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Imus' Statements As They Were Spoken

Monk-Eye

Dream Walker
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"Imus' Statements As They Were Spoken"

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF9BjB7Bzr0[/YOUTUBE]

First, who had not seen the footage until after he was fired?

Was the public whisped away to quaranteen, sheltered from the supposed horrendous, unrepeatable, unareviewable, unairable, scandallous, hate filled, fighting level insults?

In listening to the actual comments in context, how bad are they? Are the comments in their context enough to provoke his firing?

He said the Rutgers players had tatoos and looked rough, and that the Tennessee players looked nice.
That does not imply he finds blacks females unattractive as there are blacks on the Tennesee team.
They joked about Spike Lee movies as though they had seen them.

Here is the latest -
Condaleez Rice calls Imus' on-air slur 'disgusting'

Do you think she even saw the video? Or is she acting like ever other bobble head harumph? harumph?
 
Monk-Eye said:
He said the Rutgers players had tatoos and looked rough, and that the Tennessee players looked nice. That does not imply he finds blacks females unattractive as there are blacks on the Tennesee team.
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Candace Parker, the star of the Tennessee team, played her high school hoops in my US hometown of Naperville. She is extremely tall (I'm 6' and she towers way over me) and quite attractive.

While the comments of Imus were unnecessary and uncalled for, I think his firing is a bit over the top. But media executives respond to program sponsors who in turn respond to threatened consumer boycots of their products. In addition, no one plays the racial card with more gusto than the Reverand Al Sharpton.
 
Tashah said:
no one plays the racial card with more gusto than the Reverand Al Sharpton.
Click to expand...



Just to remind folks who we're dealing with here.....

When Tawana's mother was subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury and failed to do so, a warrant for her arrest was issued; Maddox, Mason and Sharpton took her to the Ebenezer Baptist Church in New York City and organized a rally, hoping (in vain) that the authorities would force their way into the church and seize her. Two of Sharpton's associates quit, claiming the reverend had known all along that the case was a hoax. <snip>

29. The Tawana Brawley Hoax

You can put a P.O.S. in a suit and give him a James Brown haircut and all you have created is a polished turd.

Say it loud indeed. :roll:
 
Monk-Eye said:
In listening to the actual comments in context, how bad are they? Are the comments in their context enough to provoke his firing?
Click to expand...

That's a question to ask those who pay his paycheck, and it ain't the stations or the media outlet that owns them. It's the advertisers. They felt they couldn't advertise on his show because of the firestorm, so they pulled their ads. That's capitalism and a free market media.

Rest assured, I'm positive Imus will find a new avenue, perhaps with another media conglomerate or perhaps on satellite. Ironically, or perversely depending on your view, this will probably increase his earning potential. Look at Howard Stern for a case study.

If you support his comments, support his views and believe his firing was unjust then there will undoubtedly be others that feel the same way. If it is a substantial audience for a market, then he will quickly find himself a new job. If not, he shouldn't have made those comments. We will see, but this is the First Amendment in all its glory, warts and all.
 
The real truth of the matter is that Imus was not, I repeat, was not fired for anything that he said. Imus was fired because advertisers didn't want to pay for ads airing during Imus's slot.

Imus had said similar things in the past. It just so happened that this instance captured attention and made advertisers nervous. That's why he was fired.

It's all about money.
 
niftydrifty said:
It's all about money.
Click to expand...

Nelly
Must Be The Money

 
@Captain America.....

I dont know the real motives for this guy's dismissal.... it was probably because of a multiple of things, not just what he said...but I do know one thing for sure:
It had nothing to do with rap music, which your post seems to imply!
 
I think the lines are blurry. Whereas, rap music must shoulder some responsibility for giving the green light to say certain things on our airways, (that is, unless you an old stupid white guy,:roll: ) it cannot be blamed totally.

Look around. Hear the message. Rap is cool. Be cool. Wear what rappers wear. Talk like rappers talk. I see so many goofy looking white kids trying to look ghetto when I pick my kid up from high school. :rofl They got their ball caps on sideways. They are holding their pants up with one hand and talking on the cell phone with the other. When they talk, they try their best to sound, well....you know.

Is it any surprise one might be a little blurry on what is and what is not appropriate to say these days? I mean, Chappelle said this last night, why can't I say it today?

It's a Tower of Babel.
 
Witness Testimony Versus Videotape

"Witness Testimony Versus Videotape"

After hearing the positive compliments on the appearance of the Tennessee team, pictures were sought to see if a valid distinction could be made. Pictures seemed to be scarce and eventually the search was surrendered. Candace Parker did make the public photo selections and she has a well formed appearance.

The issue, which continues to present itself, is few have witnessed the video first hand. All responses seem to have been enacted under the fervor of rumor and innuendo. When Michael Richards blew his top, the video was presented blatant and clear, noone was able to deny it.
Even in responses to this thread, few comments seem to indicate that the video was reviewed. Everyone is content to believe the sponsors should act like spineless weasels because nitwit natives acting on spooky information have donned freak masks, taken to rampage at the direction of a jigaboo witchdoctor, and require a scapegoat sacrifice to quell the frenzy of bugaboo spirits.

