Rico Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,...09490-4,00.html Imus argued repeatedly that his critics should consider the "context" of his larger life, including the formidable work for sick children he does through his Imus Ranch charity. But it's not Imus Ranch he broadcasts from 20 hours a week. You can't totally separate the lives of celebrities from their work — it didn't excuse Gibson that he attacked the Jews in his free time — but finally what determines who can make what jokes is the context of their work: the tone of their acts, the personas they present, the vehicles they create for their work. That context is not as kind to Imus. He comes out of the shock jock tradition, but all shock jocks are not created equal. If Opie & Anthony or Mancow had made the "nappy-headed" comment, it wouldn't have been a blip because future Presidents do not do cable-news interviews with Opie & Anthony and Mancow. Then there's personality, or at least persona. Compared with Imus, for instance, his rival Howard Stern may be offensive, but he's also self-deprecating, making fun of his own satyrism, looks and even manly endowment. Imus doesn't take it nearly as well as he dishes it out. His shtick is all cowboy-hatted swagger, and his insults set him up as superior to his targets and the alpha dog to his supplicant guests. Imus uses jokes to establish his power, in other words. He's hardly the only humorist to do that. But making jokes about difference — race, gender, sexual orientation, the whole list — is ultimately about power. You need to purchase the right to do it through some form of vulnerability, especially if you happen to be a rich, famous white man. But the I-Man — his radio persona, anyway — is not about vulnerability. (The nickname, for Pete's sake: I, Man!) That's creepy enough when he's having a big-name columnist kiss his ring; when he hurled his tinfoil thunderbolts at a team of college kids, it was too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erynthered Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 what makes the situation all the more absurd is where do these self-righteous people think the 85 year old Imus came up with the word "Ho"? The Harvard Faculty Club? Nice. I just heard on the radio, CBS radio has fired Imus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sketch Soland Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 BINGO!!!!Imus isn’t the real bad guy Instead of wasting time on irrelevant shock jock, black leaders need to be fighting a growing gangster culture. By JASON WHITLOCK Columnist Pretty much spot on. Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennesseeboy Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 Nice. I just heard on the radio, CBS radio has fired Imus. Pretty much inevitable. There is no way he could continue with his show with all of the celeb interviewees boycotting. Further, he would be pretty much muzzled. Better to resign or be fired and suffer a quick death rather than drag this whole thing on for three or four weeks. Hope I man gets his act together and finds some peace in his meeting with the ladies he insulted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 I just heard on the radio, CBS radio has fired Imus. Excellent, Stern predicted he would never return... Monday's show will be classic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornerville Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 Excellent, Stern predicted he would never return... Monday's show will be classic! Stern: Dumbing down America one listener at a time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 Stern: Dumbing down America one listener at a timeSpeaking of dumbing down America, who's the next political douchebag pundit to get crushed? Bill Maher would be great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ESPeculatioN Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 Nice. I just heard on the radio, CBS radio has fired Imus. Score a big 1 for censorship in America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albany,n.y. Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 BINGO!!!!Imus isn’t the real bad guy Instead of wasting time on irrelevant shock jock, black leaders need to be fighting a growing gangster culture. By JASON WHITLOCK Columnist Has he suggested in any way that it’s cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and a parent? http://www.kansascity.com/159/story/66339.html No, that was Willis "there's nothing to do in Buffalo so I have to go home to Miami and knock up three women" McGahee who has suggested it's cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and a parent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 Then there's personality, or at least persona. Compared with Imus, for instance, his rival Howard Stern may be offensive, but he's also self-deprecating, making fun of his own satyrism, looks and even manly endowment. Imus doesn't take it nearly as well as he dishes it out. His shtick is all cowboy-hatted swagger, and his insults set him up as superior to his targets and the alpha dog to his supplicant guests. Has this guy even listened to Imus's show to make this claim? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckeyemike Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 Yahoo has confirmed Imus has been fired. He did say an incredibly dumb and insensitive thing. But the analysis of this has been done to death, so I won't add my two cents here. I'm not the right race or political persuasion, so nobody in the media cares what I have to say anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RkFast Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 Yahoo has confirmed Imus has been fired. He did say an incredibly dumb and insensitive thing. But the analysis of this has been done to death, so I won't add my two cents here. I'm not the right race or political persuasion, so nobody in the media cares what I have to say anyway. Meanwhile, Steve Harvey or someone of his genre will have some bit poking fun of "whitey" within a week. Bank it. !@#$ed up world we live in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 Meanwhile, Steve Harvey or someone of his genre will have some bit poking fun of "whitey" within a week. That is not the issue, and Steve Harvey probably won't be doing that. But Steve can comment on all the years that he hosted Showtime at the Apollo, when Sandman Simms ushered booted performers off the stage and evoking perhaps the ugliest stereotypes of blacks in the vaudeville era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 Excellent, Stern predicted he would never return... Monday's show will be classic! I just got my sirius radio earlier this week. Is Howard off on Friday's?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmac17 Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 Has this guy even listened to Imus's show to make this claim? seems pretty dead on to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1billsfan Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 I found this column very interesting. What's more harmfull to African-American women, Imus or the Hip Hop culture which celebrates it's derogatory terms against them? Imus vs. the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks Chart http://michellemalkin.com/archives/007286.htm Aren't these videos shown on Black Entertainment Television (BET)? If Shaprton and Jackson are truly outraged then why hasn't there been a boycott of these record companies, BET and it's advertisers until all of the objectionable material is completely removed? This is both the height of hypocrisy and the another step on the slippery slope of censorship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 I just got my sirius radio earlier this week. Is Howard off on Friday's??Yeah, they play MasterTape theater instead... 4-day weeks are pretty sweet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 seems pretty dead on to me. Yeah, Howard is good at taking shots at himself, but have you heard Robin, Fred or Artie take regular shots at Stern? I don't think so. But while Imus doesn't do the self-deprecating schtick, he lets Bernie & Charles do it. To say that Imus doesn't take insults is ridiculous, as he was the pun of daily jokes about his turkey neck, age, hair, clothes, etc. from his cast & guests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 Yeah, Howard is good at taking shots at himself, but have you heard Robin, Fred or Artie take regular shots at Stern? Hell no, they were too busy kissing his ass. It was pretty pathetic actually. I have not missed a second of him since he moved to Sirius. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 And as always, this is moving beyond Imus and into the realm of hypocrisy that is the bedrock of people in newsentainment. Did Keith Olberman express his outrage over Imus two weeks ago, when Imus was pimping Countdown on a daily basis? Not only that, but Keith Olberman (and everyone else) didn't say boo about this for the first three days after Imus made the comment. It wasn't until Sharpton pushed the story onto Page 1 that everyone else suddenly became 'concerned' with the 'unacceptable' comments. Anyone familiar with Imus knows the mode that he was in when he made the comment. It wasn't intended as a viscous personal attack, rather he and his crew were being silly and rifting off the news like they do everyday. "'ho" is barely an insult anymore given the popular vernacular. The entire episode is a gross overreaction and one our country should be ashamed of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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