comment #1

Josh Massey says ...

Actually, it appears Beale is the one who doesn't understand the First Amendment. That only applies to the government silencing people, not corporations.

I don't agree with the firing either, but it isn't a First Amendment issue.

comment #2

thevisceral says ...

Another "media expert" said Imus's firing was a reflection of the market. Advertisers pulled out and therefore Imus had to go. Bullshit - the advertisers did not have time to truly assess what overall effect associating with Imus would have on their business. A few loud people like Al Sharpton beat the war drums and these advertisers - who had no trouble making money off the people Imus sent to them over the years - became skittish. It was not the market that demanded Imus go - it was the media lynchmob. And the corporations who were long in bed with Imus bailed, just as NBC and CBS did. Hypocrisy all around.

comment #3

tholl-yung says ...

Everyone's calling it a 1st Amendment issue, Josh. Sharpton complained Imus was mis-using the public (government controlled) airways, so Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck are spinning on their own behalf and forming a defensive line around Rush Limbaugh. Ann Coulter has a new hairstyle! The woman who said, "Of course I know a gay person, who do you think does my hair?" has given up her harsh platinum look for a softer honey blonde shade since her John Edwards mess and lame performance on promos for The (Fox) 1/2 Hour News Hour "comedy" show. I think I heard for the first time last night that she and Bill Maher monkey around together -- I hope so, they deserve each other.

comment #4

americanrat says ...

Imus' fall is the result of a perfect storm that swelled against him, including:

1) Big media looking for a story to soak up a little of their embarassment over the media crucifixion of the Duke students for the past year. They also needed a race-victim to toss to the Nappy-Americans to balance out the loss of the three Duke students.

2) The democrats want to use Imus as some sort of example of why the country really needs a fairness doctrine to silence dangerous, racist conservative talk radio show hosts. Too bad Imus was a liberal.

3) Finally, anyone who is anyone knows there is more to this firing than the comments. People at CBS and throughout media have wanted him gone for years. And it has more to do than just the fact he's a bigoted clown. There are a lot of skeletons in his closets and lots of enemies that have wanted this for years.

comment #5

Craig Kennedy says ...

People can try to make a first amendment issue out of it all they want, but it's not. If the FBI arrested Imus, then it would be a first amendment issue.

Jackson and Sharpton didn't force advertisers to pull the plug on Imus, but those two guys were smart enough to know if a big enough stink was raised, that would happen because it's not worth the public relations hassle. As long as corporations check their back pockets whenever there's a controversy, morons like Sharpton and Jackson will always have a megaphone.

I'm in a strange position of thinking Imus is a jerk but believing what he did isn't a firing offense (especially since CBS has made millions off this same behavior over the years) and supporting CBS and NBC's right to fire him if they want but thinking they're penny polishing cowards for doing it.

comment #6

Josh Massey says ...

"I'm in a strange position of thinking Imus is a jerk but believing what he did isn't a firing offense (especially since CBS has made millions off this same behavior over the years) and supporting CBS and NBC's right to fire him if they want but thinking they're penny polishing cowards for doing it."

Ditto. Oh, and T. Holly, can you please rewrite that when you sober up? There might have been an interesting idea there.

comment #7

tholl-yung says ...

Josh, why don't you just proclaim your love for Ann Coulter.

comment #8

Craig Kennedy says ...

The thing is, if Ann Coulter got canned like Imus just did, I'd still think it was wrong, but I'd be dancing in the street. How hypocritical am I?

comment #9

TheJeff says ...

I'm a liberal card-carrying ACLU member, and even I realize that this doesn't have anything to do with the first amendment. The government is not taking any action against Imus, no charges have been filed.

CBS has the right to fire him for whatever the fuck reason they want. If I dropped the phrase "nappy-headed hos" at work, I'd be cleaning out my desk before the day was out.

comment #10

aspiringcrackaddict says ...

