Oh bullshit. Imus should be fired the day after Chris Rock or Dave Chapelle get fired for making jokes about white people and Korean people. He should go off the air after CNN goes off the air for calling every woman over 50 "granny" or Bill Maher gets fired (again) for making diaper jokes about people 10 years older than he is or making rude comments about fat people. Did anyone try to shut down Billy Graham's "crusade" after he agreed with Nixon that "Jews are ruining the country?"
He is no better or worse than the endless mass produced stream of rappers calling women bitches and whores and anyone who took no offense at Archie Bunker making Polish jokes about his son in law, yet thinks Imus should be canned, should be caned.
I don't watch Imus. I don't think he's funny and his weird way of talking annoys me, but although his attempt to emulate the patter one hears from other people who get rich talking that way was tasteless, tastelessness is the rule in nearly every aspect of American life. If every group of people were able to get anyone fired for ridiculing them, we would have no editorials and damn little news. While I would delight in seeing Rush Limbaugh fired for insulting our entire species, I like freedom far too much to allow people like Al Sharpton to censor the media and as much as I like and contribute to the NAACP, I think they should stick to expressing their displeasure and stop calling for the destruction of anyone making a stupid joke.
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8 comments:
Agreed. What I find sad about the whole incident is that the guy gets ratings with his juvenile, brainless antics. Says more about America then it does about him.
If the guy got bad ratings, his show would be shut down but, instead, it thrives and all this attention is probably giving him even more attention.
You make a great argument - now I have to go do a little research to find out what Imus said. I don't watch or listen to him for exactly the same reasons you cite - he's just plain hard to watch. The only thing I think I know about him was the way he was treated brutally by Howard Stern in Stern's movie - but there's obviously some personal animus between the two, so I can't even rely on that.
It's not that I don't think Imus is a schmuck, but I would have more respect for Sharpton's opinion had I heard him say something about Louis Farakhan or other people, black or white, who spread real, damaging and vicious hatred.
I don't believe in a double standard. Sharpton should look to his own record before casting stones.
Sharpton is nothing more than an opportunist. These incidents are a chance to get ratings on his own show.
And wouldn't Sharpton scream if anyone decided his freedom of speech meant nothing because someone didn't like what he said.
The rule seems to be that everything I don't like should be illegal and the hell with the law and everyone who does something I don't like ought to punished forever and the hell with the law.
You're preaching to the choir. Imus is a Grade A asswipe, but let America vote by turning off their radios. If that's how those networks and their advertisers like to do business, nothing is going to change by suspending or firing the guy.
Very well put. It's sad that Imus is off the air because one stupid tasteless joke has undone the countless good things that he has done through the years; The Imus Ranch, The CJ Foundation, Tomorrows Children's Fund, WFAN Radiothon. I don't listen to him regularly but he seems to balance his sarcastic nature with good things...
Everyone loves a witch hunt. Democrat or Republican or whatever - it's too much fun to get all hysterical and tie people to the stake and to forget that what we're burning is freedom.
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