It amazes me how many "jocks" there are out there that try to be Howard Stern and Don Imus wannabes!! My original trade (job) out of college was radio and being a DJ, going to college I saw many newbs who thought it would be cool to try and be a shock jock. I did radio for many years, just couldn't get over the turnover and firings from year to year though. A lot of it has to do with the corporate BS as well, so I'm actually glad I got out of it on full time basis.
The point is this, just because your in a position to say something stupid and exercise your "free speech" doesn't mean you should!! Yes you can say inappropriate things and push the envelope, but you have to make a judgement call which Imus didn't!! I just so sick and tired of people taunting the whole "Hey man, it's free speech" BS. Yes it's your right, just be smart about it and what you say. You would think someone in Imus' position would know better, but then again some people never cease to amaze me! By the way I still do radio on a part time basis here in Denver to keep me busy, I guess once you're in it it's tough to get away from it. Can I give a shout out to anyone?? LOL!!!
If we were all smart about wjhat we said this sure would be a dull forum and if everyone got fired or arrested for saying stupid things most of us would have been in the soup line or chain gang years ago.
White people have turned yellow for the most part when it comes to race. I remember jackson saying once that if he was walking down a street at night and passed a group of young blacks that he would be far more uncomfortable than if he passed a young group of whites, I guarantee you if Imus would have said that he probably would have been fired!! call it BS if you want but when you get your opinions censored maybe then you will see "the light".
Maybe I am just mad cause them girls @ Rutgers "spanked" LSU in the Final Four
What really scares me is knowing that corporate america (conservative base but afraid of the left wing media) has complete control over our "cultural values". They have just proven that they can and will flex their muscles anytime they want to or whenever the left demands that they jump.
Want cheap labor? Corporate america does - so what's next? They can decide that if Fox news calls the problem at the border "illegal immigration" rather than "undocumented migrants" then they will pull their advertising and force anyone who disagrees with them out. The left has decided that "illegal immigration" is a racists statement.
Why is Rosie still on the air? She insulted far more families and hurt more people by saying that the United States planned 9/11 (among other anti american slop she shovels out). She has been granted immunity by the powers that be.
I don't think the advertisers had enough time to compile a comprehensive study or consumer opinion poll of what the true fallout of the Imus statement was. It may very well have been that they would have lost customers because of their support of his show - but somehow I doubt it would have really impacted anything. As americans, we have a short memory span - must have been something in the water during the '60's.
If you think about it, they could view the results of negative email as follows - those that took real offense to his remarks will write in (say 3 million people). Those that do not write in, do not think it was all that offensive (many millions more). The millions that were not offended should be the ones to boycot advertisers products for being such wimps and caving in to the minority opinion.
I think we have just seen the opening of Pandoras Box.
I actually read on CNN a string of racial and crappy comments Imus has made since the 90's. He's gotten away with every one of them and his luck simply ran out. Actually, some of the comments he made it the past I felt were far worse. I think everyone just got sick of his ass.
And I can't believe we're still talking about free speech. Go into Compton wearing a KKK outfit. It that allowed? Sure. Expect anyone to see you again? Would that be smart? Technically and legally you can put on that hood, go into Compton and launch into a speech. You cannot be arrested and anyone who would accost you would be violating the law. Does that mean you should do it?
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I actually read on CNN a string of racial and crappy comments Imus has made since the 90's. He's gotten away with every one of them and his luck simply ran out. Actually, some of the comments he made it the past I felt were far worse. I think everyone just got sick of his ass.
And I can't believe we're still talking about free speech. Go into Compton wearing a KKK outfit. It that allowed? Sure. Expect anyone to see you again? Would that be smart? Technically and legally you can put on that hood, go into Compton and launch into a speech. You cannot be arrested and anyone who would accost you would be violating the law. Does that mean you should do it?
Go back and see all the racial crap sharpton and jackson have said,there still on the air. no you can't go into compton wearing a kkk outfit maybe but if a black wore a black panther shirt or if a black wore a black is beautiful shirt to the U.s. House of Representatives or anywhere in a white neighborhood it would be o.k.
I was watching Jay Leno last night and when he mentioned that Imus had been fired I heard far more boos in the audience than I did applause so maybe the power brokers @ cbs jumped too soon. I hope Imus gets a 100 million dollar contract from sirrus like Stern got a fat check then we will see who is laughing last.
It's a real shame all his good(just 2 weeks ago he stopped in Memphis in his private jet and flew a terminally ill black child to his ranch in N.M.) is wiped out because of a 10 second sound bite.
I just read that yesterday during his show that donations were coming in at over 200 per hour. Twice as many donations per hour as opposed to last year. It's a pity, a real pity that this has happened and the real losers may be some sick child!!!
