Imus Fired
Imus was fired by MSNBC this morning, and I just heard that CBS Radio fired him this afternoon.
How sleazy was it that MSNBC fired him this morning?
You might wonder why his suspension wasn't due to start until next Monday? Because this week every year Imus holds a telethon to raise money for the Ranch in New Mexico that he runs as a charity to help children with cancer and blood borne diseases. MSNBC, after having him on for three days this week after the controversy started, fires him the day that he's supposed to run the telethon. Ick.
At least CBS radio let him have the telethon before they canned him.
I've got news for all the people that are happy that Imus got fired. Everyone that tells a racist joke is not a racist.
When you are passing judgment on whether a person is racist or not, it may help to look at other parts of their lives to see the true content of their character. Maybe look at their actions, not at the words they speak as jokes.
For me, I can look at the amazing charity that Imus runs for sick children. But the people that wanted him fired got their wish, and probably killed that today.
I hope they feel better about themselves. I feel like vomiting.
Freedom of speech SHOULD NOT be determined by the color of your skin. What words you use on the air or off, should not be available to you based on your race.
If you are not allowed to broadcast racist comments on the air, then broadcasters like Rush Limbaugh, Neil Boortz, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck need to be removed IMMEDIATELY for their racist comments about people of middle eastern descent.
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6 comments:
Remember, there is a contingency out there you can always make comments about. Those would be White males. Anyone can call them crackers, red necks, klansmen, etc. and it is all right. Heaven forbid you say something like that about other races or women.
Imus did go too far, though. Bernard is the one who started it and seems to always be in the forefront of the most suspect comments.
I think Imus's ranch is just a huge tax deduction for him.. He ferries in sick kids two months so he can live in a palace the other ten and use the money for the kids on his place. I really do not like Imus although I think his comment was not as much racist as stupid and possibly sexist but who gives a fuck really.
You might have read this already: http://www.kansascity.com/182/story/66339.html
So go ahead and list all the racist comments by the conservative talk show hosts. That should be interesting. According to the Wall Street Journal, a liberal group started the firestorm.
The real blame should go to Sharpton and the others. Jason Whitlock is dead on (thanks for the link DP). People of any color that want to continue to play the victim card will jump on these issue and expound them into what they are not. Imus made a comment that was not right. He apologized. Life goes on.
Imus is correct to question his accusers. Will Sharpton apologize to the Duke lacrosse players? He should. What about the New York Times who kept trumpeting this case on the front page of their paper as it was falling apart? What about the faculty at Duke that wanted these students run off?
No, won't happen. Because there is no such thing as racism on a white man.
Should Imus have gotten fired? The answer is obviously yes. He works for a business. His comments cost that business millions in advertising revenue. If you cost your company millions of dollars in one day, I bet you'd get fired too.
Fuck racism. This is business.
This sets a pretty dangerous precedent. I happen to think Imus is an unentertaining hack, but firing him was the wrong decision. Now, suspension would send a clear message to the extremist wing of Sharpton supporters that, "Yes, we hear you, we realize you exist, now please calm down" while still maintaining the sanity of the situation.
But this firing really didn't hinge on the severity of the backlash from his comments. It had everything to do with his level of fame. If Howard Stern said something even more inflammatory, you'd never even hear about it. That's because he is higher on the totem pole of entertainers, so advertisers and backers are willing to stick with him.
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