The Rampant, Irresponsible Political Thread

[Karachi Vyce]

So, while some go nuts because a cranky old windbag who has long engaged in racist comments, I think the real big story of the day went by unnoticed by a press that had few qualms indicted and convicting these kids on the word of a borderline psychotic "dancer" with a history of insane accusations.

Well of course. An aging (ancient) shock jock told an off-colour, racially-insensitive joke, and apparently that warrants round the clock attention from the media.

Meanwhile, they couldn't give this Duke story less attention. It doesn't fit in with their pre-conceived notions about race relations in the South, you see - the white kids were actually determined to be innocent of their alleged racist, criminal conduct.

[Dr Maturin]

My view on it is that this was a great opportunity for the networks to get rid of Imus for his awfulness. He is an overpaid snore-inducer.

I love Calvin Broadus's opinion on it: "When I call'em hoes, it's because they really are hoes. College basketball players ain't hoes."

That was paraphrased, of course.

[Karachi Vyce]

My view on it is that this was a great opportunity for the networks to get rid of Imus for his awfulness. He is an overpaid snore-inducer.

I love Calvin Broadus's opinion on it: "When I call'em hoes, it's because they really are hoes. College basketball players ain't hoes."

That was paraphrased, of course.

Offensive language is protected. RACIST language (which his remarks actually weren't, but no one's let that stop them in all of this fucking nonsense) is protected. And I don't want to hear that "You can say what you want but you have to deal with the consequences" nonsense. Someone else brought up a good analogy: if you get punched in the face every time you say a certain word or phrase, you really can't say that word or phrase then can you?

What disturbs me about the Imus thing, beyond all of the racial demagogues and liberals with their white guilt chiming in, is the conservatives coming out against Imus for two reasons. One, them trying to turn this into a broader issue of offensive language in entertainment, trying to get us to buy this fucking Bill O'Reilly "I'm looking out for you, I'm going to protect you from gangsta rap!" horseshit gimmick; or two, conservatives throwing Imus to the wolves simply because the guy isn't the nicest person towards Republicans or Bush in particular.

I don't much care for Imus and I think his show is awful, but it's unbelievably disturbing to me that someone can have a 40 year career completely destroyed because they told one throwaway, offensive joke.

You know, there are a lot of other problems in the black community than what some old white man says on the radio. A few weeks ago, a black guy beat the shit out of a 100 year old white woman for her fucking pocketbook. A few weeks ago, there was a local sports game in New York that dissolved into a full scale riot. Maybe all of these black "leaders" should focus on those problems instead of dealing with something that doesn't mean SHIT, like Don Imus.

[Der Mike]

Legitimately, I won't bemoan the loss of Imus, who has been living off of a reputation of former greatness for many years now.

However, with this, why the heck should ANYBODY apologize for anything? I actually respect Coulter more for NOT apologizing because it'd only make things WORSE for her.
-=Mike
...Funny, I have heard some LOVELY comments about how Clarence Thomas should suffer a heart attack by a reporter who didn't get get penalized at all

[Karachi Vyce]

Ace from the Ace of Spades blog brings up a good point in comparing Imus and the Duke case.

The ending remarks:

But one cannot help but notice that the wrong inflicted on the Duke 3 was of a rather more solemn and serious sort than the trivial playground putdown inflicted on the Rutgers 11.

And yet the media -- such as Terry Moran -- straight-facedly compares the two, and not only does he compare the incomparable, he deems the Rutgers 11 to be the more aggrieved party, and the party deserving of greater sympathy, the ones who really had to dig deep within themselves to find the strength... to overcome.

Because a minor shock-jock, 20th or lower in the ratings, called them "nappy headed ho's," and not a single person in the entire world supported or endorsed this insult. Not even the man first uttering it.

What.

The hell.

Has the world.

Come to.

[Radhil]

I've been paying the same attention to Imusgate as I did to the whole Smith soap opera. Which is to say not at all. Around here the whole thing is just an excuse for shills Jackson and Sharpton to get the same damn five minutes they've gotten since the 80s.

Same circus, different week. And the organ music still drives me nuts, and I still can't tell who's the audience and who's the clowns.

For what it's worth the Duke fellows got a decent bit of air time on the local news hour. It's a damn shame they got shafted the way they did.

[Dr Maturin]

What disturbs me about the Imus thing, beyond all of the racial demagogues and liberals with their white guilt chiming in, is the conservatives coming out against Imus for two reasons. One, them trying to turn this into a broader issue of offensive language in entertainment, trying to get us to buy this fucking Bill O'Reilly "I'm looking out for you, I'm going to protect you from gangsta rap!" horseshit gimmick; or two, conservatives throwing Imus to the wolves simply because the guy isn't the nicest person towards Republicans or Bush in particular.

Yeah, O'Reilly is so fucking stupid. A good 60% if the time he doesn't know what he's talking about and the rest of the time he gets his ideas from other people. Stupid how he had that black panther on his show (with Malkin as guest host). Those racist kooks should only be brought in on weekend shows for comedic purposes.

I really am appalled at how many people are saying that this "language" is completely unacceptable and his firing should have come sooner. Ridiculous. Those players saying that they were scarred for life. Even more ridiculous, and very indicative of a coaching job before the press conference. At the same time, though, and as I mentioned before, this was a great chance for the networks to dump Imus's boring ass.

[Towelmaster]

That Imus-guy? We only know him by name in Europe, if people know him at all.

