in a multitude amount.
Hey wake up life in the living in reality we ant none of us perfect .

A personal opinion only .
From me.
But much food for thought in the end result.

“I may not like what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Your take is right on the money, but I have to say that the incidents of his biggotry were much more widespread than is being reported. Having watched the show, almost two years now, I can tell you that I’m suprised it’s taken this long for someone to call him to account. There are so many “off color” moments that it’s simply a matter of getting ahold of the tapes to get a real picture of the crime, but, I can tell you, there was one recent change in the Imus “schtick” that may be the real cause of his demise. He stated making a regular reference to Dick Cheney (who he admits is a personal friend, as the loyal and self-confessed “life long Republican voter” that he is) as “that mouth-breathing war criminal”. Mary Matilin also became espescially exasperated with his taunting her about “Scooter” libby. Personally, I think he may be suffering from the Reagan dictum: “speak no ill of a fellow Republican.” When Imus started “pissing in” from “outside the tent” (forgive my mixing LBJ into the old boy network) he committed the cardinal sin.

The collaboration among those in politics, journalism and the pundits who straddle both is something we might want to look at more deeply.

Sometimes this unholy alliance does more harm than calling people innappropriate names. Sometimes it can help push a country into a war based on faked “intelligence” that is then reported by respectable media outlets.

For more on this, see:

“Society of Professional Journalists’ Award to Judith Miller Helps Cover-Up?”

AmericanChronicle.com

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle. asp?articleID=3287

This loser should be given the boot. Since his friends are so supportive they should get out with him. People like this have no place here they should go live happily ever after...in a country more politically suited to them (apartheid South Africa woulda been perfect for Imus).

B