<p>So Don Imus gets a two week hiatus....hmmm. Rev Al says that FCC should monitor and control racist remarks.</p>
<p>Al Sharpton is an idiot.</p>
<p>Gotta love that he is gonna hump Imus's leg to get at Hip Hop musicians, comedy folks and hmmm Russell Simmons? I just don't see that Imus is sooo much worse than most. I think it was sharpton's daughter....he is aiming at something....but picking Imus isn't cutting it.</p>
<p>Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are the laughing stock of New York.</p>
<p>i hate al sharpton so much.</p>
<p>He should be an offense to the public tis true.</p>
<p>What shocked me the most was to learn that Don Imus is alive. Even after I saw a still picture of him on Sharpton's radio show I wasn't convinced that we weren't looking at the handiwork of a Taxidermy College dropout.</p>
<p>Really, what needs to happen here is for Don Imus -- and his producer -- to play a game of 2-on-2 against the alleged "nappy-headed 'hos" and have them exact their brand of justice. I'd prefer full court to 21 by 1; but I understand that a half court game might have to suffice. But, please, if that's the case, the loser needs to take the ball out after each basket so that it's not a quick 21-and-out...because I would fully expect to watch this game on MSNBC.</p>
<p>As for Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson...I'm not sure why the best defense of Don Imus is pointing out that these two men are clowns/hypocrites or otherwise unqualified to point out Imus' transgression. I'm not Sharpton. I'm not Jackson. But I'm very doubtful that if Don Imus registers any activity on an EEG it is statistically different than what you'd get from Lime Jell-O.</p>
<p>That said, Imus has got a great radio voice. And a great radio face...and body...etc. His mind, however, seems like it ought to be on pre-order for the Rutgers School of Medicine (anatomy class).</p>
<p>I make no defense of Iman for he seems like one of many. What amazes me is that others aren't also mentioned. Perhaps Iman has the ratings, makes the networks cash and thus is a wealthier target. Russell Simmons is one I thought to hear more about within the Iman drama.</p>
<p>The Iman?/<em>1</em>/</p>
<p>Don Imus self reference. He is called The I-Man.</p>
<p>No... I knew that. It's the familiarity of the reference that puzzled -- puzzles -- me. It's as if you knew that Imus was still alive before this news broke.</p>
<p>I remember him when he was on 660 WNBC during the morning drive...when I was in grade school! He seemed like a geezer back then. And today he looks every bit the part of a guy who was a geezer 30 years ago. He was a has-been back then...with anyone who had a milligram of cool preferring Jim Kerr and Shelli Sonstein on WPLJ or Scott Muni on WNEW. So to hear (well...read) someone in college refer to him as the Iman is sort of disturbing and shakes the foundation of trust that I have in some future generation being able to save the planet.</p>
<p>I guess I see this as less about who he is than what this discourse will change. Whether Imus stay or goes.....the issue of speech, controlling public radio/tv and such. My interest is there. Whether Imus heads into the sunset matters little to me. Russell Simmons.....just my other point.</p>
<p>Imus in the Morning is still on WFAN in the mornings. I don't listen to it because that's not my type of show. Mike and Mike on 1050 are so much better, but that's a another conversation for another day.</p>
<p>I don't condone the actions of Don Imus, but at this point the man apologized...maybe we should move on? I guess I'm a bit subjective when it comes to this because I can't stand Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson. They annoy the heck out of me. Anyway, I was listening to some of the press conference on 1050 (ironically the WFAN's competition) this morning. I guess the team has a point. They made some excellent points including we can't let this hurt us and so on and so forth.</p>
<p>Anyway...this thing has been on the front pages of our newspapers for a few days. The man has apologized and realized what he has done. He is being punished by serving a suspension of two weeks. I think we should all move on.</p>
<p>Until he plays that basketball game with the girls, nobody should rest.</p>
<p>Imus is a jerk.
Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are now jokes, yes, but I just recently learned that Jesse was at the site w/ MLK when MLK was shot and learned from the man himself. That bumped him up a half a notch at least IMO but then I thought about the fact that he hasn't done anything in forever and that smashed him down to hell and beyond.</p>
<p>I respect the fact that Al Sharpton is for gay rights, since many black evangelicals tend to be homophobic which contradicts their cause against discrimination. However, he and Jackson tend to go on witchhunts for anyone and everyone who slip with politically incorrect statements. It's obnoxious. Imus probably is a jerk, but get a life.</p>
<p>Umm more like racist Don Imus vs. respectable Rutgers athletes. Sharpton has nothing to do with the issue at hand, despite what apologists are trying to suggest. The actions of other blacks--rappers, etc--has nothing to do w/the issue either. Also, self-serving observations aside, black leaders including Sharpton himself have criticized certain elements of the hip hop community. And what did these specific black women do to deserve being harangued like this? That's right....nothing.</p>
<p>Devil's Advocate:</p>
<p>Nappy? Yes. Well, I'm not sure if they are, but if everyone knew what he was talking about then it works as a description.</p>
<p>Headed? Yes.</p>
<p>Hos? Ehh. Hard for him to know.</p>
<p>So, where's the racism? If anything, it's more sexist.</p>
<p>I have no idea whether Don Imus is racist. But "nappy-headed 'hos" is both misogynistic and racist...as it feeds and empowers those who are so predisposed to think that way. If anyone thinks that "nappy-headed" is not a racist term -- or "ho" for that matter -- and that, in combination, it's "more sexist" and not racist, they're somewhat out of touch with the world around them.</p>
<p>The problem is not Don Imus' character and whether he's a bad guy. The problem comes from the license and affirmation he gives to the ideas he conveys. That's the purpose of his show: to affirm the views of like-minded people and to influence those who aren't. Whether he buys into what he says is immaterial. Whether others might is what's material and why he needs to be held accountable.</p>
<p>Here's the problem of what others think: "If Don Imus can think that way and say it on a nationally-televised/simulcast show, then I can think that way, too."</p>
<p>I don't care whether Don Imus is racist or sexist. We should all care if he's validating and affirming the thinking of those who are from his tall platform. That he has cover in his words by claiming that he has a ranch for kids and isn't racist is more of a problem because if he can take cover, he gives solace to all those people who subscribe to his apparent thinking by letting those people know that there are some imaginary lines that they can dance on so that they, too, can spew hatred and claim it's all in good fun.</p>
<p>Where's the conversation about personal accountability and responsibility? Hiding under a sheet?</p>
<p>Here's my opinion on this issue:</p>
<p>What Imus said was stupid, offensive, and uncalled for. However, the whole controversy surrounding what he said is ridiculous. In Imus' defense, he's apologized several times and admitted that what he said was wrong. I also guarantee that if a black radio host said something racist/sexist about whites, it would hardly be getting the attention that this story is now.</p>
<p>Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are both a$$holes. They love to turn every issue into a white vs. black battle. Isn't it ironic that Jesse Jackson is so furious when Imus made a racial comment, yet he had no qualms about calling NYC "Hymietown" back in the 1980s?</p>