Lets say you worked at McDonalds, or a bakery or a Insurance company and one day you were having a off day and called one of the customer a nappy headed hoe and she complained and then other customers started complaining. Then the complaints lead to the customers proclaiming that they will never again do business with you. Realizing that your mouth is threatening his ability to earn a living your boss fires your ass-is that unfair??? Is it even hypocritical?? I mean so you've earned your boss millions over the years that should make up for the millions your costing him now and the stain on his reputation right?? I don't think so. It's called capitalism folks deal with it.

Yeah!!

comment #11

tholl-yung says ...

how many times did we hear the phrase - public and /or government controlled airwaves? Do you think Imus' bosses got a little bit scared? Do you think they have another exposed breast on their hands?

comment #12

TheJeff says ...

"how many times did we hear the phrase - public and /or government controlled airwaves? Do you think Imus' bosses got a little bit scared?"

Not at all. It's pretty obvious that Imus' comments were not "indecent" in the legal sense of the word, just ridiculously offensive. Thee FCC wouldn't have a leg to stand on, and wouldn't even make an attempt.

Regardless of what the NBC/CBS execs said, their reasoning is pretty clear. Imus is now more of a liability than an asset. When an employee is costing your business more revenue than he's generating, you kick his ass to the curb.

comment #13

tholl-yung says ...

ann coulter gets her column dropped because she's offensive, imus gets kicked off radio because he censored. this isn't a workplace issue.

comment #14

MovieBob says ...

This stopped being about Don Imus the MINUTE Sharpton (a racist with no real credibility) and Jackson (an anti-semite and loooong past the shelf-life of legitimacy) decided to make it their business. This has nothing to do, in the grand scheme, with the words of some dickbag radio host or the justifiable offense of the young lady athletes; it's now 100% about Al and Jesse and the fact that their fortunes (political, financial and otherwise) depend entirely on keeping Black America in a constant state of paranoid outrage.

Sharpton/Jackson are always on the lookout for race-related media firestorms so that they can pre-insinuate themselves as the "representatives" of the freshly-vindicated and start making proclamations and demands. It's all about THEM, with no regard for the ramifications. And the ramifications of this are substantial: The "right" will be using this as an example of political correctness gone mad for years now, and this time they'll have a point. That fact alone is enough to loathe Jesse n' Al for. But in the even bigger picture, the next time some easily-offended slag at the Parents Television Council or Focus on the Family wants some movie edited or some TV show canned, they can point to THIS as an example of the "proper thing to do."

comment #15

Josh Massey says ...

"Josh, why don't you just proclaim your love for Ann Coulter."

Wow, you got me th... wait, what?

comment #16

Rod32303 says ...

Today I asked my 73 year old father, a two time Vietnam Veteran and retired Lieutenant Colonel, and a proud American, if he believed Imus should have been fired. We are African-American, fyi.

His response?

"Hell yeah he should be fired. I'm sure he is sorry, but sometimes that's not enough. Black folk are always expected to be forgiving and thick-skinned. Those women deserved respect, not ridicule. I'm glad we got to see the faces of those women, so people could see just who he was talking about."

I still don't know. But I listened to that 20 minute mess. Imus didn't immediately apologize - he snickered and laughed along with the other idiot. That will always bother me the most - we all know when we've crossed the line, I think, but he thought what he said was funny. Has that ass of a producer, Bernard McGuirk lost his job too? Check out this link.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200704090001

I don't know if this is the forum to get into this, but for some black people, people who hear this kind of remark all the time - in locker rooms when others may not be aware of your presence, at restaurants from tables of people who don't think you can hear them - it sucks. I am sure it sucks when it is heard from African-Americans by whites or other groups, too. Words can sometimes be the most powerful weapons.

I don't care about Sharpton or Jackson, men who have done some good in certain community circles, and who are also ridiculous. I do care that all I hear is "it's awful, but..." or "it was deplorable, but..." or "I don't agree with what Imus said, but..."

