The Nation.

Nation Poll

Don Imus is finally out of a job at MSNBC and CBS. Who's the biggest loser?

  1. We can all agree Don’s comments were thoughtless and offensive, but where is forgiveness in this country? Is it necessary to destroy a person’s career or would we be better for having forgiven Don as we have forgiven the Reverends Sharpton and Jackson time and time again for their thoughtless comments and general meddling. Where are the reverends’ and other unelected black leaders self-righteous indignations concerning the root cause of all this, hip-hop music, whose audience is predominately white? We can listen, but don’t get caught singing along. As one person said, this is just a case of an old man (by hip-hop standards) trying to be hip. Don is only guilty of using the accepted vocabulary of these crass times, which has made millionaires aplenty out of black performers while generating billions for labels, black and white owned. Additionally, why do these same advertisers find it acceptable to buy time on the stations running this defamatory content? How many of these companies are related in some way or another to the music industry that creates and distributes this trash? The double standard and outrage of all concerned is unacceptable and smacks of the worst kind of two-faced hypocrisy, profit without responsibility. Don’s comments and the reaction they provoked are just further examples of what is wrong with this country, which generally lacks restraint, compassion, empathy, and the ability to forgive fools their comments, all fools black or white. Let us not forget the unbounded greed of all.

    Posted by LogicZero at 04/13/2007

  2. To summarize what LOGICZERO took far too many words to say: Multiple wrongs make it right. I love comments that start, "We can all agree . . . " and then fall off the edge. At least his/her pseudonym is accurate.

    Posted by billheasf at 04/13/2007

  3. The sudden, general hue-and-cry over misogyny and black self-regard in hip-hop in response to Imus' being shitcanned has all the prefab contours of a talking-point.

    "Where is forgiveness in this country? Are you joking?? Tyranical white male bigots (and their scummy little non-white/female proxies such as Malkin) RULE the public airwaves...Christ, Howard Stern alone engineered a whole *industry's* reorganization! Though your fickle attention might have been directed for the nonce to hip-hop and black self-regard (thanks for caring!), the huge hateful noises are coming from elsewhere...

    the root cause of all this, hip-hop music

    Wha? What, exactly, is "all this"? You mean that Don Imus has been susceptible to, molded by, the language of hip-hop? Can it not be that this arrogant "nigger"-spouting bastard (Google "60 Minutes" and "Imus," and learn something), who's had such great fun with Amos-n'-Andy-quality "black" impersonations and simian references (such as Clarence Page decried right to Imus' face), just LOVES demeaning black people? Why in the hell is it that a white man who belches "nigger" or the like must be suddenly incontinent, forgetful, "not himself," etc? Stop being punks on this point, and grow a spine: If you're offended at the offense (and never really gave a fuck what sort of low-down insults other whites hurled at blacks; and maybe even got a good "this is bad" belly-laugh), what does that make YOU?

    Posted by tohubohu at 04/13/2007

  4. Posted by USAPRIDE at 04/13/2007

  5. I love how newscasters are utilizing Imus' comments as an excuse to say "nappy-headed hos" without getting accused of being racists. I really do love a good opportunist.

    Posted by crusader at 04/13/2007

  6. I voted for the mainstream media being the losers. I found coverage of the incident in general abysmal. For example, virtually NO ONE in the media seemed able actually to explain exactly what the insult meant or why it was so insulting. Re THIS whole issue, I strongly recommend Barbara Ehrenreich's article in the current "Nation."

    As she points out, the word "hos" was the real offender, not so much "nappy-headed." It's hip-hop lingo for sexually promiscuous women but, interestingly (Ehrenreich fails to note this), it derives originally from the Southern U.S. pronunciation of "whore." End of discussion, as far as I'm concerned. But no one in the media, and I mean NO ONE pointed this simple fact out.

    As another interesting side note, as far as "nappy-headed" is concerned, Imus turns out not only to be a stereotyping racist but an inaccurate one at that. If you look at a photo of the Rutgers Womens basketball team, you will see that NONE of either the black or the white members actually is "nappy-headed." End of discussion part 2.

    Posted by w_m_bear at 04/14/2007

  7. I'm glad this whole Imus thing happened. Perhaps more folks will begin to scrutinize, more closely, the rantings of far more dangerous right-wing gas bags. Compared to the Limbaughs & Coulters of the media Imus is merely a symptom of a hateful, oppressive cancer eating away at the vital organs of progressive society. Treating the symptom will not irradicate the cause.

    Posted by Qris J at 04/14/2007

  8. Ha, ha, ha! All I can do is laugh at this guy, Ismum, amos or whoever he is. What a sucker. Good thing he's rich. All he had to do was tone it down a little over "national" air waves, and he would still have his job. OH WELL.....

