Imus. Should he go?

[jimzinsocal]

We kicked this around a little at Rolleyes...but I think it needs more discussion.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/0....ap/index.html

^^OK We read that. Fine he said something pretty rude.
I get all that.

But where does it end? As I said in Rolleyes? How do we write the rule about
"remarks" from a comedian?

Would the rule turn out like this:

Its wrong wrong wrong for a comedian to make a racist remark
unless he is the same race as the target...because thats just humor.

See? What I did was search quotes from Richard Pryor and Dave Chapelle.
I must have missed the "Al Sharpton" uproar....over what they have said over the years.
But I suppose what they said was "different"
Different how?

[I kick this around now because William Tell/tucker/others talked about it at Rolleyes and I had a long discussion with my bro in law at dinner today....Im just curious how its taken]

[Dutchcedar]

Political correctness will only put the thoughts in the closet.

He apologized... that means to me he would like to "take it back" and will probably watch his P's and Q's. People that are offended and don't aceept his apology should by all means turn him off. That's what I did to Howard Stern and Chris Mathews, for example. That's my exercise. Its not to tell others to.

Personally, I don't even like the "n" word outlawed (and even though its not in a black and white law, its certainly outlawed). That said, I'd like to reserve the option of chastising anyone that uses it in a way that I find offensive.

I guess my point is, the discussion should be open and employers should be allowed to sheet can him if they choose. But Al Sharpton calling for the politically correctness police to fire him? Jeez... pot, kettle, black.

Another troubling thing to me, is that these things often seem to be taken out of context and the MSM or whatever thought peddlers are advancing the story, always focus on the sound byte, not the whole picture.

[Enmore]

The National Association of Black Journalists, the editor-in-chief of Essence magazine and a New York sports columnist joined the chorus against Imus.

Anyone know what the National Association of White Journalists had to say on the matter?

...Oh, wait a minute.

[AMDScooter]

Describing someone as a "nappy headed hoe" is hardly flattering.... but it's hardly racist either. Had he been describing some rough looking white biker women he saw on the way to work we'd have heard naught. Sharpton and Co. need to just shut the hell up.

Al Sharpton: The Democrat's David Duke

1987: Sharpton spreads the incendiary Tawana Brawley hoax, insisting heatedly that a 15-year-old black girl was abducted, raped, and smeared with feces by a group of white men. He singles out Steve Pagones, a young prosecutor. Pagones is wholly innocent -- the crime never occurred -- but Sharpton taunts him: "If we're lying, sue us, so we can . . . prove you did it." Pagones does sue, and eventually wins a $345,000 verdict for defamation. To this day, Sharpton refuses to recant his unspeakable slander or to apologize for his role in the odious affair.

1991: A Hasidic Jewish driver in Brooklyn's Crown Heights section accidentally kills Gavin Cato, a 7-year-old black child, and antisemitic riots erupt. Sharpton races to pour gasoline on the fire. At Gavin's funeral he rails against the "diamond merchants" -- code for Jews -- with "the blood of innocent babies" on their hands. He mobilizes hundreds of demonstrators to march through the Jewish neighborhood, chanting, "No justice, no peace." A rabbinical student, Yankel Rosenbaum, is surrounded by a mob shouting "Kill the Jews!" and stabbed to death.

1995: When the United House of Prayer, a large black landlord in Harlem, raises the rent on Freddy's Fashion Mart, Freddy's white Jewish owner is forced to raise the rent on his subtenant, a black-owned music store. A landlord-tenant dispute ensues; Sharpton uses it to incite racial hatred. "We will not stand by," he warns malignantly, "and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business." Sharpton's National Action Network sets up picket lines; customers going into Freddy's are spat on and cursed as "traitors" and "Uncle Toms." Some protesters shout, "Burn down the Jew store!" and simulate striking a match. "We're going to see that this cracker suffers," says Sharpton's colleague Morris Powell. On Dec. 8, one of the protesters bursts into Freddy's, shoots four employees point-blank, then sets the store on fire. Seven employees die in the inferno.