Fuck that. Fuck the "but..." If this means that maybe, even in free speech, one will think twice before saying an asshole things, then good. If Imus was smart, with over 30 years in the business, he's got money stashed, and no doubt, someone will pick him up.

I said it before, and it sucks. Sharpton, Jackson, Imus, Hannity, Beck, Coulter, Dennis Miller, Larry King...all have forgotten that this was about an amazing insult hurled at a team of great women at the top of their game. Sometimes there should be consequences.

"I'm Sorry" isn't always enough.

comment #17

Mike Binder says ...

This is really sad. A suspension? Yeah. Make him grovel, apologize? Clean up his act? Hell yeah. But to go to his bosses and force them to fire him with threats to their sponsers? That's just hysterics. This is so sad, and bad for comedy. I mean at the end of the day it's a comedy show. He's a shock jock and nobody can say otherwise. He's Imus. He's a clown. I don't care what politicians he has on. This is really sad.

comment #18

Silverscreenvideos says ...

The question shouldn't be why was Imus fired, but, rather, why should he still be working?

Imus was a marginally talented jerk who made a living by insulting and cutting down people, usually women, in a manner that a certain small portion of the public enjoyed hearing.

Assume he came back from a suspension with the usual mea culpas and apologies and grovels appropriately. Then what. Either it's back to business as usual for him, which means more crude insults and the heightened public awareness of his situation means more bad publicity for CBS.

Or he cleans up his act and puts out namby pamby pablum that nobody wants to hear and his ratings go in the toilet.

Imus should have been off the air a long time ago if anyone with a modicum of taste and backbone had the responsibility for overseeing his show. I won't shed any tears for his departure.

comment #19

DarthCorleone says ...

Rod32303>> I don't have a "but" for you. I think I understand what you're saying, and I didn't really care if Imus did or did not get fired. Even if someone doesn't think it's a firing offense and that the reaction is a case of media hysterics, that person also must acknowledge that saying something stupid like that should and will bring consequences. It's an overreaction? Then you shouldn't have said it in the first place, Imus.

I think the more interesting question here is not the fate of Imus or the justice of his firing. The more interesting question is how exactly did we create this environment for ourselves in which comedians dance so dangerously between true racism and satirical racism? There are plenty of comedians that I honestly suspect are good people who aren't fundamentally racist, but is the net effect of their humor solely to lampoon racism, or are the less discerning members of the audiences taking things from that humor which they shouldn't?

This gray area of course comes down to context and can be terribly subjective. I don't imagine anyone who isn't racist finding any humor in Imus' remark. However, when we permit - nay, encourage - racism to be discussed in a comedy arena, are stupid, bad jokes that simply aren't funny inevitable mistakes, or does every single one of them reveal a true racist?

comment #20

MovieBob says ...

Rob32303:
"I said it before, and it sucks. Sharpton, Jackson, Imus, Hannity, Beck, Coulter, Dennis Miller, Larry King...all have forgotten that this was about an amazing insult hurled at a team of great women at the top of their game. Sometimes there should be consequences."

There ARE consequences: You say something asshole-ish enough that really offends people, people turn off your show and boycott your sponsors. You get fired, because you're asshole-ness has made you a liability to your employer. That's the way it's supposed to work in a free society, and if people REALLY ARE so offended by Imus, it would've worked out that way.

Problem is, now we're HEARING that that's exactly what's taken place, but the speed at which it's occured tells you right-off that that's B.S. The network and sponsors caved BEFORE it could have been properly gauged whether the public outcry was sufficient to warrant it, in order to appease Jackson, Sharpton and their shock-troops.

While I've lost a LOT of respect for Imus in this, I haven't GAINED much for the offended ballplayers. They "didn't ask" to be part of this, yes, but they've ALLOWED themselves to now be exploited for gain by media whores like Sharpton. The BEST THING they could've possibly done would've been to respond to the whole thing with six simple words: "Who the fuck is Don Imus?" Then refuse to tarnish their win by discussing him further. Disempower the stupid man and his stupid comments by disregarding both completely.

