Imus Fired by CBS

[DoogieDown1]

I think Andrew Sullivan nails it on his blog today:

"The culture has changed since Imus started in radio. White straight men don't control everything any more, and they don't get to set the rules for public discourse with the same finality they once did. What we've seen here is, I think, a genuine reflection of the new American mainstream. Most Americans simply find the spectacle of a rich white bigot beating up on young black female achievers after a crushing tournament loss to be gratuitously cruel and unfair. Punishing someone for calling college women "whores" - especially those who have beaten the odds and are role models for other back girls and women - is not a new step in political correctness. It's applying a very old American standard of fairness and decency, which now applies to all Americans, regardless of race or gender. This was the voice of mainstream America speaking. It's not what it once was. I wonder whether many of Imus's buddies realize that yet."

 

[charles123]

How does this effect Dallas talk radio??

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

It won't. Mark will continue on,Ernie and Jay will imitate Mark. WE are not NYC,and Mark doesn't have near enough affiliates as Imus did,so Bigoted Sharpton is not interested.
I am hearing "company lines". "It's not the way it's not the way it was in the 70's". They are right ot an extent,there is more lewdness, more racial jokes than ever before,yet one man borrows the use of another ones slang words fro mtheir culture and he is labeled a racist. Words used everyday in conversation, recorded music,and interaction with others in the culture of the accusers. So if its a new rule ,will Chris Rock,or Whoopi Goldberg be caled racists,if they continue to call George Bush "The dumb idiot honkey in the WHITE House"? Btw Whoopi did say that on her show a month ago. Is there anyone calling her a racist,and demanding she be fired?
Sharpton never retreated on his Duke Students statements on his show or the Twanna rape case a few years back and apologized.. So only White people have the ability to rape?
There had better be a "come to Jesus meeting" on this soon with a lot of folks who use derogatory names,defame females,utter racial comments ,jokes and make a living out of it,plus the music exploiting it.
It's a powder keg. The fuse is picking up the pace and burning rapidly.

 

[bdabagia]

Imus is a legend in the radio industry and has been since the early 60s. The most ironic thing to me is that he's been insulting people of all races, nationalities and sexual preferences for years. I guess this is the first one that had such vocal and active advocates. The irony is that the comment he got fired for is small potatoes compared to some of the things he's said over the decades.

What really pisses me off about the whole thing is how the CBS suits are assuredly sitting around congratulating themselves on how well they handled the whole situation. You know each and every member of that tribe actually agrees with what Imus said, but too many people were offended -- and, most importantly, sponsors were leaving his show in droves. Also, among conservatives, everyone who's anyone on the East Coast is either a fan of Imus' show or a regular guest. So all at once they managed to get one over on the Right, save some face, and pacify the Jackson/Sharpton contigent who scared MSNBC, Staples, American Express, and all the rest off the Imus show.

I just can't wait for this cultural revolution to get over, so we can get past the race problem. Why is it that whenever there's a dispute between people of different colors, the only issue anyone can focus on is race? To me, it's not a matter of skin color, but of skin THICKNESS. If only everybody would stop being so sensitive about every slight, real or perceived, we might actually get something done. Did you hear the Rutgers players saying that what Imus said ruined their season? They were in the women's Final Four, for cryin' out loud! Every team should have such a lousy year.

More irony: this is the most attention that's EVER been paid to women's basketball.

Political correctness is the scourge of this country. Imus made a mistake, so Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are stirring things up with their tirades and their poems. Now Imus will retire to his ranch in New Mexico (where for years he's hosted inner-city kids of all races), and probably consider himself lucky to be rid of CBS. Meanwhile, does Letterman have him on one last time or does Imus tell EVERYONE at CBS to go to hell? My guess is that he'll do one late-night talk show (probably Leno on NBC) and then ride off into the sunset with both middle fingers raised. He'll be missed.