If Sharpton were a white skinhead, he would be a political leper, spurned everywhere but the fringe. But far from being spurned, he is shown much deference. Democrats embrace him. Politicians court him. And journalists report on his comings and goings while politely sidestepping his career as a hatemongering racial hustler.

[kbohip]

Even though I think Imus is a twit and I've never found him the slightest bit funny, I definitely don't think he should lose his job over this.

[tucker]

Double standard and politically correct. I might add the great white guilt obsession.

[jimzinsocal]

I thought about that. And I thought...is this some sort of reparations?
Because I found far worse things as quotes from Richard and Dave.

So is this just a Sharpton shakedown?

[no2guncntrl]

Double standard and politically correct. I might add the great white guilt obsession.

Spot on.

On a side note, I wonder how much money Sharpton has drummed up for
the new treatment center for returning warriors down Tx way ? I know for
a fact Imus has been right in the middle of this getting as much money as
he can ask for on his news program through donations and other avenues.
These brave soldiers who are hurt so badly come from ALL races and this
new treatment center is helping them as best it can. Sharpton should put up or
pipe down.

Here is a link to the center and it's mission that Imus is so involved with.

Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund

[jimzinsocal]

Should Don Imus be fired?[ABC News]

Yes. His comments were unnacceptable and he should be punished.

2,332
No. He apologized and that should be good enough.
1,767
Maybe. If he does more than just apologize, he should be allowed to stay on.
559
Total Vote: 4,658

[Dark Lotus]

Interesting thread especially info on Sharpton

Whatever happened with Michael Richards situation?

[TMack409]

This is the second time in recent memory that he's said offensive things (him and Bernard) about Blacks...LOL, actually, now that I think about it, they spare no one on that show! Dan Rather, Mary Cheney, John McCain - he slams everybody! Anything for ratings in that flagship NYC market. [Stern is stiff competition for them - he's the benchmark they're all secretly wanting to emulate] Heh, IIRC, Opie and Andy went down for similar shenanigans. Why not Don??? The difference is - Don is dug in. He's a member of the liberal media elite. His new wife is a modern day Ralph Nader....He's got the camp for cancer kids. He's a recovering alcoholic and has a collapsed lung. He's got all the attributes required to be the darling of the liberal intelligencia. He's bullet proof IMO. He'll make the necessary apologies and his show will get a much needed ratings bounce. It's all part of his game. He's not leaving.....unless his health takes a further dive.....which I suspect is possible any day now.

[Computerwiz]

No he shouldn't be fired. If the comments were so outrageous and offensive, then people would naturally stop watching his show and he would become punished that way. If people still want to watch it then that's their choice.

[jimzinsocal]

No he shouldn't be fired. If the comments were so outrageous and offensive, then people would naturally stop watching his show and he would become punished that way. If people still want to watch it then that's their choice.

I agree with that....100%.

[jimzinsocal]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1b1_1176147032&p=1

[jimzinsocal]

Imus Suspended by MSNBC For Two Weeks

—Ace

Breaking news. Not important news, but breaking news.
Here's video of Al Sharpton taking Imus to task on Sharpton's radio show. Sharpton babbles on for a while before getting to any question.
I kind of understand what Imus was doing. He was making such an unwarranted, unprovoked, and inappropriate attack on the Rutgers women's basketball team that everyone would get he didn't mean a word of it. At least I think that's what he was doing. It was a random over-the-top put-down that made no sense, and hence would be taken, he thought (to the extent he thought about it all), as just a bit of silliness.
The trouble is, that often still pisses people off, and most aren't willing to excuse a racist remark just because it was so inappropriate and racist that it couldn't possibly have been seriously intended.
That's why I don't ever touch the third rail of racial humor. I deal with it the way I deal with brown peoplel generally -- I just smile politely, keep my eyes averted, and dutifully hand over my wallet while praying for a quick death.