My First and Last Imus Post

The Don Imus controversy disgusts me - not because of what he said but because of the reaction to it. He said some insensitive disgusting things - he's been doing that for 30 years and became a multi millionaire doing it. He's certainly not alone. Hate and insensitivity fill the airways. Was it any worse than the softer message of hate and prejudice from the like of Rush Limbaugh? Michael Savage has certainly said worse. Hannity and O'Riely do it nightly on Fox. And I won't applaud CBS for firing Imus, it was purely a business decision. If there are no sponsors there is no money to be made. The decision of the sponsors to drop Imus was another business decision and had nothing to do with doing "the right thing".

Rutgers Coach Vivian Stringer also deserves some criticism. This from columnist Jason Whitlock on Anderson Cooper 360:

COOPER:Jason, in your op-ed you criticize the Rutgers Coach Vivian Stringer for holding this press conference. How do you think she should have handled things?

JASON WHITLOCK, COLUMNIST, “KANSAS CITY STAR” I think that she should have met with her team in private and explained to them that Don Imus does not define who they are. Don Imus has nothing to do—Don Imus has nothing to do with their happiness. The joyful ride they went on to the national championship and that they know who they are, that they are proud, black and white women, educated women, competitive women, and there’s no outsider who can steal our joy and our accomplishment from us.

Then she should have issued a statement calling Don Imus an idiot, expressing that he needs to apologize, and that his employers need to deal with him and then that should have been the end of it.

There’s no way this called for an hour-long press conference with everyone climbing onto a cross and saying, look at me, I’m a victim here. There’s no way there should have been a meeting at the governor’s mansion about this Mickey Mouse B.S. No way this should have happened.

This is an embarrassment. I have listened to this entire thing and I’m embarrassed that our leadership in our community—and I’m speaking mostly about—has failed. We have failed.

We haven’t defined for young people who they are. And that no one can define for you who you are. You define for yourself, not Don Imus, not someone who has no input into your life. There’s no magical white, evil man who can utter a few words on a radio show and steal your joy and take away your accomplishment. That’s a joke.

Yes, Whitlock is black and yes, he gets it right.

Is Imus an insensitive low life? The answer is yes but he is one of may. Should this have been monopolizing the news fro over a week? The answer is no. We didn't hear as much as we should about the debacle in Iraq. We didn't hear as much as we should about the inability of the Bush administration to tell the truth. And as Cernig at NewHoggers pointed out we heard nothing at all about the debunking of Iranian claims about centrifuges.