The last blogger on Earth to write about Don Imus

[LTR]

A little something I wrote this morning, because I finally decided to stop ignoring this whole Don Imus thing. Enjoy!

Okay, I'll start things off by stating the obvious.

Don Imus is an asshole.

There, I said it. Okay, now we can proceed.

Actually, I didn't even really have the desire to make mention of this whole sordid affair. It's not that what Imus said about collegiate womens' basketball players wasn't appalling (it was). It's just that I really don't care. Let's face it, after four decades on the air, any casual listener (and non-listener) knows that Imus is a grouchy curmudgeon. He hates everyone. Liberals and conservatives. Democrats and Republicans. He hates 'em all. And for some strange reason, there lies his appeal to his listeners.

(snip)

And then came the shitstorm. Unlike previous times, when Imus was so confident in his job security that he could get away with saying just about anything, they all turned on him. His reliable guests, often consisting of a who's who of the D.C. beltway and national media, bailed. Advertisers did as well. Could it be that he just went to far? Or that we just all needed a new controversy to wrap our lazy minds around? Now that we know who Anna Nicole's baby's daddy is, we can move on to scrounge up a new scandal du jour. Well, timing sucks. Imus is in trouble.

(snip)

So, should Imus be fired once and for all? Who knows? Often, these scandals disappear after a short time, once another scandal comes around that our alleged media finds something else to pound into the heads of America. But this is just one of many audio nasties blasted out over the airwaves of our great country. There were many more prior to this. For example:

"(Cynthia McKinney) looks like ghetto trash. Get a braider over there ... quick!"

Oh wait, that was Neal Boortz who said that.

(snip)

Am I saying Imus gets a pass because of all those other loud mouthed idiots? Of course not. Am I saying that I have heard so much of this trash over the years that I've perhaps become totally immune to it all and don't really give a shit about these people anymore? I'd say yes.

There are a lot of problems in the world today. Iran and their dimwitted dictator are on the verge of starting a war with somebody, anybody. Just this morning I paid roughly $0.70 a gallon more for gas than I did several months ago. And I have to repeatedly check an online list to find out what kind of food I can buy for my cats and dog, since some cheap-assed corporations would rather kill our pets than spend money on quality ingredients. So, do I really care about some narcissistic old media goons, totally removed from the entire outside world, who take limousines to work and spout hateful rhetoric over the airwaves? Sorry, I really don't anymore.

From my blog:

http://ltradio.blogspot.com/2007/04/last-blogger-on-earth-to-write-about.html

[Raven]

1. "spout hateful rhetoric over the airwaves" that, my friend, is the issue.

Those are MY airwaves last time I looked and Imus has a LICENSE to use them. Pollution of the airwaves is like pollution of anything else...it does real damage. Writing Imus off as some old crochety guy is just giving him a pass. Saying that lots of other people say this kind of crap doesn't make it right. He said it, he should pay. Maybe this is the beginning of a trend...to make people take real responsibility for their hate speech.

[sharp_stick]

2. I hope you're right but I wouldn't bet on it

I'd love to see the beginning of a trend toward getting this kind of shit off the airwaves. I agree that saying other people do it doesn't give Imus a pass too. But the fact that other people do it and get a pass not once, not twice but dozens of times makes the whole thing a waste of news space.

The thing that really pisses me off about the whole thing is that nobody, and I do mean nobody in the brainless ooze that passes for a National media in this country has ever or will ever call racist assholes like Boortz, Beck, O'Reilly, Hannity, Limbaugh, Savage or Coulter on it. They will continue to say shit that makes Imus' comments look like it came straight out of a church program and nobody will give a shit.

[MH1]

8. EXACTLY.

And there is a reason Imus is getting canned and those others won't be.

Meanwhile the people who love to listen to that kind of crap will be getting it from right wing hate spewers instead of a middle of the road insult spewer, because right wing hate will be all that's left for them.

[shaniqua6392]

3. Excellent blog!

I enjoyed it tremendously. So very true that some people get a pass and others, like Imus, are being crucified. It makes no sense to me how we pick and choose. Even NBC has been overdoing the story and he works for them. I almost find myself wishing that something else more horrible than the Imus thing would come along so that they would just shut up about it. He is an idiot but I can not see how he would be deserving of firing from a 40 year radio career. I know he is obnoxious and degrading across the board. That is why I do not watch him. I do not see what good firing him is going to do. It does not solve anything. It will just make all of the millions of Imus fans hate black people and on the racism goes. Nothing changes. We should work to transform those who have racism in their hearts. Give him a chance to change and to educate others who can see how he works to fix the underlying problem. Where is the forgiveness in our society? It is gone. It just seems like an endless power trip that people of all races are guilty of. Blacks say, "You have held us down for too long and now we are going to make you pay any time you slip up". Whites say, "Why does your culture criticize each other with derogatory terms and yet when a white person does it, then it is wrong". Confusing messages all around. There really are some pressing issues to deal with out there like you said.....The racism will get better over time. Maybe when all of the old racist f*ckers die off....Kids seem to be better at this diversity thing than we are. Anyway, I truly enjoyed your writing. Thanks!

[LTR]

5. Thanks for the kind words

And I don't think we can wave a magic wand and make all of these cretins disappear. Plus, I feel funny about the government regulating content on our airwaves, even the stuff I disagree with. That's traveling down a slippery road.

My hope (and probably the point I was unintentionally getting at) is that perhaps if we just ignore all of these idiots, maybe they'll just go away.

[BronxBoy]

7. I agree

But the problem is that it has become more fashionable to pick a position and stick with it until the very end, trashing anyone who holds a divergent opinion, rather than to enter a real dialog which may cause people to reach consensus about an issue or to open up to another viewpoint. You see it even here on a progrssive board where consensus building should be the norm.

And I think the root of all of it is fear. America has become a very fearful country. And there is a risk in opeing up and having a n open and honest discussion with people, especially those who disagree with you. So many Blacks don't want to discuss with Whites that "yes there has been a double standard in how we treat this language" and Whites don't want to discuss that "Yes, the overwhelmingly white media has had a problem with its language concerning Blacks".

So everyone retreats to the safety of protecting their established positions and a true conversation is never had.

But I agree with you, it is getting better. I heard Joe Morgan say the other day that 20 years ago there would have only been a conversation by "leaders" of each respective side. Now we can all participate

[whistle]

4. "Don Imus is an asshole" is an excellent summation and you could have stopped

....right there and your piece would have been complete.

But, after avoiding every story to date on this sordid affair, something compelled me to open your link where I had resisted every other story up until now. When those photos blew open on my screen I immediately felt light headed, dizzy and nauseated. Thank God, I still had enough control to back out of the link where I regained my composure.

The experience left me convinced more than ever that that this two-bit nothing of a talk-show non-host isn't worth any more of my time or my attention. So thank you for that.

[NormanYorkstein]

6. Boycott is working - GM, P&G, Sprint, Bigelow, Staples have all dropped Imus

he's nearly gone!