The point isn't whether or not you're glad to be rid of him. The point is that this kind of nonsense sets PRECEDENT, and the next time it could be a muckraking publicity whore you DON'T like using Sharpton tactics to "take down" something you DO.

comment #21

Rod32303 says ...

For MovieBob -

Who said I LIKE Sharpton? Where in what I wrote did you see that? I said he has done some good in certain communities. I also said he was ridiculous.

I'm glad the ballplayers didn't "disregard," which basically means ignore. Read the information in the link I posted. Serena Williams "igonred" his remarsk, Barrack Obama continually "ignores" his remarks, The Blind Boys of Alabama singing group "ignored" his remarks - he stays on making millions of dollars. Ignoring doesn't always equal disempowerment.

And guess what? Like me, most black people are not in a "constant state of paranoid outrage." Most black people, like me, go to work everyday and try and take care of themselves and their families. They fight the good fight. I have been a public high school teacher for almost twenty years. My whole teaching and life philosophy is against divisiveness.

They (Jackson and Sharpton) don't speak for me, as I don't assume white "leaders" and "muckraking pulbicity whores" speak for you, either.

Nonsense to one person is total sense to another. This whole mess, Imus started, is an example of that.

comment #22

Rod32303 says ...

I misspelled "remark" the first time using it up there as "remarsk." The english teacher in me is horrified. Damn it.

comment #23

MovieBob says ...

Rob:
"Who said I LIKE Sharpton? Where in what I wrote did you see that? I said he has done some good in certain communities. I also said he was ridiculous."

That part was not specifically meant for you, I should have been clearer. I appologize.

"I'm glad the ballplayers didn't "disregard," which basically means ignore. Read the information in the link I posted. Serena Williams "igonred" his remarsk, Barrack Obama continually "ignores" his remarks, The Blind Boys of Alabama singing group "ignored" his remarks - he stays on making millions of dollars. Ignoring doesn't always equal disempowerment."

And the solid majority of Americans have no idea that Don Imus said thing one about Obama, Williams, the BBoA, etc. Because they (the potentially-offended parties) didn't care what Don Imus had to say about them. They ignored him because he's worth ignoring. Sure, there's a time to stop ignoring bad behavior, but this wasn't one of them. This was an ugly molehill, now it's an uglier mountain - not because Imus warranted it, but because Sharpton et al are looking to launch a Holy (er-than-thou) War against talk radio and this was the best available launchpad. Jackson was already on MSNBC the night before the firing talking about how this demonstrates "the need for diversity on the radio," translation: Imus' replacement BETTER be the proper color.

Imus previous comments didn't hurt Obama's political future (probably the opposite if there was any effect at all) and didn't keep Williams from winning any matches or signing any endorsements. And it didn't HAVE to effect the lives of these young women unless they LET IT. If he'd said something harsher, crueler, more "personal" then maybe. But this? This is crap. This is an orchestrated pile-on by agenda-driven hucksters who think they can benefit from it. And soon, VERY soon, it'll be a go-to excuse for why we "need" greater media censorship.

And meanwhile, Don Imus will just go to effing Fox News, who'll use the pickup as another showpeice for their "battle" with the "liberal media" boogeyman. And this time, tragically, they'll have a point. There is ZERO positive effect to come of this.

comment #24

christian says ...

where's bill cosby when you need him? not that he doesn't have his own female trouble...

and folks don't want to bring up that snoop paid a woman off for rape. ask jimmy kimmel about it. so i wish we weren't seeing snoop, and sharpton as moral arbiters, but there they are...

the oddest thing to me is the huffington post endlessly blowing themselves over this. apparently the hp seeks to become the drudge report of the left...great.

comment #25

tholl-yung says ...