Blacks do not abandon their own, even when they are atrociously criminal, OJ is a prime example.

This is not a retaliatory plea, this is about a lack of validity in the accusations and standing legitimate ground.
 
I personaly come from both sides of the white\black, culture and can tell you ya....sometimes the lines of whats acceptable can get blurry. On the other hand what this guy said was really disrespectful and he knew what he was saying. He was not unsure of himself...I mean face it, this guy made a living being an idiot and crossing lines so to speak. So he was'nt "blurred" in any way.
That being said, I think all the attention to this topic is way out of whack! We should'nt be paying attention to Imus but instead to the people above him. The ones who paid his check.
Oh and for the record Sharpton and that other dick head dont speak for all black people.
 
My dad: "Imus didn't do anything wrong. These girls are in the public eye and as such they have to know that people are going to talk about them. It's hardly slander; rather, it's part of being a celebrity."

Me: "Okay, sure. Free speech means he can call them whatever. But it also means that they can RESPOND however they want. And so I don't see how it's fair to accuse them of overreacting. Everyone involved was within their rights. And besides, Imus knows that if he's going to be the moron that he is on radio, he's going to face consequences sometime. He's been doing this forever."

Dad and I had this argument over and over. He's such a bad arguer.
 
Ill Legitimacy

"Ill Legitimacy"
What he said? Did you listen to the video? It was trivialized language. Most of the derogatory source was from the person with which he was conversing. Imus appears coaxed and seemingly declines and diverts from the overextenuation.

The press left everything open to the imagination. One could assume an impression that he was announcing the game live and made the comments direct and in the face of Rutgers and Tennesee fans.

He used slang and lingo of common tongue, it noted an atomosphere of culture. Because a white guy says it, it is racist? It is his job to make social commentary and to create social awareness. First we pander to the FCC. Now we pander to intellectual dolts that cannot be made aware of their own dispositions. Hoes is offensive, and rather than introspection from black leaders, it put the blame in a strawman. After all, from their perspective, it is all the crackers fault.

The New York Times supposedly posted an indisputable picture that their appearance was unkept - nappy. The opinion was also derogatory about tatoos, the US military recently decided to enforce old codes. To many, tatoos on women are repugnant. A less sexist caraciture would have been trashy, or thugs.
 
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Re: Ill Legitimacy


I dont know if you read my post right??....or are you just looking for an argument. I never said he was a racist.....re-read my post, sit down and contemplate it and then come back with something better.
But if your looking for an argument...your barking up the wrong tree!
 
Forthright

"Forthright"
Part of the general accusation is that the comments were racist.
If you are not making the racism allegation, only that they were insensitive comments, then that is agreeable.
Still, I would like an affirmation that you witnessed the video and are not simply commenting on the public notations and perception. Maybe I am overlooking some inexcuseable flaw in his demeanor or personality. Maybe others take his role model stature more serious than I do.
 
Re: Forthright


I saw this video before and I never rely soley on what others think. Like I said before...I think the guys an idiot and should not of said what he said. It was'nt racist comments but they were definately prejudice. No I dont think he should keep his job but at the same time people should also be upset at his "upper aboves", they are the ones who are most at fault. He has had a history of making prejudice comments in the public realm...so they should of canned his *** a long time ago. They were just too busy looking at thier pocket book!
 
Re: Witness Testimony Versus Videotape


Wait a minute. The advertisers are in the business of selling products to consumers. If a media circus erupts over somebody that they sponsor, it can come back to bite them. Somebody influential, such as Sharpton or Jackson-and whether you agree with them or not they are most certainly influential-calling for a boycott can cause an immense amount of damage to a company's image. If that is damaged their bottom line will suffer.

Whether what Imus said was right or wrong, stupid or indifferent, the advertisers did what they had to do to protect their bottom line. I'm sure many shareholders and employees would differ with your assumption that they acted like spineless weasels.
 
Free Enterprise

"Free Enterprise"
Advertisers can be as spineless as they please.
Were the listeners ready to abandon the program?
Did the FCC slap them with a fine?
IMO, if the content had been openly available and discussed rather than constrained in focus to the few words out of context, the gravity of effect by Dullton and his localized group would have been minimal.
No boycott of sexist, degradation exists for Dullton as long as it is green on black.
 
Worldly

"Worldly"
College is still handled with kid gloves.
But your dad has a keen sense of fairness.
 
yes the comments were incredibly bad. the comments, regardless of context, were enough to provoke his firing. furthermore, this was not an isolated incident. Imus has had a long history of moronic incendiary inappropriate comments.

Howard Kurtz is a "boner-nosed, beanie-wearing Jew boy"

Amelie Mauresmo is "a big old lesbo"

Bill Rhoden is a "New York Times quota hire"

Gwen Ifill is "the cleaning lady"

"Talk" is a magazine for "liberal homosexuals"

the New York Knicks are "chest-bumping pimps"

All of these lines were uttered years ago. Imus wasn't fired soon enough. Imus should've never even had a show, let alone a career saying this crap.

