Posted By: Cody56

Ok, on Imus, he's said a lot worse than that before. Believe me, my dad listened to him for the longest time. And also, if the media is going to on Imus, they should get on rappers who cuss every third word. Imus is not the devil who hates everyone, in fact his boss' kid died of S.I.D.S. (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and Imus raised enough money to build a wing in a hospital just for SIDS patients. Also he has a ranch (in Arizona?) for young children who are going to die of cancer (like Make-A-Wish Foundation) etc. Lastly, firing Imus violated the first amendment (freedom of speech) and so it is unconstitutional to fire Imus, so there!

Posted By: margaret

A) Just because Imus was not the first to say these things, or because this isn't the worst thing like this he's ever said, does not mean he gets a hall pass to continue being a hateful SOB. I'm sorry, it has to stop somewhere.

B) The First Amendment says the goverment gives you the right to say whatever you want. However, MSNBC and CBS are not the government.
EX 1: Don Imus pisses off MSNBC. MSNBC can fire him because they are his employer and he broke the terms of his employment contract, which I'm more than sure stipulates that he comply with a company code of conduct.
EX2: Don Imus pisses off the FCC, and the FCC makes MSNBC fire him even though MSNBC doesn't want to. If that's they type of content MSNBC wants on their programs, then the FCC does not have the right to take Imus's job.
Does that make sense? It's been a long day at work.

C) This issonot the topic of this thread. Where can we move this discussion to?

Imus was fired because his sponsors were fleeing in droves. It was unprofitable for MSNBC to keep his show on the air.

My point is that the FCC is there to regulate what is said on the radio & what is shown on TV. You can't just go on the air and say whatever you want. With a greater forum than the average citizen, you gain additional responsibility. Imus abused that responsibility and now he doesn't have a job. Whether that's right or not, it's reality.

Posted By: cmseagle

anyone know EXACTLY what he said? Maybe a link so we don't offend the young ones.

They were reporting on the Rutgers womens basketball team losing to Tennessee in the NCAA tournament. Then Imus' buddy says something like look at all these hos, and then Imus states: "Yeah, those are some real nappy headed hos". Then, nobody said a word until a few days later when Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton go ape shit over what he said. At that time everyone suddenly cared about what Imus said. He apologized a katrillion times, then got fired.

I'm a big proponent of free speech in general, and especially the whole notion of the market place of ideas. I don't really have a problem with not listening to Imus, realizing that he's an idiot and has no information of value he can provide me. While I think that there's some legitimacy to Udo's thought that he should be held to higher standards, I don't think it's really a practical judgement call to make. Because as soon as you start talking about holding someone to standards it necessitates the definition of "standards" and there's a half-way decent chance that those "standards" will be used negatively in the future.

In this case, I think things worked themselves out well. Imus said something stupid, he became unprofitable -- that is the market recognized the problems associated with Imus and responded accordingly.

Posted By: legatissimo

I'm a big proponent of free speech in general, and especially the whole notion of the market place of ideas. I don't really have a problem with not listening to Imus, realizing that he's an idiot and has no information of value he can provide me. While I think that there's some legitimacy to Udo's thought that he should be held to higher standards, I don't think it's really a practical judgement call to make. Because as soon as you start talking about holding someone to standards it necessitates the definition of "standards" and there's a half-way decent chance that those "standards" will be used negatively in the future.

In this case, I think things worked themselves out well. Imus said something stupid, he became unprofitable -- that is the market recognized the problems associated with Imus and responded accordingly.

I tend to agree with you, Legat. But I also know that I've had arguments with people over this very topic (on another board), where people seem to believe that they have the right to say whatever they want, whenever they want. That simply is not so. My counter-argument was (refined): If you walk around in the neighborhood at 2 AM with a megaphone saying something... anything really... but something offensive, you can expect to be arrested, for disturbing the peace if nothing else.
The other side of the story is simple: if you go around in a neighborhood with a megaphone announcing how much you hate some particular ethnic group, and a person belonging to that ethnic group happens to take offense and put a few bullets into you, well, sure they may have violated your right to free speech, but I doubt that your widow will find much comfort in that.

Posted By: legatissimo

But people have gone through neighborhoods before espousing a hatred of other ethnic groups... the KKK does it with relative frequency

And they typically have the police guarding them to protect them from the public. Yes, they have the right. But that doesn't mean that others won't break the law to show how little they like the KKK and their message.

Posted By: legatissimo

True... and you know, realistically, that's part of the cost of having opinions like that.

Oh, they can have whatever opinions they want... but it's expressing them to a decidedly unreceptive audience where you risk your physical well-being.

Another part of the Imus thing is that, according to the legal blurbs I've read (basically after the Michael Richards fiasco) is that the typical audience is supposed to ignore these words as those of a dumbass. [Though Imus shoud've known better after the Richards fiasco...] For Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to call for his firing is ludicrous. I mean, the guy sincerely apologized. If that's not good enough, then why should the government, say, pay reparations for slavery if it'll never be good enough?

I'm not saying Imus shouldn't have been fired... just that Sharpton & Jackson are going after a pipsqueak when there are much bigger problems for Black America.

I agree with you, Udo, people are entitled to any opinion they want, it's just expressing them that's produced the negativity.

Posted By: Cody56

Posted By: legatissimo

But people have gone through neighborhoods before espousing a hatred of other ethnic groups... the KKK does it with relative frequency

It's ironic, my school blocks gullible, but it doesn't block the kkk site.

How's that ironic?

Really?? A school lets their students look at a hate-mongering site but doesn't let them look at a site full of interesting factoids -- that's not ironic? I mean truly ironic, not 'ironic' like in that song Alanis Morrisette sings.

After sitting through 8 long hours on Saturday watching The Stand I came to the conclusion the actor they chose to play Randall Flagg looked amazingly like Don Imus. Even though it was made some 13 years ago I don't think that is going to help Imus' case much... I know I wouldn't want to be seen as some anti-christ figure. I wonder if sci-fi aired it on purpose. Conspiracies abound....

Posted By: nyarfdude

Free speech!

Does that mean I can say anything I want?

Yes, according to the government. But we can do whatever we want to you in response.

Posted By: nyarfdude

Free speech!

Does that mean I can say anything I want?

No, it means we don't have to pay to listen to you.