Rod, I went to the link. So Imus was an accident waiting to happen. I'll miss the show. When I caught it every once in a while, it was a reliable take on events with good rhythm and a sense of humor. It was fun listening. OK, so the good that comes out of this, is lots of discussion and awareness of what's really going on. I'd like to hear Imus' take on it, but he's been silenced. Maybe he'll be back, but he's old.

comment #26

Rod32303 says ...

Maybe the powers that be didn't ignore those previous statements from Imus...maybe NBC or CBS or someone felt like enough was enough. Maybe there were people who worked for him or under him or who were his bosses who were ready for one more trip up or mistake. I don't know.

I still don't think the rationale of "just ignore him and it won't matter" works. How many more passes does one get? Ten? Twenty? And who gets to be the judge of the extent of what is harsh or cruel enough for action? If you choose to ignore or let it roll of your back, good for you. If others do not, well, GOOD FOR THEM. Did he have to call them niggers or jigaboos or whores or bitches? Would those have been acceptable insults for outrage?

I get the sense that Don Imus is a better than decent fellow. He must be a smart man, and a respected professional for having a long career. Sucks for him that he goes out like this. If you are going to be a "shock jock" or a "clown" or a "comedian", all adjectives to describe him here, be smarter about what you say and the context of how you say it.

I have enjoyed reading this discourse, though, and have learned a lot. I certainly see why and how MovieBob, Mr. Binder, Christian, T.Holly, to name a few, feel the way they do. I just happen to feel differently. Which is okay, I think.

comment #27

SaveFarris says ...

All of you "this isn't a First Amendement Issue" folks sure have changed their tune ever since the Dixie Chick imbroglio. The same people who say CBS & NBC are well within their right to fire Imus were excoriating Clear Channel for de-Chick-ing their playlists.

Hypocracy all around.

comment #28

tholl-yung says ...

Not that MediaMatters is capturing the spirit of the show. I've been watching lots of coverage of this story, someone in the AA community is outraged that Imus has the power to offend, and wants fingers pointed elsewhere. In any case, the level of discourse is good for everyone, especially the young and simple minds, trying to win at understanding and push and block.

What would Imus say about Corzine that MediaMatters might not get? I just heard someone say it was a hit. It just keeps coming. Don't stop.

comment #29

Craig Kennedy says ...

SaveFarris. How do you know what my tune was on the whole Clear Channel/Dixie Chicks issue?

Clear Channel was well within its rights to delist them. They're cowards just like CBS and NBC, but they didn't break any laws.

The noisemakers are the real idiots on both issues, be it Jackson and Sharpton now or (insert name of favorite right wing talk radio douche here) back during the Dixie Chicks thing.

comment #30

DarthCorleone says ...

SaveFerris>

Not that your statement applies to me (I'm somewhere in the gray on both issues), but that's not hypocrisy. Both might fall under the auspices of the First Amendment, but there's a clear distinction between the expression of a political opinion and misogynistic, racist hate-speech. Hence, they deserve different reactions.

comment #31

Craig Kennedy says ...

There's no arguing it DC. Some people would rather turn any issue into a left vs. right political football and punt rather than argue pros and cons. It's easier to smugly label everyone a commie or a righty wingnut than it is to actually change the world.

comment #32

SpinDozer says ...

'All of you "this isn't a First Amendement Issue" folks sure have changed their tune ever since the Dixie Chick imbroglio. The same people who say CBS & NBC are well within their right to fire Imus were excoriating Clear Channel for de-Chick-ing their playlists.'

If one is patient, life has its litle ironies. Friday pm, Hannity was on blubbering about freedom of speech. And I thought, wonder how many wingnut assholes remember their smug little triumph over the dixie chicks? How many would echo Bush and say, 'Imus is free to speak his mind. Imus can say what he wants to say ... Imus shouldn't have his feelings hurt just because some people don't want to buy their adverts when Imus speak out ...'
And so I go to HE and lo, a wingnut has beat me to it. Kudos blubber-boy. Don't even wonder twice about whether Clear Channel's moves were quid pro for the numerous favors the Bushies did, cos your peacock is priceless, enjoy your umbrage.