    Posted by Daisenryaku at 04/14/2007

  9. This is not about race or even hate; “all this” is a complete lack of civility, it is about profiting from ignorance while feigning outrage, it is about hypocrites, black and white. Oh, big surprise an old white guy is a bigot, wah, wah, wah. You are not going to change what people think or who they hate and hip-hop IS a major contributor to this culture of crass rudeness. It has been growing for twenty-five years and has matured from Grandmaster Flash to the current crop of thugs and pretenders. Compare “The Message” to today’s lyrics which glorify instead of protest drugs, the pimpin’ of bitches, murder, and greed. As I said, “Don’s comments AND the reaction they provoked are just further examples of what is wrong with this country, which generally lacks restraint, compassion, empathy, and the ability to forgive fools their comments, all fools black or white.”

    Posted by LogicZero at 04/15/2007

  10. All you hip-hop haters should really read Barbara Ehrenreich's very clear article, posted on the Nation's website, which defends this vital art form better than I could.

    I voted that Imus himself was the big loser in this affair. I truly wish it would have been the corporate media, its advertisers, or politicians who are just as racist as Imus, but who are careful to speak only in code. But it was really only Imus. Oh, well, at least we're able to defeat the really DUMB racists.

    I endorse the idea that more, not less diversity should appear on the airwaves, and to this end I recommend the repeal of the horrid Telecommunications Act of 1996 that really paved the way for the "ignor-Imuses" to debase our public discourse.

    Posted by JakobFabian at 04/15/2007

  11. Nappy hair has done more harm to the world than Imus' comment. Just remember the jheri curl. Good thing it wasn't a basketball game. Imus: Look at those bling-laden jheri-curled pimps. But then again, unlike female athletes, male basketball players aren't god's representatives.

    Posted by Brewok at 04/15/2007

  12. Atleast now Mr. Sharpton is requesting that the major media cast a revealing light on the rap community and start to question how they get away with their treatment of "hos". The "real" rap musicians are those who transcend their surroundings and buck the stereotypes.

    Posted by Chris C at 04/16/2007

  13. These poll options are unnecessarily cynical and needlessly beat up on the media outlets and advertisers involved in this situation. I'm sure there is a lot that goes into both making the decision to fire a guy like Don Imus, and the logistics of carrying that decision out - especially if you weren't expecting to have to deal with any of it.

    Don Imus was not fired immediately, but he was almost immediately suspended and in the end, the right decision was made. Why criticize MSNBC and CBS for waiting 6 and 8 days respectively to fire a major player at their respective networks? Further, aside from Al Sharpton, I'm not sure I know of any politicians or pudits that used this incident in a self-serving manner.

    Posted by mpurusho at 04/16/2007

  14. "Sexist and "Homophobe" are labels designed by social engineer types trying to make people think "correctly." They are non-words, but they certainly don't apply to the "aged".

    There is no such thing as "hate speech": There is only free speech.

    Chip Thornton

    Posted by CHIP THORNTON at 04/16/2007

  15. Actually, as Cockburn called it, the entire "Ho Industry" got a bit of display. And right also, public remorse only adds to the crime. It was Florence Nightingale who first made that point.

    Posted by jcoleman at 04/16/2007

  16. "There is no such thing as "hate speech": There is only free speech."

    On the face of it a reasonable assumption, but incitement to cause violence against a person, group of people, gender, race or ideology shouldn't be tolerated by the listeners if they don't want to.

    Posted by Draconis at 04/17/2007

  17. "Compare “The Message” to today’s lyrics which glorify instead of protest drugs, the pimpin’ of bitches, murder, and greed."

    Blame the white teenage boys with a raging disconnection of their rural Midwest lives segued with the glamour of being a 'frontline soldier in the ghetto'. You could have a word with the mainly white dominated distributors and mainstays of the recording industry to discuss whether free speech should really be about a message of hatred. That way you can tackle supply _and_ demand.

    Hip-hop started out as an examination of the urban condition. It's been taken, ridden and twisted by people who think that the shock factor is the only marketing tool, and theres a race to a very degenerate bottom going on. And don't get me wrong, I particularly enjoy Snoop Dogg, Xibit and a host of other rap artists without wanting to do someone harm.

    But blaming rap music in general is blaming the gun, not the wielder, a peculiarly American condition that seems blind to the fact that someone can feel so bad that they want to shoot people, and instead seeks to point a finger at the latest bette noire. Imus said something for which the FCC should have come down hard, such as the 'wardrobe failure' that exposed the primary food source for babies. If America is shamed by a nipple, but not a bigot, that's a question that needs to be answered.

