One of the more egregious things I've heard said about Imus' firing was that it was a violation of free speech. What Imus had was not free speech, he had compensated speech, he was paid to say things. His employers are in the "saying things" business and as such are in control of what they want said. They, finally, didn't like what they were paying him for, so they quit paying him for it. I'll leave the why of it to others.
Regardless of where or how you say things (or write them) there are consequences of speech, the consequences can be good - I have an audience - it's a well mannered one -I'm proud to have. Sometimes the consequences aren't so hot - Imus. Sometimes the consequences aren't enacted or are delayed - Sharpton. Imus got to pay, now I'm calling for some consequences for "The Rev," he's used race and racism to unjustifiably attack people and even instigate violence, unjustifiably, so it's time he doesn't get to play the "outraged victim." His crap differs from Imus' by exactly two factors - he's black and he hasn't apologized. There is another set of differences, he's been sued for it and lost and as far as I know, nobody has died because of Imus' speech. I've already complained to the networks about holding Sharpton up as a paragon, maybe they didn't hear it enough.
Be under not illusions, if it had been my decision, I'd have warned Imus some time ago to fix his stuff or he'd be gone, this time would've taken me about 5 minutes to figure out how to say, "Get lost." President Bush has earned the appellations of George II and BushCo that I hang on him, he earned them through actions and general behaviors and those were entirely voluntary, not a matter of sex or race. The news media seems to be composed of twits who can't remember anything or research anything regarding a "black spokesman."
I don't do PC, I also don't try to be gratuitously rude. Remember that I'm a hard core lefty who owns and shoots guns and dragraces and defends labor from illegal hiring. I would be an odd representative for PC. If somebody tries to run Imus at you as PC run amok or a free speech issue, I've given you some ammo, not to mention an example of anti-PC that isn't rude.
You're a heck of an audience, you make this exercise in free speech enjoyable.
2 comments:
The truth is: I never liked nor listened to Imus..what he said was terrible. Compared to Liddy, Buchanan,Limbaugh, and of the religious righties it was in the same league. You're right about Rice, a liar and shrill shill of the Rove order of deceit and hubris.Can you believe Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson hypocritically calling out Imus? These racist bums are so unbelievable even their own ilk don't trust them. Jackson got rich flim-flaming the blacks and Al has used the system quite well for himself. The dimmos should never hold these two bums up as good examples.
I don't believe I've ever heard 10 minutes of Don Imus, I almost never listen to talk radio. During the day it's music for building, nobody has time or concentration for talk, old rock & blues keep it going.
Sharpton & Jackson may have their place in the "dialogue of race," but never as arbiters of correct speech. Prejudice is nonsensical, it makes judgements in absence of facts.
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