Don't Buy the Hype
It's obvious to me and to most free-thinking individuals that the Don Imus controversy is a load of hype and garbage. Whenever I see a media storm like this I start wondering what they're diverting my attention from. When they are trying to make an issue out of something that isn't really an issue at all, then you know that something foul is afoot.
Okay so here's my theory, which interweaves three premises into a rather obvious conclusion.
Premise #1: Al Sharpton protests all the damn time and nothing happens as a result. He's as much a joke to the corporate community as he is to the political community, perhaps even more so. CBS and MSNBC could have easily waited out the "crisis," and everyone would have forgotten within a few weeks. No problem. Just look at the Amadou Diallo case. Sharpton protested that and many others but no fitting punishments resulted.
Premise #2: There are rascists all over the radio and TV. I present exhibit A--
These people say racist statements all the time with no serious uproar or negative consequences. Where is the outrage over their venomous tongues? Okay, but I'm not mad at Sharpton, neccessarily. He picks and chooses his battles like every activist, but why did corporate America open its doors to him this time and give him free reign?
Okay, so here's my final premise which may seem a bit sketchy and don't mean to offend anyone.
Premise #3:
What Don Imus said was offensive, I suppose, but not particularly despicable, like many of the things said by the gentlemen mentioned above. To be honest, it was more of a sexist comment than it was a rascist remark. So it was hurtful to the girls on the team, but did they really think it was necessary to blow it up like this, or was this just a whole lot of attention and excitement in their lives that they aren't used to and decided to go with the flow. I can't imagine getting that upset over a bad joke. Honestly, Imus may be old skool, he may have some bigotted presuppositions lodged in the back of his mind, but he really wasn't trying to be hurtful like many of those mentioned above. He's just stupid. This brings me back to my second premise. Don Imus was not fired for making racist comments, and I personally doubt that Al Sharpton watches Don Imus, so he had to be tipped off. Corporate america, specifically Big Media, was open to this particular outrage simply because they needed an excuse to get rid of Imus. I present exhibit B--
Have I made my point clear. As mad as we may be at Imus for his offensive comments let's keep in mind that his bosses are goading us to ask for his removal, that way they can do it without Amy Goodman coming on to complain. Do you remember what happened to Donahue? He had the most popular show on MSNBC prior to the beginning of the Iraq war, but was critical of the war. For every peace voice he brought on, he was forced to bring on twice that many pro-war voices. This was all during their attempt to OUTFOX Fox, which failed. And Donahue was fired. I present my final piece of footage for your consideration:
Okay so here's my theory, which interweaves three premises into a rather obvious conclusion.
Premise #1: Al Sharpton protests all the damn time and nothing happens as a result. He's as much a joke to the corporate community as he is to the political community, perhaps even more so. CBS and MSNBC could have easily waited out the "crisis," and everyone would have forgotten within a few weeks. No problem. Just look at the Amadou Diallo case. Sharpton protested that and many others but no fitting punishments resulted.
Premise #2: There are rascists all over the radio and TV. I present exhibit A--
These people say racist statements all the time with no serious uproar or negative consequences. Where is the outrage over their venomous tongues? Okay, but I'm not mad at Sharpton, neccessarily. He picks and chooses his battles like every activist, but why did corporate America open its doors to him this time and give him free reign?
Okay, so here's my final premise which may seem a bit sketchy and don't mean to offend anyone.
Premise #3:
What Don Imus said was offensive, I suppose, but not particularly despicable, like many of the things said by the gentlemen mentioned above. To be honest, it was more of a sexist comment than it was a rascist remark. So it was hurtful to the girls on the team, but did they really think it was necessary to blow it up like this, or was this just a whole lot of attention and excitement in their lives that they aren't used to and decided to go with the flow. I can't imagine getting that upset over a bad joke. Honestly, Imus may be old skool, he may have some bigotted presuppositions lodged in the back of his mind, but he really wasn't trying to be hurtful like many of those mentioned above. He's just stupid. This brings me back to my second premise. Don Imus was not fired for making racist comments, and I personally doubt that Al Sharpton watches Don Imus, so he had to be tipped off. Corporate america, specifically Big Media, was open to this particular outrage simply because they needed an excuse to get rid of Imus. I present exhibit B--
Have I made my point clear. As mad as we may be at Imus for his offensive comments let's keep in mind that his bosses are goading us to ask for his removal, that way they can do it without Amy Goodman coming on to complain. Do you remember what happened to Donahue? He had the most popular show on MSNBC prior to the beginning of the Iraq war, but was critical of the war. For every peace voice he brought on, he was forced to bring on twice that many pro-war voices. This was all during their attempt to OUTFOX Fox, which failed. And Donahue was fired. I present my final piece of footage for your consideration: