Imus Simulcast dropped by MSNBC

[stevewin]

Interesting current announcers on the Fan, Mike and Mad Dog, the two before Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts all during their programs today have spoken up that the firing of Imus a disgrace, both how MSNBC and CBS handled situation in light of the Telethon firing Imus in the middle of it. Saying executives have no guts....

Haven't read this whole thread - but one of the things I find interesting now is how many of Imus' 'friends' have thrown him under the bus- Harold Ford Jr., Newsweek guys etc. Anyone who has listened to him knows how seriously he believes in loyalty - and how he can hold a grudge for those who are disloyal. It will be interesting if/when he comes back how he will publicly react to those people who were all too willing to be his friend to sell books and further their agendas when he was on top - then kicked him when he was down.

[Sketch Soland]

My point (which I didn't make clear, I know) was that my opinion of Sharpton is directly influenced by my proximity to an issue which was NOT about discrimination but aggrandizement.

 

Yes, I can very much understand that. I have absolutely zero love for Sharpeton, as well.

 

 

My other reason for lambasting Sharpton (and Jackson) is the "What would the Reverend King have done?" King was about fighting discrimination...and I highly doubt that King would support or even recognize the actions of Sharpton as fighting discrimination, because King knew the value of pride and self-respect over victimhood and self-aggrandizement. It's a shame King's movement has been usurped by these yahoos.

 

I could not agree more.

[tennesseeboy]

I suspect MLK would have reacted pretty much the same as Al Sharpton did in this case, calling for pretty much the same outcome, including efforts at hiring people of color. Just taking Sharpton's acts IN ONLY THIS MATTER, which is admittedly hard to do, the actions are very consistent with the kind of things MLK would do.

[GG]

I suspect MLK would have reacted pretty much the same as Al Sharpton did in this case, calling for pretty much the same outcome, including efforts at hiring people of color.

 

So that nappy hair jokes would be ok by radio hosts?

[IDBillzFan]

I suspect MLK would have reacted pretty much the same as Al Sharpton did in this case, calling for pretty much the same outcome, including efforts at hiring people of color.

Funny, but I thought we were ALL people of color, no? I therefore find this offensive and I am scarred for life.

 

Please go directly to the green room. The Rev. Sharpton, who would never apologize for ruining other people's lives, will be with you shortly to demand an apology for ruining mine.

[DC Tom]

I suspect MLK would have reacted pretty much the same as Al Sharpton did in this case, calling for pretty much the same outcome, including efforts at hiring people of color. Just taking Sharpton's acts IN ONLY THIS MATTER, which is admittedly hard to do, the actions are very consistent with the kind of things MLK would do.

 

Admittedly, MLK is before my time by a few years...but from everything I've seen, heard, and read about the man, I HIGHLY doubt he would have supported modern America's cult of victimization. He would have recognized - as Al Sharpton seems compeltely incapable of doing - that the accomplishments of the Rutgers women's basketball team outweighed the idiotic ramblings of Don Imus, and approached the issue from the perspective of that pride.

 

But that sense of pride - the idea that "I've accomplished something, and the ludicrous statements of morons can't change that" - is something that's apparently lost in this country. According to virtually everyone who's spoken up about it, the accomplishments of the Rutgers women's basketball team have been diminished - if not completely eliminated - by Imus' statement. Which is absolutely unbelievable, and says far less about Imus than it does about the black community's level of pride and self-respect...as when you have pride and self-respect, you can afford to ignore Don Imus.

 

And really, that lack of pride and self-respect isn't a feature of African-American culture. It's a feature of American culture.

[IDBillzFan]

Which is absolutely unbelievable, and says far less about Imus than it does about the black community's level of pride and self-respect...as when you have pride and self-respect, you can afford to ignore Don Imus.

Under the heading of "addition by subtraction," eliminate Sharpton and you expedite the return of pride and self-respect to all of America.

[Chef Jim]

Admittedly, MLK is before my time by a few years...but from everything I've seen, heard, and read about the man, I HIGHLY doubt he would have supported modern America's cult of victimization. He would have recognized - as Al Sharpton seems compeltely incapable of doing - that the accomplishments of the Rutgers women's basketball team outweighed the idiotic ramblings of Don Imus, and approached the issue from the perspective of that pride.

 

But that sense of pride - the idea that "I've accomplished something, and the ludicrous statements of morons can't change that" - is something that's apparently lost in this country. According to virtually everyone who's spoken up about it, the accomplishments of the Rutgers women's basketball team have been diminished - if not completely eliminated - by Imus' statement. Which is absolutely unbelievable, and says far less about Imus than it does about the black community's level of pride and self-respect...as when you have pride and self-respect, you can afford to ignore Don Imus.

 

And really, that lack of pride and self-respect isn't a feature of African-American culture. It's a feature of American culture.

 

Tom, you've posted some crap here (it's my birthday, I can bust your nuts if I want), but this is one of your shining moments. That post is spot on what is wrong with the country.

[AJ1]

And really, that lack of pride and self-respect isn't a feature of African-American culture. It's a feature of American culture.

 

That's some of it, not all. The willingness to claim to be victimized by something or somebody is overarching. I (we) didn't succeed because I (we) were victimized by someone's throwaway remark, in this case. The universal karma was set against them by the likes of Imus. Rutgers women's basketball team would have us believe this crock. 21st century America has devolved to this.

[Sketch Soland]

Tom, you've posted some crap here (it's my birthday, I can bust your nuts if I want), but this is one of your shining moments. That post is spot on what is wrong with the country.

 

How so, in your opinion? Just curious.

[millbank]

Jason Whitlock

 

 

 

Thank you, Don Imus. You’ve given us (black people) an excuse to avoid our real problem.

 

You’ve given Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still the most important fight in our push for true economic and social equality.

 

You’ve given Vivian Stringer and Rutgers the chance to hold a nationally televised recruiting celebration expertly disguised as a news conference to respond to your poor attempt at humor.

 

Thank you, Don Imus. You extended Black History Month to April, and we can once again wallow in victimhood, protest like it’s 1965 and delude ourselves into believing that fixing your hatred is more necessary than eradicating our self-hatred.

 

The bigots win again.

 

While we’re fixated on a bad joke cracked by an irrelevant, bad shock jock, I’m sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgers basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50 Cent’s or Snoop Dogg’s or Young Jeezy’s latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and hos.

 

I ain’t saying Jesse, Al and Vivian are gold-diggas, but they don’t have the heart to mount a legitimate campaign against the real black-folk killas.

 

It is us. At this time, we are our own worst enemies. We have allowed our youths to buy into a culture (hip hop) that has been perverted, corrupted and overtaken by prison culture. The music, attitude and behavior expressed in this culture is anti-black, anti-education, demeaning, self-destructive, pro-drug dealing and violent.

 

Rather than confront this heinous enemy from within, we sit back and wait for someone like Imus to have a slip of the tongue and make the mistake of repeating the things we say about ourselves.

 

It’s embarrassing. Dave Chappelle was offered $50 million to make racially insensitive jokes about black and white people on TV. He was hailed as a genius. Black comedians routinely crack jokes about white and black people, and we all laugh out loud.

 

I’m no Don Imus apologist. He and his tiny companion Mike Lupica blasted me after I fell out with ESPN. Imus is a hack.

 

But, in my view, he didn’t do anything outside the norm for shock jocks and comedians. He also offered an apology. That should’ve been the end of this whole affair. Instead, it’s only the beginning. It’s an opportunity for Stringer, Jackson and Sharpton to step on victim platforms and elevate themselves and their agenda$.

 

I watched the Rutgers news conference and was ashamed.

 

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke for eight minutes in 1963 at the March on Washington. At the time, black people could be lynched and denied fundamental rights with little thought. With the comments of a talk-show host most of her players had never heard of before last week serving as her excuse, Vivian Stringer rambled on for 30 minutes about the amazing season her team had.

 

Somehow, we’re supposed to believe that the comments of a man with virtually no connection to the sports world ruined Rutgers’ wonderful season. Had a broadcaster with credibility and a platform in the sports world uttered the words Imus did, I could understand a level of outrage.

 

But an hourlong press conference over a man who has already apologized, already been suspended and is already insignificant is just plain intellectually dishonest. This is opportunism. This is a distraction.

