I can't characterize myself as an Imus fan although I listened to him on WFAN the sports talk station that carried him fo twenty years ,but I believe that his firing was excessive punishment.I in no way defend his remarks which were over the top and insensitive and I believe he deserved censure and punishment.I believe the original 2 week suspension was appropiate.He apologized to the team and it was accepted,The firing however was a knee jerk reaction to satisfy the likes of Sharpton and Jackson.He will however be fine he is 66 years old and has more money then God,he doesn't need the show,but will probably miss it.But the PC crowd wins out again.

I wasn't an Imus fan, actually thought he was quite the jerk. But fire him? I think they had to considering the several radio and TV people in the past few years who have been fired for saying less offensive comments.
I do resent Sharpton and Jackson, who both have their share of public racial slurs....seems like they both always pop up as long as there is a camera there to film them.
Of course they were great vocal supporters of the accuser in the Duke/Lacrosse case. Jessie Jackson even offered her a free scholarship....wonder if the offer is still open?
Wonder if they ever publicly apologized to the real victims?

Cheers,
Charles

He was fired because the sponsors were ditching. The Reverends Jackson and Sharpton (they are ordained ministers regardless of what we think of their politics and tactics) could have raised havoc to the heavens and hell and back again and nothing would have happen
ed if the sponsors had stayed the course. Bottom liine, cost the home office money and yoou're history. Imus clearly overstepped his bounds and it may have been because he insulted a team that (I believe) many sports fans were adulating. And regardless of the horribly inappropriate langiage used by rappers and some comedians, his remark was over the top in its hatefulness.
Disclaimer: I was aware of Imus in the Morning as a radio talk show. I've never heard it and don't even know it it was aired in my market. My morning commute is barely long enough to hear one song or part of an NPR report.

I have to agree with Al's appraisal, when your sponsors stop sponsoring, you have no show. It wasn't like Billy Bob's Pork Pit stopped advertising, but just about every major advertiser pulled their ad.






Perhaps he'll become a major contender in the upcoming major law suits by those falsely accused and prosecuted by the press and media. Reverend or not.

Ironic part is the New Jersey Governor was almost killed in a traffic accident on the way to the meeting between nitwit Imus, and the Rutgers team at the Governors Mansion.

But I'm sure he'll turn up soon on satellite radio next to Stern.

Yeah, how about that? I hear he is doing allright now, though he basically broke as much as possible and still survive. Do you know who is acting Governor now Dave?

Personally, I'm looking at this from a fathers perspective and if he'd called my daughter what he called those young athletes, I'd have gone after him big time.
He got what he deserved. Period.
So, do you really think his apology was sincere....give me a break!
I'm also sure some of the advertisers were parents of teenage athletes too.
My hats off to the president of network that fired him for doing something right!!!!!
That my 2¢.

The World is totally becoming too politically correct. I don't think he should of been fired. It was in bad form to say what he said, but jeez. The Rap industry can talk about worse and it's of course reflected in the people who glamorize the thug lifestyle. Start there, not with some old geezer with a mic. His audience is pretty solid where fan base is concerned and anywhere he pops back up is gonna make money. Move on a quit distracting the masses with useless drama.

Everybody sucks. We're taught, through life and experience, to think before we act...or speak, to stifle the first thing that comes to mind and go with the second, more appropriate thing to say.
Some people forget that and say something stupid. As soon as they say it, it's out. Can't unsay it. Apologize and move on. He apologized to the Rutger's girls and they accepted his apology. Now, we can all move on.

The media will try to stop us from moving on, but, I intend to.

Movin on,
Cuhail

P.S. I watch FOX News Chicago in the Morning with my 10 year old daughter before school. Imus is pretty much an idiot in my book, so we don't watch Imus. But, I accept his apology.

Dick-"Please elect someone else as Governor, as I really don't want the job" Cody has inherited again, until the Governor is able to return to his duties.

The few times I've seen Imus, either very late at night or very early in the morning, I've not been impressed. I found him very boring, and a jerk. He made an incredibly stupid remark, which I understand isn't the first time, and got a lot of flak for it. Others have said equally stupid things, think Rush Limbaugh, but with Imus his sponsors bailed on him, and once that happened he was toast. Do I think he should have gotten fired, no. Do I hope that others will stop and think a bit before saying something, yes, but I doubt it. I realize that I risk getting this post deleted, but I've got to say this. If Imus had been a African-American host and said the same thing, about the same team, he probably wouldn't have gotten fired. Equally if a African-American host had said something racial, and equally stupid, about another race, they also probably wouldn't have been fired.