Imus and what he said is not even the real issue here. He is simply the spark that lit the fuse to this debate. Look at the BIG PICTURE - This issue is CENSORSHIP and deals with attempts to control what we can think, hear, do and say. If the Lib's (far left) and anarchists have it their way, anyone who disagrees with them will be made silent. They are very intolerent of opposing opinions.
Lib's et al, have always been fewer in number but louder in protest. If their views are taken as "majority opinion" simply because they are louder, America will soon fade into history just like the Roman empire.
That is what they want - and they are determined to win no matter what the cost. They are the real enemy within and are waging their own form of "media jihad" right before our eyes.
Imus and what he said is not even the real issue here. He is simply the spark that lit the fuse to this debate. Look at the BIG PICTURE - This issue is CENSORSHIP and deals with attempts to control what we can think, hear, do and say. If the Lib's (far left) and anarchists have it their way, anyone who disagrees with them will be made silent. They are very intolerent of opposing opinions.
Lib's et al, have always been fewer in number but louder in protest. If their views are taken as "majority opinion" simply because they are louder, America will soon fade into history just like the Roman empire.
That is what they want - and they are determined to win no matter what the cost. They are the real enemy within and are waging their own form of "media jihad" right before our eyes.
Here Here!!! But even if he would have been watching Appalacian(or however u spell it)college and called them a bunch of toothless,tobacco chewin rednecks he would have had that right.
A comedian is successful when he has three things (or one of) going for him;he has to have his "timing" down, he takes something true like someone falling down and embellishes it like Jeff Foxworthy does with redneck jokes or he says things that other people may be thinking but don't have the "gonads" to say it.
So BK looks like me and you are the libertarians that posted. lol ROCK ON!!!
It's a real shame all his good(just 2 weeks ago he stopped in Memphis in his private jet and flew a terminally ill black child to his ranch in N.M.) is wiped out because of a 10 second sound bite.
So you're saying if I go and help a terminally ill child or someone less fortunate I can make some racial slurs on the radio tomorrow and expect it to be ok?
Just got back from selling a lady a med. supp. and heard on the radio that al sharpton wants to ban the "N" word and to think some people said that this has nothing to do with free speech. I think the operative word was "BS"
[quote=BKrocko;13848]Imus and what he said is not even the real issue here. He is simply the spark that lit the fuse to this debate. Look at the BIG PICTURE - This issue is CENSORSHIP and deals with attempts to control what we can think, hear, do and say. If the Lib's (far left) and anarchists have it their way, anyone who disagrees with them will be made silent. They are very intolerent of opposing opinions.
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One of the real issues here is that Imus picked on the wrong group and ended out alienating both liberals and conservatives, the David Duke crowd aside. There are many conservatives, myself included, who are against all the open border, affirmative action, everyone's a victim, welfare crowd crapola. Decent, family values, conservative, Christian Americans however do not go for dumping on a group of decent kids who show nothing but promise and discipline both academically and atheletically- people who have gotten ahead in this society against considerable odds and have come from behind on the playing field and are in the middle of their glory. If that were true of your local basketball team you would not be calling them nappy whores without consequences. Do not be so sure that only the liberals would object. There is still tremendous respect among conservatives for young people just doing their thing and doing it well and not all of them listen to gangsta rap or late night comedy so all the arguments about who also does what will not fly with them/us.
I think it has been said about a dozen times here that no ones freedom of speech has been curtailed by the law but those who are committed to not understanding that are not going to see that point. If you work at the local pizza shop and the local high school gals win the basketball championship and you refer to them as a bunch of jigaboo whores when interviewed down at the pizza shop you have the right to do that. As they have a right to call the owner of the pizza shop and tell them that they will be going to Pizza Hut from now on. Tell the owner of the shop where you work all about the U.S. Constitution and how it covers everything you say at his pizza shop. Go for it.
In regard to Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, they are ambulance chasers who immediately fly anywhere where a minority claims injustice then they just run on and on at the mouth endlessly and try to get credit for anything good and distance themselves from anything that goes bad. Thats their gig. I dont like it and they screw a lot of things up like the Duke case, Tawahna Brawley, etc. They show up uninvited too and the effect sometimes is that people who might sympathize with your cause end out focusing on how phoney they are instead. With friends like them, who needs enemas? If you dumped on the local high school gals like that, I would be totally offended as any conservative or liberal would be (believe it or not there are some American principals that both share). I would not let anyone draw me into a discussion about Jesse or Al or fail to see right from wrong as a result.
Some here have asked repeatedly what about Al and Jesse? How come they can mouth off without consequences? Look at the record. Al Sharpton is a civil rights leader so-called but due to his foot-in-mouth syndrome is largely considered to be a useful voice for some at times but a has-been clown beyond that. No one thinks he has any political future beyond noise. His political future ended as a consequence of the same stupid comments that Imus made. So he has not escaped.