    Posted by Draconis at 04/17/2007

  18. Didn't Imus realize that only members OF a given racial/ethnic group are allowed to insult their own with impunity!

    Posted by leftofcenter at 04/18/2007

  19. The whole Imus thing was a waste of time. Imus was a major jerk, I mean where else could a miserable, unethical, drunk and addict get such a great paying gig - only the corporate media of course!! I mean look at these jokers like Glen Beck, he's a recovering and formerly obese alcoholic now wearing a crucifix (kind of like Danny Partridge the other drunk) ranting and raving about people of color and women 24-7, major immoral displays like "Happy Feet". It's almost like if you have a major personality disorder you too can get your own show!

    Posted by denisec at 04/18/2007

  20. The media devilishly has us all looking at hip hop and rap now? We wouldn't want to look at the likes of Limbaugh would we, and exploitation of corporate advertisers? Did you notice how they changed the focus here? God people you are all so easily led, kind of like sheep. No wonder we have Bushies in the WH, and everyone bought this "War on Terror" thing. Do you realize that under this War on Terror construct the neocons have completely changed the debate in this country from any thought of social program expenditure and the wise use of surpluses to more funding for the war machine, cuts in social spending, and non-stop war to help "protect" you. Protect you from what you should ask. What we really need are protections from this government run amok. I think everyone is comotose sitting in front of the boob tube and getting fed advertisements 24-7 like pablum. Don't underestimate the power of subliminal message. This really is happening to our country. We are being fed lies, lies, lies, and we are succumbing.

    Posted by denisec at 04/18/2007

  21. For those with brains and power, it all, as always, comes down to the almighty buck. I remember Don Imus on local NYC radio in the early 70's. He was almost always funny, frequently in a sarcastic way, and sometimes in an obnoxious way, but there was nothing political about him. Similarly in Portland in the late 80's, as incomprehensible as this might seem now, Bill O'Reilly was a typical, and typically apolitical local news anchor. Even Rush Limbaugh's early career in the bay area was that of a mainstream talk radio host. But, whatever else can be said about them, they saw the poison-pen writing on the wall re:where our society was going, based largely on how it was voting, and made their moves with the financial acumen of someone who bought Walmart or Microsoft stock in the 70's at $5/share.

    Imus is gone, though I doubt forever, and Limbaugh & O"Reilly appear to be losing at least a little of their base & influence. How to keep this happy trend going?-vote realistically in each and every election, general AND PRIMARY, for a progressive candidate WHO CAN ACTUALLY WIN! Forget left wingnuts whether 3rd party or single issue(usually something to do with the middle east) democrats, or else plan for a lot more Aliotos on the court, wars in Iran & handgun laws pretty much meaning you are REQUIRED to own one. And an ultimate replacement for Imus being someone who makes him sound like Keith Olbermann, or Katrina vanden Heuvel. Hey a buck's a buck, and 1 more repug president or congress and Imus will probably start to be remembered as Mr Rogers with bad hair. BTW I thought I had heard the day he was fired, that Imus had merely lost his job/airtime, but WOULD continue to be paid his full contract amount-haven't heard anything more about that-anyone know for sure?

    Posted by eadie85 at 04/18/2007

  22. Iam a beautiful black sister, that belive it or not, watches the imus show just about everyday until it went off the air, he did go to far with his comments, and needed to be punished for he's actions, but were is free speech in all of this, is this going to be an issue later on down the line on other issues like, rap music, movies, or just what you can say in general, i personally like the show, he talked about everyone, racist, white, black, asian, whatever, he just thought he could cross that line, and some people in america are just not ready for that, like these so called people that say that they are ready for change, people just look at each other as rich or poor to me, i work everyday waiting on rich people everyday that still look at you as a 'nigga', an to some of them that's all i will ever be, but when i go to sleep at night i make sure i say a pray for them because most of them have things going on in there lives, and for that day iam the only one they seem to take it out on.................

    Posted by kmac31 at 04/19/2007

  23. As another interesting side note, as far as "nappy-headed" is concerned, Imus turns out not only to be a stereotyping racist but an inaccurate one at that. If you look at a photo of the Rutgers Womens basketball team, you will see that NONE of either the black or the white members actually is "nappy-headed." End of discussion part 2.

    Posted by W_M_BEAR 04/14/2007 @ 3:44pm |

    On the other hand, Ted Rall (one of the few columnists, liberal or conservative that I take even halfway seriously) has a good, pro-Imus take in this week's column. Quite honestly, I didn't realize before that Imus WAS a liberal (of sorts, I suppose). Interestingly, that little fact DOES make a difference (at least according to Rall, who comes down on the anti-firing side).

    Posted by w_m_bear at 04/20/2007

  24. how about: "The American People" who lose one of the few remaining un-PC breaths of fresh air... now I'll have to find a corner bar to get the real pulse of the [very] common man!

    Posted by Magnocephalus at 04/24/2007

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