In this case, following it pretty closely myself - Imus is, IMO, little more than a bar-room bore. He deliberately set out to attack a group of young women who, in the (normal) course of things, wouldn't be able to fight back. If he had used the same line against A-List actresses?

It boils down to Freedom of Speech vs. Responsibility. You can't just say what you like - you have to be adult enough to accept limits of decency.

As to the 'Rev' Jackson getting involved - no doubt he sniffed money in the equation (very much like the Toyota and Budweiser Boycotts). Jackson is, at the end of the day, a sleaze-bag who is no better than Imus...

A sad spectacle for ALL involved...

Although I know nothing about this guy, care very little for the politically correct crowd, and support free speech .... I must agree that people in such positions have a certain responsibility as well. Referring to a ladies basketball team as such, is hardly comedy! But money makes the rules and no matter where you stand, those with the money get their way. And that in my books, is every bit as annoying.

I heard the headlines on sky news yesterday, but knowing nothing about the guy, I googled him to find some background .... and found this on Wikipedia. Rather amusing.
"He served in the Marine Corps from 1957 to 1959. When interviewed in Vanity Fair magazine, Imus stated that he dropped out of school and joined the Marines, transferring from an artillery unit to play the bugle in the Drum and Bugle Corps. According to the interview, he received an honorable discharge, despite an incident when he and a friend stole the stars off a general's jeep and put them on their own vehicle."

2 cents
This is really about discrimination, both in his choice of words and his right to use those words according to his skin color.

I dont know; What he said was totally wrong, and he knew better than to say it, but he went ahead and said it anyway. the suspension was appropriate, but I think firing him was a bit much. Let me explain why:

Sure the sponsors were pulling out,and that tied the hands of the broadcasters, but the sponsors were pulling out because of all the bucking and braying Jackson and Sharpton were making. If they hadn't jumped into the fracas, and the companies would still back out? Then give me a list of those companies fellas, because I want to support them for having such high morals. But they pulled out because of Sharpton and Jackson.

Moreover, who are Sharpton and Jackson to criticize? Jackson with his illegitimate children and history of supporting the Nation of Islam? Al Sharpton helping to ruin the life of an innocent man based solely on the accustaions of Tawana Brawley (you know, he never admitted he did anything worng, nor did he ever apologize for that witch hunt he conducted)???

Besides, how many shows geared towards African Americans are there on WB or UPN that have some doofus lunkhead of a white guy on them as some goober of a sidekick? It doesnt make what Imus said right -not by a long shot-but isn't this just reeking a bit on the side of hypocritical?

When did we, as a people, become sooooo thin skinned that everything everyone says warrants a preemptive apology before it's even uttered? Even this very post of mine reeks of an apology of sirts, just to cover my a$$ from reprisals.

Imus was wrong,he got what he deserved, but I think it was all based on the fear that junkyard dogs like Sharpton and Jackson place in peoples hearts.

Amen.

C.

Okay,

Just what are we talking about

perhaps I've missed something here, but I don't have the faintest idea what this is all about

Craig

no Problem Craig! Short and sweet, here it is.....
Don imus is a bigtime radio personality here in the U.S.; his show is even synicated (or was anyway) on MSNBC, and last week he made a comment about the ladies basketball team at Rutgers being "Nappy headed Hos". This on the air comment incited the prychotic ranting and ravings of Jackson and Sharpton, which in turn frightened the advertisers away, and MSNBC not wanting to lose any money, fired Imus for the remark.

I’ve made one comment on this here earlier, but I feel the need to come back again.

There’s more to this than ranting and raving from the two ministers. There’s history here of racism in America that really can’t be denied. We, who study history as part of our hobby, should be most keenly aware of that. Even in my lifetime, the language used to describe blacks by the white majority has been filled with terms of extreme hatred and disrespect. And, yes, the gangsta wannabe culture has sadly reintroduced some of that language to the mainstream. IMHO, they are wrong to have done that. But it is aimed at a specific audience, much like we modelers accept Modelgeek as the general modeling area here but would likely be offended if a co-worker called us geeks for our hobby and interests. Do you think there would have been no outcry from the well to do if he’d referred to the Mount Holyoke (expensive and exclusive women’s college) lacrosse team as bleached blonde dyke hoowas? (As Ralph Cifaretto would have pronounced it on the Sopranos)

There was a comment about political correctness. Whenever someone gets called on his or her inappropriate language or behavior, this bugaboo comes up. Yeah, there’s a lot of silliness in the name of political correctness, but at the heart, it’s what our mothers told us growing up. Be respectful and don’t call people names. Personally, I find the whole shock jock and vitriolic commentary from the likes of Ann Coulter and Howard Stern most offensive and get annoyed at the mindless feuding of “The Donald” and Rosie, as well as the misanthropic humor that has become the stock in trade of George Carlin and wish they’d all go away. We’d be better for it as a people and a culture.

