Time to recharge the batteries

[politicasista]

Just for a little while.

Anyway, the last thread I started seems to have rocked the boat and brought out some personal feelings about the issue of racism. The post was not intended to turn fellow K-crats :) against each other, but to raise awareness that a line was crossed and that line should not be condoned by both Democrats or Republicans.

I hope that Kerry and Momma T will continue to do well with TMOE. The interviews have been really good and informative. I understand there is a personal thing with that crossed line, but it is also important not to take a certain part of a Democratic base for granted.

Again, apologies for the flamewar.


Peace!


:patriot:

[JI7]

1. you have nothing to apologize for

i'm glad you started the thread and i stand by everything i said about Imus.

there will always be disagreements.

[MarjorieG]

2. Many of us are part of some maligned group one time, or more.

We usually object more to the harm done to the group we're in. I agree that there is a soft kind of prejudice, where we allow a little, then we allow a lot.

With Imus, he is an equal opportunity callous cad. I don't see his charm, but Kerry likes to trade quips, and often at his quickest.

On the other hand we have Rush, and hate radio, purely to serve a political party machine. Truly scary that people will work for those stations, say all that, believing it or not. Even worse the harm it causes.

I'm Jewish, btw, so you can imagine lumping together all Jews, and Israeli policies, as if one size fits all.

I honestly understand your justified sensitivity.

Editing to add that Imus seems to be going on the mea culpa tour, visiting Sharpton's show. Imus not entirely a cad, probably, and shares the environment with the Kerrys. I think Imus' wife is involved with other good causes.

[karynnj]

3. It was an excellent comment and a good thread

Imus clearly repeatedly crosses the line. His show could also be a land mine because of it - for any politician. But there are very few large distribution radio shows where the hosts are not RW. I far prefer the various PBS/NPR shows but I do think if he comes only on their shows, he will not have a chance to reach people who aren't already allies.

Also, as said in the Adam Carrolla thread - Kerry influences them to behave when he is there.

[wisteria]

4. You have nothing to apologize for.

You are angry and upset over a very crude and insulting remark directed at African American women. You shouldn't have to just accept these remarks and not ask for an honest apology and some type of contrition.
It is disheartening that comments such as the ones Imus and other shock jocks make regularly are many times viewed as acceptable by listeners. I think anyone who is ever offended by a remark made by these shock jocks and Coulter types ought to let them know how they feel and explain just why they feel this way.
I have written the Imus Show several times over things they have said and I believe once or twice my comments were read and some action was taken to curtail the offending comments, if not permanently at least for a long while. Unfortunately, shock sells and gains listeners.

As for Senator Kerry, my feeling is he knows what is best in this situation. He is friendly with Imus and his wife and he would be a better judge of Imus' character than any of us. Do I think Imus is a racist? I really can't answer that question with certainty. His comments the other day would possibly suggest this, but there are other things he has done or said that would lead me to believe otherwise. The one thing I do know for sure is his comment was absolutely the wrong thing to say and he should have known better.

[Noisy Democrat]

5. I'm glad you brought it up

Even though I don't know exactly what to think about whether he should be fired, censured, boycotted, made to grovel, or what have you. I do think that what Imus said was way wrong, offensive, obnoxious, and unacceptable. As for whether he's really a racist or just something of an idiot when it comes to knowing when he's crossing the line between shock-jock humor and abusiveness, I don't know. Not knowing that it's not OK to say such offensive things about black women may be a kind of racism in itself, except that I think he says offensive things about just about everybody. So I'm not sure how much punishment for him is ultimately appropriate, but I do think it's good that the issue was raised, because it's valuable for the mental health of all of us for people to talk about these things and air their opinions on it. The coarsening of American culture in general is not good, and letting these things pass without comment is not healthy, IMHO.

[WildEyedLiberal]

6. Imus' comments were unacceptable. You don't have to apologize for being offended

Did you see this thread? Maybe Imus should've realized that he wasn't talking about cartoon characters, he was talking about real people. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x605277

I think he ought to be fired because this society BADLY needs to learn the lesson that its not "funny" or "shocking" to cruelly use stereotypes and slurs to mock human beings. It's bigotry and it furthers racism by enabling people to think that it's "okay" to call, for example, women "hos" or black people "niggers" because "hey, I was just joking! Lighten up!" There's nothing light about racial, sexual, and gender slurs, and until people like Imus start facing REAL consequences for using them, real hurtful bigotry can and will continue to be dismissed as a funny frat-house joke.

[TayTay]

7. You have nothing to apologize for

None of us in this group or in any other group have all the answers. It is enough that we have a nice place to just ask the questions sometimes.

This is still a political group. We are going to have disagreements. (We should have disagreements, actually, it's one of the proven ways that people actually learn things.) What is so nice about this group is that there is a layer of respect here that usually underscores all our disagreements. We can fight it out and fight amongst ourselves over things that matter because we know we are arguing with people who are worth arguing with. (You, my dear lady, among them.)

Come back when you can.

[politicasista]

8. Back here

I had to go in to work today, but I feel fine now. Thanks for the support. I won't apologize :) I heard about what happen to the old pimp and him being suspended for two weeks (that's a slap on the wrist IMO. :()

What I wonder is if any Democrats or the DNC have released any statements condeming Imus' remarks. I know the governor of NJ has, but I don't know if Dems are just distancing themselves from this, letting it blow over or just being silent for a reason.

I also wonder if Kerry did to continue going on the show, what the backlash (if any) would be. I don't want him to lose AA support for people in MA (cause he has a very good record of issues that affect AA).

I know there was a guy named Roland Martin on CNN this morning calling for politicians and celebs to stop going on Imus' show. There is a GD thread praising former baseball player Cal Ripken Jr. for cancelling an appearance on Imus due to the controversy.

I guess we'll see how this all plays out. :shrug:

[cadmium]

9. I didnt take it as a flame war. You are right. The Imus idiocy is

was gross. If JK goes on again I wouldnt be troubled if he sees it as not giving up on a friend despite their faults. I would expect him to call Imus on his remarks when/if he does though.

Not a flame war in my opinion. I am glad you got the open comments going.