But I've been reading about him for some time, and more so for a week now in relation to that stuff he said and I don't see why this has to be such a big issue. Sure it was stupid and insensitive, insulting and whatever, but HEY: nobody died. If black people can't take this shit in their stride then perhaps they are being too sensitive? It wasn't like the President of the USA said it, it was a somewhat cantankerous old white guy on a radioshow. It indeed also occurs to me, that all those black 'leaders' come out of the woodwork to score political points over this affair. While at the same time the speakers of the average ghettoblaster cannot even cope with the amount of 'hos', 'bitches' and 'niggaz' that you hear in the black charts.

Making the man lose his tv- and radio-shows only proves that they are being vindictive. And that they have no perspective at all. The black community could have displayed great style by brushing off the words of Imus as 'completely irrelevant'.

[Karachi Vyce]

That Imus-guy? We only know him by name in Europe, if people know him at all.

But I've been reading about him for some time, and more so for a week now in relation to that stuff he said and I don't see why this has to be such a big issue. Sure it was stupid and insensitive, insulting and whatever, but HEY: nobody died. If black people can't take this shit in their stride then perhaps they are being too sensitive? It wasn't like the President of the USA said it, it was a somewhat cantankerous old white guy on a radioshow. It indeed also occurs to me, that all those black 'leaders' come out of the woodwork to score political points over this affair. While at the same time the speakers of the average ghettoblaster cannot even cope with the amount of 'hos', 'bitches' and 'niggaz' that you hear in the black charts.

Making the man lose his tv- and radio-shows only proves that they are being vindictive. And that they have no perspective at all. The black community could have displayed great style by brushing off the words of Imus as 'completely irrelevant'.

It's sad that someone from the Netherlands gets it, but people in my own country don't.

And that's not a knock against you as being from the Netherlands in particular or being a foreigner in general. It's just that there should be a lot more people in my country who feel the way you do about this issue. I shouldn't have to go outside my own country to get someone who can understand this situation the way that you do.

But in all fairness - most black people in this country pretty much could not give a shit about this. They were not out there calling for Imus' head. Maybe they didn't like what he had to say, but they had the sense to realize that he's an entertainer telling a joke, even if it was an offensive one, and they basically shrugged their shoulders and said "Don't really care."

That's the disgusting thing about this. It's phony outrage by a relatively small section of the "black community", mostly from quote-unquote "black leaders" who claim to be furthering the goals of blacks but are really just vultures who involve themselves in situations like this in order to raise themselves up, not their people.

I really am appalled at how many people are saying that this "language" is completely unacceptable and his firing should have come sooner. Ridiculous. Those players saying that they were scarred for life. Even more ridiculous, and very indicative of a coaching job before the press conference. At the same time, though, and as I mentioned before, this was a great chance for the networks to dump Imus's boring ass.

Truly, it's an overreaction that is stunning in its absurdity. Imus told a joke that a) those players would have probably never heard if it hadn't been republished in the media and b) is likely - VERY likely - nowhere near as offensive or derogatory as the trash-talking they've experienced on the basketball court. And yet they're acting as if basically what Imus did was be beating them with a whip, because massa doesn't think they worked the fields hard enough. This isn't the South in 1950s. He told a joke, it's not the same as dogs being turned on black schoolchildren trying to attend a whites-only schoolhouse. Stop acting like it is, because it makes a mockery of the civil rights movement.

[Dr Maturin]

And I want to make something clear...even though the black "leaders" DO have a double standard here with the rap music, I DON'T want record label execs and artists being fired. Imus was fired because he was about to lose his employers a whole hell of a lot of money. Rap MAKES money off of hoes and bitches.

[Karachi Vyce]

And I want to make something clear...even though the black "leaders" DO have a double standard here with the rap music, I DON'T want record label execs and artists being fired. Imus was fired because he was about to lose his employers a whole hell of a lot of money. Rap MAKES money off of hoes and bitches.

And that was only because his sponsors were cowards. You know what would have happened if they hadn't dropped out from his show as sponsors?

Nothing.

They wouldn't have lost any appreciable business by still continuing to support Imus' show. Because that's the thing. Al Sharpton represents a very vocal MINORITY, and I'm NOT referring to his race. Most people, black and white, couldn't give a shit about what Imus said. Certainly not enough to boycott his sponsors should Rev. Al call for it. So basically, Imus' sponsors dropped him......pretty much for no good reason.

[Dr Maturin]

And you can bet your ass that this WILL send a chilling effect out on all other media. Well, at least of that particular genre. Cable TV and satellite radio will continue to do what they've always done. If I were Imus, I'd have apologized this way:

"Look, I'm sorry if what I said offended you. But I'm not sorry for saying it. Have any of you checked what I do for a living? I'm not a goodwill amabassador to the NCAA or Rutgers; I'm a radio DJ who talks about things in a satirical manner. Rutgers' women's basketball team, Al Sharpton, my fine sponsors...ask yourselves this: Will my firing do anything other than take away a job from a person who has done it for years and years?"

[Towelmaster]

Buchanan is normally definitely not my kind of columnist but I found this after my previous post and it basically says the same.

http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55179

[Radhil]

And I want to make something clear...even though the black "leaders" DO have a double standard here with the rap music, I DON'T want record label execs and artists being fired. Imus was fired because he was about to lose his employers a whole hell of a lot of money. Rap MAKES money off of hoes and bitches.

Amusingly enough, one of Sharpton's sound bites that I caught was that he intended to leverage the attention this fiasco was getting. The target? Gangsta rap. They've only been calling women ho's and bitches for years now. Time to start the witch hunt.

Idiot.

[Dr Maturin]

Decades is closer, Radhil. And that's fine with me. But let Imus say the same thing...unless you want to get rid of him to get out of contractual obligations...