There was another comment about freedom of speech. That is only guaranteed by the constitution in matters of legislation. “Congress shall make no law …abridging the freedom of speech …”. In this case, thankfully, the FCC did not poke its nose in and fine the broadcasters. The marketplace spoke. Nor are we guaranteed the freedom to say whatever we want, especially at work. If I had a job as a salesman at a Ford dealership and told customers that blind, drunken monkeys playing with bailing wire and duck tape could build a better car than a Mustang or greeted them with racial epithets, how long do you think I’d keep that job?

Anyway, that’s all I have to say.

Thanks Al...
Well said.
Shaun

I think a lock should be put on this topic, or better yet a complete removal. This discussion can only get uglier if it keeps up.

Steve,

Thanks for that, I thought that it was going to be much worse, I thought he'stolen their i-pods and called them Mr. Bean.

Cheers

Craig.

This technically a current event but I haven't seen any reason to lock or remove it so far.

Shaun

Somewhat cynically, I have to wonder if muppets like Imus deliberately do this to get their contracts torn-up to enable to move onto bigger and (more lucrative) things.

I don't even think being P.C. enters into it - having seen the transcript and the full rant it's just offensive.

He's not some champion of liberty just the kind of dork who if he did that in a bar would be tossed-out for offending the other customers...

Being what I guess is the only african-american on this site. I found what he siad to very racist as well as sexist. You have a mother? a sister? Wife some may have a daughter. How would you feel if some one called a member of of family a nappy head or a straight haired ho. You would not like it. Where I'm from . those are words you through blows over. for any man saying them about your family . Black or white. For the ones who say rappers say it. why can't I . You need to listen to rap before you make that statement, as all rappers don't talk about females that way.have you ever heard of The Sugar Hill Gang ? Public Enemy? NAS? Common? LL. Cool J ? To name a few their are many others but you won't hear about them . I guess your only a rapper if you have went to jail or have been shot 9 times .these are the only rappers you hear the media pull out their as. every time something happens.have mothers,sisters.wifes and daughters as I do and belive me blows will be thrown if you addressed them as such. But the media says its true soa it must be true. If you spent as much time doing research on thing other things besides models you would understand why his remarks where racist!! Have you tried to look at life here in american throuhg a black persons eyes. Do you know what it feels like to be treated like a step child. blacks have fought and died in every military engagement even for the colonies. before this was the u.s.a only to be treated like your nothing. If america was truly P.C and lived up to its preamble. Then their wouldn't be a need to be .P.C becuase evey man and women would be treated equal. I guess we are still waiting on that one . These yong ladies are in collage not street walkers. These young ladies have been getting hate mail and death threats. I guess that's not worth getting fired . The REv'S have been after these rappers for years about the lyrics around the 80's . If you don't want to find the real problems blame it on the music. Remember the tried to blame elvis and rock n roll. Lets blame black rappers for the rascist thoughts in america. White kids buy more of that crap than blacks listen to it .whites own the industry that you want to pass the blame on. who made the term gansta rap. The white media. Ganstas died out in the 30's. That was a way for the record indy to sell records. To the white youth and they fell for it. their is no such thing as a gansta rapper. Do your research before you speak just like you would to find out what unit
markings go on a panzer.

I think the whole thing was blown out of proporation

I find it highly ironic that last night I watched the Dodgers game, it being the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first majot league game. The genuine affection for a great ballplayer and man was obvious, yet this outpouring of respect comes on the heels of what can only be described as an uncalled for crack about black female athletes. My guess is Imus never played a goddamn sport in his life and has no conception of how difficult it is to play sports at a major university and try and keep up your studies ( and yes, I played baseball at Michigan State as a walk-on, no scholarship). To have a goof like Imus take a cheap shot at those athletes was both insulting and rude. He called the Tennesse kids cute and by inference insulted the Rutgers kids yet again.

Yes, Sharpton and Jackson are media hounds, but they're incidental to the point.

The other ironic part of this is that apparently this incident has revived the spotlight on the whole gangsta rap thing. So maybe a 66 year old white guy will help clean up the airwaves and I won't have to look at white suburban kids with caps on backwards and subwoofers loosening my fillings when they drive by. Now THAT would be progress.