 

In the grand scheme, Don Imus is no threat to us in general and no threat to black women in particular. If his words are so powerful and so destructive and must be rebuked so forcefully, then what should we do about the idiot rappers on BET, MTV and every black-owned radio station in the country who use words much more powerful and much more destructive?

 

I don’t listen or watch Imus’ show regularly. Has he at any point glorified selling crack cocaine to black women? Has he celebrated black men shooting each other randomly? Has he suggested in any way that it’s cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and a parent? Does he tell his listeners that they’re suckers for pursuing education and that they’re selling out their race if they do?

 

When Imus does any of that, call me and I’ll get upset. Until then, he is what he is — a washed-up shock jock who is very easy to ignore when you’re not looking to be made a victim.

 

No. We all know where the real battleground is. We know that the gangsta rappers and their followers in the athletic world have far bigger platforms to negatively define us than some old white man with a bad radio show. There’s no money and lots of danger in that battle, so Jesse and Al are going to sit it out.

[HeHateMe78]

Jason Whitlock

Thank you, Don Imus. You’ve given us (black people) an excuse to avoid our real problem.

 

You’ve given Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still the most important fight in our push for true economic and social equality.

 

You’ve given Vivian Stringer and Rutgers the chance to hold a nationally televised recruiting celebration expertly disguised as a news conference to respond to your poor attempt at humor.

 

Thank you, Don Imus. You extended Black History Month to April, and we can once again wallow in victimhood, protest like it’s 1965 and delude ourselves into believing that fixing your hatred is more necessary than eradicating our self-hatred.

 

The bigots win again.

 

While we’re fixated on a bad joke cracked by an irrelevant, bad shock jock, I’m sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgers basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50 Cent’s or Snoop Dogg’s or Young Jeezy’s latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and hos.

 

I ain’t saying Jesse, Al and Vivian are gold-diggas, but they don’t have the heart to mount a legitimate campaign against the real black-folk killas.

 

It is us. At this time, we are our own worst enemies. We have allowed our youths to buy into a culture (hip hop) that has been perverted, corrupted and overtaken by prison culture. The music, attitude and behavior expressed in this culture is anti-black, anti-education, demeaning, self-destructive, pro-drug dealing and violent.

 

Rather than confront this heinous enemy from within, we sit back and wait for someone like Imus to have a slip of the tongue and make the mistake of repeating the things we say about ourselves.

 

It’s embarrassing. Dave Chappelle was offered $50 million to make racially insensitive jokes about black and white people on TV. He was hailed as a genius. Black comedians routinely crack jokes about white and black people, and we all laugh out loud.

 

I’m no Don Imus apologist. He and his tiny companion Mike Lupica blasted me after I fell out with ESPN. Imus is a hack.

 

But, in my view, he didn’t do anything outside the norm for shock jocks and comedians. He also offered an apology. That should’ve been the end of this whole affair. Instead, it’s only the beginning. It’s an opportunity for Stringer, Jackson and Sharpton to step on victim platforms and elevate themselves and their agenda$.

 

I watched the Rutgers news conference and was ashamed.

 

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke for eight minutes in 1963 at the March on Washington. At the time, black people could be lynched and denied fundamental rights with little thought. With the comments of a talk-show host most of her players had never heard of before last week serving as her excuse, Vivian Stringer rambled on for 30 minutes about the amazing season her team had.

 

Somehow, we’re supposed to believe that the comments of a man with virtually no connection to the sports world ruined Rutgers’ wonderful season. Had a broadcaster with credibility and a platform in the sports world uttered the words Imus did, I could understand a level of outrage.

 

But an hourlong press conference over a man who has already apologized, already been suspended and is already insignificant is just plain intellectually dishonest. This is opportunism. This is a distraction.

 

In the grand scheme, Don Imus is no threat to us in general and no threat to black women in particular. If his words are so powerful and so destructive and must be rebuked so forcefully, then what should we do about the idiot rappers on BET, MTV and every black-owned radio station in the country who use words much more powerful and much more destructive?

