Thursday, April 12, 2007

Nappy Headed Female Basketball Players Who Sell Sexual Services

I sincerely hope the media gets tired of kicking Don Imus. Folks, he's down and dead. Kicking him some more will only wear out your leg. This story, if in fact that is what it is has more momentum than the latest tsunami. Why?

To begin with, let me join the Greek Chorus in saying what he said was ridiculous, unfair and out of line. It was way over the line. Why did he say it? Only Imus knows and I doubt if he can explain it himself. Why all the attention? Because the Nicole Smith story had lost it's glimmer and Brad and Angelina are on vacation, or it was a slow news day in the entertainment world.

Imus, like many shock jocks, is a mixture of entertainment, social commentary and news. It isn't the service they bring to radio that is under criticism, it's the manner in which they serve. Most of these clowns conduct their business at the level of junior high school locker room humor. They punctuate their remarks with poddy humor and street slang to sound like that kid your mother didn't want you hanging around with and some people listen to them for that reason. I stretching the bounds of decency, some radio personalities not only pander to the worst instincts of their target audience, but they are rebelling against the bounds of common decency. Why? Just to see how far they can go and what they can get away with.

Imus has done this before. this kind of one-ups menship causes a fury for a time and than the fire goes out and we resume business as usual. The game has changed however. Recently an similar incident drove one of his competitors to satellite radio where there are no boundaries or rules. Maybe this is what Imus is angling for. If CBS were to fire him, he would be free to make millions and have no restrictions on what his small mind could come up with.

Imus is only responsible to two groups of people, his listeners and his sponsors. His sponsors have voted. They are leaving the show like beach dwellers recognizing the arrival of an oncoming storm. His listeners? We have to wait. He's going to serve out a two week suspension. The question will be, when he comes back will his listeners?

(Since I wrote this, Imus was dropped by both MSNBC and CBS. I'm betting Satellite radio is waiting in the wings.)

When all is said and done the righteous have had their say, Don will apologize and the fury will die sown. My question is what we would have done if Chris Rock had said what Imus said.

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