Next consider Jesse Jackson. At one time he was considered to be the heir apparent to Martin Luther King. In 1984 (more or less) he became the first black in America to win primaries, including Southern primaries. Then came the hymie town comment and his rising star when poof overnight. He is not even a consideration anymore and has been relegated to being a professional loudmouth like Sharpton rather than having any real credibility or future. You can call them hymies in New York but you do not have a constitutional right to their vote. Same issue. Don't be so sure that it is a double standard. They also acted as low-lifers and there have been consequences.
If Imus had taken a swipe at the gangsta rap women or some of the hollywood bimbos that truly are just a hop, skip and a jump from living off the image of a whore, maybe he would have gotten by and not many people would care but there is no one -conservative or liberal -who likes to see decent kids ripped into like that- David Duke conservatives aside.
That's the best post yet in this thread. He picked on the wrong group. His previous targets have been adults - normally in the political arena or celebrity. Those are considered "fair game" targets.
However, teenaged girls are not fair game and Imus should have known better.
All that being said I've come to believe he should have not been fired. I think the suspension plus the in-person apology should have sufficed. Time would have taken care of this issue as the next "story du jour" took our attention.
Winter makes some good points. I think that if the micro focus is on Imus and his remarks (not the overall macro censorship issue), then yes, he picked on the wrong group - not a racial issue, rather, a young people doing good things issue. Imus would not have been pleased if someone had said insulting things about his young son on the air.
A fitting "punishment" would have been for Imus to be the on-air broadcaster for the Rutgers womens basketball team next year. That would be interesting!
So you're saying if I go and help a terminally ill child or someone less fortunate I can make some racial slurs on the radio tomorrow and expect it to be ok?
Uhhh let's see yes I guess you should be able to say some racial slurs on t.v. and expect it to be o.k. you should even be able to do it w/o helping a terminally ill child. Look I'm never said that I agree with Don Imus(I Don"t) or Rosie either even though she too has a right to her opinion. I am completly at peace with allowing the marketplace dictate where this went but after a few days the marketplace didn't decide, al and jesse decided.
The simple fact is this, the leftist swing of the media has basically locked up the balls of todays corporations. In no way do I believe that any of Imus's viewers (not that many, his ratings were never that high) wanted him off the air over this incident. Yet what the left did is exactly what they accused the Jerry Falwell's of doing, that is basically black mailing the corporate society into doing what they want. Yet have I heard any outcry about the civil rights nazi's that use these type of arm twisting as I did or do whenever the Falwell's or Robertson's of the right use these tactics? NO
Fact is the KKK member himself Senator Byrd is still in office, even though not that long ago he used the term "White Nigger" to refer to people he doesn't like. While I agree this is not Censorship it is the slippery slope we all should be afraid of, that is the left using corporations to do their bidding. If you don't know what the means I refer you to the early to mid thirties of Germany and a little character that ran under the "Socialist Nationalist Party". When Government influences Corporation or the Corporate mindset that is Fascism in its purist form, what we have here is basically a well established sect of a political party influencing corporations. When the Falwell's "Moral Majority" do it we get repeated stories of how evil and wrong it is!
Love or Hate Imus, this isn't a good thing. Personally I didn't like him or his show. He was basically nothing more then a blow hard that rarely had an original thought. He should of been fired years ago for being a fraud but his buddies of the media that celebrated him needed someplace to pitch their books and the like.
Another great post. The scary thing to think about is the proposition that Sharpton and Jackson "won" and now who will their next target be?
Almost like my five year old son pouting in the grocery store about getting candy. If he yells 5 times for it and I give in on the 6th now I'm screwed the next time I go shopping. All he's learned in persistency means I cave in.
Now Sharpton and Jackson just go harder, faster and longer for their next target. They have now learned that if they cry and squak then they can get nationally syndicated shows cancelled. Whether they had an effect on Imus getting fired or not is not the point. I'm sure of you asked Sharpton and Jackson they'd say they have everything to do with it.
Another great post. The scary thing to think about is the proposition that Sharpton and Jackson "won" and now who will their next target be?
Almost like my five year old son pouting in the grocery store about getting candy. If he yells 5 times for it and I give in on the 6th now I'm screwed the next time I go shopping. All he's learned in persistency means I cave in.
Now Sharpton and Jackson just go harder, faster and longer for their next target. They have now learned that if they cry and squak then they can get nationally syndicated shows cancelled. Whether they had an effect on Imus getting fired or not is not the point. I'm sure of you asked Sharpton and Jackson they'd say they have everything to do with it.
Personally I don't believe that Sharpton or Jackson have that much influence, yet I'm quite confident that both will try to out do the other taking credit for Imus's firing. Yet I don't remember either having that much to say about the charges being drop against the Duke students that had their lives ruined over that issue. I think I rather have an Imus name calling my child than Jackson influencing a out of control DA that is up for election in a town that has a lot of blacks charging my child of crimes. Take your pick but I think Imus looks good in that comparison.
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