 

I don’t listen or watch Imus’ show regularly. Has he at any point glorified selling crack cocaine to black women? Has he celebrated black men shooting each other randomly? Has he suggested in any way that it’s cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and a parent? Does he tell his listeners that they’re suckers for pursuing education and that they’re selling out their race if they do?

 

When Imus does any of that, call me and I’ll get upset. Until then, he is what he is — a washed-up shock jock who is very easy to ignore when you’re not looking to be made a victim.

 

No. We all know where the real battleground is. We know that the gangsta rappers and their followers in the athletic world have far bigger platforms to negatively define us than some old white man with a bad radio show. There’s no money and lots of danger in that battle, so Jesse and Al are going to sit it out.

great post

[tennesseeboy]

Blaming that on Imus is a real stretch. Kind of like blaming Kaiser Wilhelm II for 9/11...yeah, you can connect the two, but that's not responsibility.

Or the illegal alien drunk driver for killing the woman because he was an illegal alien..as opposed to being a drunk driver?

[X. Benedict]

There is one angle of this story that I find unbelievably insincere.

That is that MSNBC and CBS took the high road - the truth is that both

of these corporations sell the news. To sell the news you need accesss to

people that people want to watch or listen too, and you need to be able to

sell it.

 

Once you lose all your major sponsors it is easy to find time for morality.

Once you realize that your choice to appear on the show may cost you

access as a reporter or votes as a politician, you aren't going to go on.

 

Suddenly everybody found Jesus as soon as the money and access dried up.

This was hardly a free speech issue as much as a sales and access issue.

 

Now everyone at NBC says this is a conversation that America should be having,

while the conversation they don't want to have is how all this is primarily sales driven.

[The Dean]

Or the illegal alien drunk driver for killing the woman because he was an illegal alien..as opposed to being a drunk driver?

 

 

I like how you did that there.

[The Dean]

There is one angle of this story that I find unbelievably insincere.

That is that MSNBC and CBS took the high road - the truth is that both

of these corporations sell the news. To sell the news you need accesss to

people that people want to watch or listen too, and you need to be able to

sell it.

 

Once you lose all your major sponsors it is easy to find time for morality.

Once you realize that your choice to appear on the show may cost you

access as a reporter or votes as a politician, you aren't going to go on.

 

Suddenly everybody found Jesus as soon as the money and access dried up.

This was hardly a free speech issue as much as a sales and access issue.

 

Now everyone at NBC says this is a conversation that America should be having,

while the conversation they don't want to have is how all this is primarily sales driven.

 

 

Correct on all counts. IMO

[IDBillzFan]

Attention everyone debating the Imus gig...

 

You must now turn your attention to breaking news that a gunman is loose on the Virginia Tech campus and one person is already dead.

 

Would everyone please stop discussing Imus and now begin discussing how guns are bad for the country and that we need more strict gunlaws.

 

Thank you.

 

Sincerely,

 

The Media.

[X. Benedict]

Attention everyone debating the Imus gig...

 

You must now turn your attention to breaking news that a gunman is loose on the Virginia Tech campus and one person is already dead.

 

Would everyone please stop discussing Imus and now begin discussing how guns are bad for the country and that we need more strict gunlaws.

 

Thank you.

 

Sincerely,

 

The Media.

 

Unless the guy is shooting Ho's, I am not paying attention.

[Kelly the Dog]

Attention everyone debating the Imus gig...

 

You must now turn your attention to breaking news that a gunman is loose on the Virginia Tech campus and one person is already dead.

 

Would everyone please stop discussing Imus and now begin discussing how guns are bad for the country and that we need more strict gunlaws.

 

Thank you.

 

Sincerely,

 

The Media.

Eugene Robinson, a very good writer for the Washington Post, had a good point yesterday. He said the reason that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton seem to wield so much power is not because Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are so powerful, but because reporters (from both sides) call them for their opinions 50 times a day, especially at times like these, and put them in front of the cameras.

[DC Tom]

Or the illegal alien drunk driver for killing the woman because he was an illegal alien..as opposed to being a drunk driver?

 

An illegal alien drunk driver wrecked my car a year ago. I blamed the accident on his being drunk.

 

I blamed his lack of insurance and his leaving the scene of the accident on his being illegal, however.