 
Noncompliance

"Noncompliance"
niftydrifty said:
yes the comments were incredibly bad. the comments, regardless of context, were enough to provoke his firing.
Click to expand...
For all you comments, the one expectation was acknowledging words similar to, "I watched the video and found it to be <whatever>".

For the final opinion, to each his own.
I admit to having no familiarity with I'm Us' record.
I have learned that every MLK day he plays the entire "I have a dream" speech.

If there is more negative feedback than positive, so be it.
If someone changes their opinion, so be it.
But before entering an opinion, please acknowledge a viewing.
 
selective memory and/or reading comprehension

Monk-Eye said:
For all you comments, the one expectation was acknowledging words similar to, "I watched the video and found it to be <whatever>".
Click to expand...
cute. that expectation is curiously missing from the OP.

you did ask whom had watched it after he was fired. that's different.

I had watched it both before and after, so I weighed in.

why or how could I have an opinion about something I hadn't seen?

you need to read your OP again. I addressed these "expectations":

Monk-Eye said:
In listening to the actual comments in context, how bad are they? Are the comments in their context enough to provoke his firing?
Click to expand...
 
Out Of The Blue

"Out Of The Blue"


You did not begin your reply with this quote - http://www.debatepolitics.com/freed...statements-they-were-spoken-2.html#post536464.
Monk-Eye said:
In listening to the actual comments in context, how bad are they? Are the comments in their context enough to provoke his firing?
Click to expand...
Acknowledging the context for response when replying directly to the OP may not be essential but references certainly help after the thread is begun. :naughty
 
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Monk Eye said:
You did not begin your reply with this quote - http://www.debatepolitics.com/freedo...tml#post536464 (Imus' Statements As They Were Spoken).
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You're right. I didn't. But neither has anyone else.

:roll:

your ad hominem nitpicking is tedious, and pointless. I'd prefer to discuss the topic.

so how about some more quotes from the clown?

"My goal is to goad people into saying something that ruins their life."

"Watchin' Dan Rather do the news, he looks like he's making a hostage tape. They should have guys in ski masks and AK-47s just standing off to the side."

"William Cohen, the Mandingo deal."

"We all have 12-inch penises." (After being asked what he has in common with Nat Turner, Malcolm X, Minister Louis Farrakhan, Latrell Sprewell from the New York Knicks, and Al Sharpton.)


"I remember when I first had [the Blind Boys of Alabama] on a few years ago, how the Jewish management at whatever, whoever we work for, CBS, or whatever it is, were bitching at me about it. […] I tried to put it in terms that these money-grubbing bastards could understand."

"Old Kabuki's in a coma and the market's going up. […] How old is the boy? The battery's running down on that boy." (Reference to Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, who died the following week.)

"I didn't know that Allan Bloom was coming in from the back end." (The homosexuality of the author of The Closing of the American Mind became widely known when Saul Bellow published Ravelstein, a novel whose protagonist was based on Bloom, who by then was deceased.)

"Janet Reno's having a press conference. Ms. Reno, of course, has Parkinson's disease, has a noticeable tremor. […] I don't know how she gets that lipstick on (laughter) looking like a rodeo clown."
 
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Autistic Freedom

"Autistic Freedom"
niftydrifty said:
You're right. I didn't. But neither has anyone else. :roll
Click to expand...
:roll:
niftydrifty said:
your ad hominem nitpicking is tedious, and pointless.
Click to expand...
Seeking clarification is nitpicking? Do you rest on a golden comode?
niftydrifty said:
I'd prefer to discuss the topic.
Click to expand...
Why didn't you follow your own advice?
niftydrifty said:
so how about some more quotes from the clown?
"My goal is to goad people into saying something that ruins their life."
Click to expand...
:roll:
niftydrifty said:
"Watchin' Dan Rather do the news, he looks like he's making a hostage tape. They should have guys in ski masks and AK-47s just standing off to the side."
Click to expand...
:lol:
niftydrifty said:
"William Cohen, the Mandingo deal."
Click to expand...
Rude shock.Mandingo?

niftydrifty said:
"We all have 12-inch penises." (After being asked what he has in common with Nat Turner, Malcolm X, Minister Louis Farrakhan, Latrell Sprewell from the New York Knicks, and Al Sharpton.)
Click to expand...
:roll:
:shrug :roll
niftydrifty said:
"Old Kabuki's in a coma and the market's going up. […] How old is the boy? The battery's running down on that boy." (Reference to Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, who died the following week.)
Click to expand...
:roll
Kabuki :shrug :roll
niftydrifty said:
"Janet Reno's having a press conference. Ms. Reno, of course, has Parkinson's disease, has a noticeable tremor. […] I don't know how she gets that lipstick on (laughter) looking like a rodeo clown.
Click to expand...
hurtful to a political icon - Reno

These announcers are given the freedom of instantanous discretion.
Their commentaries are not subject to administrative prereview.
Given prejudices, imagination, day to day dispositions, issues are bound to arise. Their job is to entertain and attract audiences. The sponsors pander to the audiences. The audience expects personal flaws. They agree or disagree. They tune or tune out. The audience drives the sponsors not threats from impotent action groups.
 
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