DON IMUS: So, I watched the basketball game last night between -- a little bit of Rutgers and Tennessee, the women’s final.
SID ROSENBERG: Yeah, Tennessee won last night -- seventh championship for [Tennessee coach] Pat Summitt, I-Man. They beat Rutgers by 13 points.
IMUS: That’s some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and --
BERNARD McGUIRK: Some hard-core hos.
IMUS: That’s some nappy-headed hos there. I’m gonna tell you that now, man, that’s some -- woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like -- kinda like -- I don’t know.
McGUIRK: A Spike Lee thing.
IMUS: Yeah.
McGUIRK: The Jigaboos vs. the Wannabes -- that movie that he had.
IMUS: Yeah, it was a tough --
CHARLES McCORD: Do The Right Thing.
McGUIRK: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
IMUS: I don’t know if I’d have wanted to beat Rutgers or not, but they did, right?
ROSENBERG: It was a tough watch. The more I look at Rutgers, they look exactly like the Toronto Raptors.
I usually watch a little of Imus in the Morning on MSNBC but missed the comments that are causing the ruckus swirling about the I-Man. Boy, did he look uncomfortable this morning. You know it’s serious when a visit to the Rev. Al Sharpton’s radio show is scheduled. The I-Man is set to visit Rev. Al this afternoon.
Should any of this surprise you? Some folks are acting like Don Imus is some normal pretty-boy broadcaster. Heck, I believe he might hold the title as the original “shock jock,” although he has worked to clean up that image and regularly gets politicians and pundits to appear on his morning show. He’s no stranger to controversy either. With a mouth like his, it’s no wonder he’s been fired before. Well, I’m not sure if it was the mouth or the coke and vodka and I don’t mean Coca Cola either.
But a contrite Imus with big ole cowboy hat in hand has apologized. On Friday he said,
“Want to take a moment to apologize for an insensitive and ill-conceived remark we made the other morning regarding the Rutgers women’s basketball team. It was completely inappropriate, and we can understand why people were offended. Our characterization was thoughtless and stupid, and we are sorry.”
And again today, more apologizing. It was a stupid thing to say and he shouldn’t have said it. And now he joins the cadre of foot in mouth public figures. Should he keep his job or not? As with Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Rosie O’Donnell and other full-of-themselves TV characters, I have the choice whether I will subject myself to their opinions, and quite frankly, I prefer to let the free market determine whether we will have Imus in the Morning.
19 comments:
The imperial We?
My tongue was firmly in my cheek, Jay, with that headline.
I wasn't referring to the headline but to the quote from Imus.
Oh. I suppose the "we" meant he was also apologizing for the producer although an "I" would have been stronger and the producer has "some 'plaining to do" too.
You are so right -- If people want to continue to listen to Imus, they will. If not, he's gone. Gone. Gone.
BFF,
Miss T
Sheila,
I loved this post. Really it is left up to the public if Imus will continue to bore us in the morning. As for public flogging OF COURSE!! Flogging cost waaaay less than incarceration and leaves a memorable, "impression."
AlexD
If the public is allowed to listen to such prejudice and fact-less remarks from the likes of Hannity, Limbaugh and O'Reilly, then having folks such as Imus is a freedom of choice, as well.
I myself have never been at all fond of Imus, but then I loathe the other three. ;)
Miss T, you are too wise in the ways of the world.
Alex, I really was just kidding about the flogging, but then maybe you do have a point. Public humiliation might work in some cases.
Tim, you are alive! Missed you. Yeah, I do once in a while catch Hannity, O'Reilly and Limbaugh. Talk about hate filled stident folks. One of my son's friends said it would be better if we didn't even have 24 hour cable news channels and I think he's right. These guys are on two or three times a day spewing their messages that are only diversive and pigheaded. We have lost the ability in this country to converse with those who disagree without a shouting match in many cases.
I really don't think I could watch Imus any more. I watched a little of his show this morning and it was a continuous grovel fest. No matter what he does nor how many times he apologizes and says "I was stupid" it's not going to be good enough. And dang it, but Rev. Sharpton and Rev. Jackson are no strangers to the foot in mouth disease. Now they have adopted a holier than thou attitude that seems hypocritical to me.
You know I really have to watch what I say because I don't want to be accused of being racist myself. But, people, Don Imus is a small man and rather inconsequential in the grand scheme of life. Why, why, why are we elevating him to such an influencial position? He's just a radio/tv personality with diarrhea of the mouth. What's the big picture? Rev. Al and Rev. Jackson are wasting their time and their followers' energy on this cause.
He's canned. Out. Done. Finito.
Good riddance.
Jay, I don't think we lost a great communicator and wouldn't defend what Imus said, but I think that if record companies aren't dealt with in the same manner, it is hypocritical and I am leery of the chilling of free speech that is going to happen in the along run.
Another thawt.
Imus is a doofus. His judgment stunk like a septic tank backed up into a pen of dead hawgs an' a rooster.
But free speech these here days is gettin' to be more and more like Animal Farm: Some people's speech is more free than others'.
Reckon I need to write a blog post on this myself.
BFF,
Miss T
I never watch Imus, but reading what little I have about this media event, I would tell him that yes, indeed, you are STUPID.
Stupid not so much for what he is reported to have said which was insensitive, but primarily stupid because of the way he dealt with the furor it created in media.
That said, I can’t bring myself to address either Jackson or Sharpton as “Reverend”. Is either one of them actually the pastor of any organized church?
I think Imus should have just admitted to making a stupid and insensitive remark and then responded to Jackson and Sharpton by saying that (if true) he had not fathered a child out of wedlock (to Jackson), nor did he have the blood of a Jew on his hands by causing the death of one by helping to foment a riot on the basis of what was later proved to be a lie (to Sharpton), so let he who has not sinned cast the first stone.
Miss T, I hope you do write about free speech because I'm getting a little skeered about what is safe to say.
Don, I reckon we are both going to be in trouble for bad-mouthing Rev. Al and Rev. Jackson. Even my high school senior son knew about Rev. Al's riot incitement and I remember that he was one of Tawana Brawley's advisers who created a hugh hoopla about her "abduction and rape" which turned out to be a load of horse dooky. The prosecutor even won a defamation lawsuit against Rev. Al.
The airwaves are public and we do need to adhere to certain standards of decorum, and maybe Imus should have been fired. But I don't see the whole way this has played out as anything but a witch hunt to some extent led by two men with enough skeletons of their own to explain.
Don, "Reverend" is for a person who's been ordained in a Christian church. The person carries the title for life, regardless of pastoring a church or not.
I'm no fan of Imus, Sharpton or Jackson; I just wanted to clarify the term. People ask me if I'm still "Reverend" even though (supposedly) retired. The answer is yes.
Thanks for the clarification Rev. Jay. Although I read where Al Sharpton was ordained and licensed as a minister at age 10 (Wikipedia), he seems more at home as a gadfly, looking for causes to foster, at times without a clue as to whether they are just or not.
Thanks for the clarification Reverend Croft. I didn't realize that my oldest brother is still Reverend Seibold although he hasn't led a congregation in probably a half century. I may have to start showing him a little more respect now. :)
I, too, am known as a gadfly, and sometimes declare that to be my main occupation!
As for Sharpton's ordination at age 10, different denominations have their own standards and procedures. The Episcopal Church, for example, has a very rigorous process including physical and psychological exams as well as a good academic track record.
Jesus definitely was a gadfly.
This is an easy question. Yes.
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