16
Nov
The Imus Enablers Are
Ba-a-a-ack!
It didn’t take long for the Don Imus enablers to re-emerge. Just months after the racist, sexist and homophobic shock jock was fired for his on-air characterization of the Rutgers University women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed ho’s” — and less than two weeks after Citadel Broadcasting announced his impending return to radio -– the Big Media and Big Politics elite are crawling out of the woodwork to embrace Imus all over again.
It’s no surprise that executives of major media corporations rushed to defend Imus by claiming, as did Citadel Broadcasting CEO Farid Suleman, “He’s more than paid the price for what he did.” After all, as recently noted in the New York Observer, “redemption and rehabilitation are secondary concerns” for Citadel. Phil Boyce, operations manager at the company’s flagship station WABC, spelled it out in stark terms, explaining, “Obviously, there are a couple of reasons to look at him, but the biggest reason is the revenue opportunity. There’s a lot of money to be made there. And we’re in the business of making money.”
But what excuses and explanations are being offered by the many leading journalists and politicians – some of whom distanced themselves from the self-styled “I-Man” in the wake of the Rutgers controversy – who now say they will once again appear on his program? No amount of high-toned talk about “guilt and redemption” and “second chances” can obscure the serial offenses of a man who made a career – and tens of millions of dollars – from repeatedly using hate speech against women, gays, minorities and foreigners in exchange for cheap laughs, hot controversy and higher ratings.
Consider, for example, the curious case of CNN political commentator James Carville, who had the temerity to compare the travails of Imus to those of his former boss Bill Clinton. “I think I’ve had some history of defending friends of mine that have been in uncomfortable circumstances,” Carville told the Observer. “I defend the speaker, not the speech. If there’s no redemption, what are we here for?” Dare I suggest that Carville – set to appear as a guest on Imus’ first day back, December 3 – is there for publicity, self-aggrandizement, access to the I-Man’s audience, and the benefit of the shock jock’s well-known ability to help sell books?
Sadly, Carville is not alone in his purportedly principled stance. In fact, many of Imus’ previous enablers from the corrupt nexus of politics and media are welcoming him back. Former Senator and presidential candidate Bob Kerrey, for example, recently gave Imus his own “Seal of approval” in an article in the New York Daily News.
Kerrey began by comparing Imus not to President Clinton but to “Freddie Krueger, the terrifying lead character in ‘Nightmare on Elm Street.’” To Kerrey, “as with Freddie, there is something about the I-Man that is scary but irresistible.” After urging fellow Democrats, particularly those running for president, to “sit down, chit chat and legitimize a man they once reviled as something close to a racist,” Kerrey went on to note, “I myself have appeared on Imus before and would welcome the chance to go on the show again.”
At least Kerrey was honest about his motivation for doing so: “As offensive as his remarks were about the Rutgers women’s basketball team… he will have a big and influential audience,” Kerrey said. Moreover, to Kerrey’s mind, “Imus adds a lot to the American political debate.” Apparently, epithets like “brillohead, dark meat, Mandingos, Uncle Ben, gooks, chinks, slanty-eyed bastards, queers, homos, ho’s, lesbos, gorillas, pimps, and knuckle-dragging” African-Americans are among these worthy contributions to our political discourse.
But Kerrey offered “another reason” he believes politicians shouldn’t boycott Imus. “If they keep away from the show all the way through next year, it could do real political damage, if not in votes lost, at least in courage points,” he says. “We can’t afford to start putting our interviewers through purity tests.” Instead, Democratic politicians should simply look the other way when confronted with the “impurity” of the I-Man’s transparent racism and trade their silent complicity for access to his audience of millions and their votes.
Kerrey’s exhortation aside, to date only one current Democratic presidential candidate has decided to return to the racist ranter’s airwaves. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will ignore Imus’ history of on-air racial blunders, since, in the words of his press secretary, Tom Reynolds, he “strongly believes this is a society of forgiveness and second chances, and that the radio host has paid his debt for his mistake.” On the Republican side, Rudy Giuliani is already on record as saying he would not boycott the shock jock, and Arizona Senator John McCain says he will return to Imus’ show, since he thinks the talker deserves –- here we go again — a second chance. “I believe in redemption, and I’ve made so many mistakes in my life and I’ve asked people to give me another opportunity,” McCain said. “What he did was unacceptable, but all of us in life, I think, ought to be able to move forward.”
In addition to Big Politics figures such as Kerrey, Richardson, Giuliani, McCain and Carville, other leading Imus enablers include such media luminaries as David Gregory, Andrea Mitchell and Tim Russert of NBC News. Russert recently told Aaron Barnhart of The Kansas City Star that he would return to the show, if his bosses at General Electric gave their permission. “If he asked me to come back and talk about political developments, I would absolutely do that,” Russert said. “But I guess I’ll have to check with the folks at NBC.”
Perhaps Russert’s corporate overlords will conveniently refuse permission. Here’s hoping they follow the lead of Newsweek, whose managing editor Jon Meacham, editor-at-large Evan Thomas, and columnists Jonathan Alter and Anna Quindlen were once Imus regulars as well. They got off the hook last week when a Newsweek spokesperson announced, “We will not participate in the Imus program.”
New York Times columnists Frank Rich and Maureen Dowd, along withTimes Book Review editor Sam Tanenhaus, also benefited in the past from their appearances with Imus. Given the tone of the apologia Rich penned for the Times last April in the wake of the ‘nappy headed ho’s’ affair, the odds seem good he will return to the program. In his column, Rich accurately included himself “Among the hypocrites surrounding Imus… I’ve been a guest on his show many times since he first invited me in the early 1990s, when I was a theater critic… As a book author, I could always use the publicity.” In exchange, Rich explained, he was willing to look the other way: “Of course I was aware of many of his obnoxious comments about minority groups, including my own, Jews.” Of course…
Times Book Review editor Tanenhaus — whose biography of Whittaker Chambers was praised by the I-Man — also wrote in The Times about his appearances on Imus in the Morning. In the article, entitled “Playing Along with Imus,” Tanenhaus mused about the “surprisingly muted signals from some of the most thoughtful people” - authors and journalists – “who have traveled in the curious orbit of the Imus in the Morning program.” In the wake of the Rutgers controversy, he wrote, “they are sifting through the complex issue of their own culpability and complicity.” Suddenly the Times man is having second thoughts. “The whole business felt a little heavy-handed to me.” Tanenhaus now says. “There was a lot of piling on. I was one of the piler-on-ers. I assume he’s a little chastened, a little chagrined. So let him start all over again. Why not? When I make my own inevitable disastrous screw-up, I hope someone gives me another chance.”
Other leading media figures set to return to the Imus airwaves include The New Yorker’s Ken Auletta, who really ought to know better, having written extensively about Imus and his transgressions in the past. “I said I wouldn’t go on at the time of the controversy,” Auletta now says. “But I wouldn’t make that same claim today. Because I think people deserve second chances. If you believe in rehabilitation, if you don’t believe in the death penalty, you believe that some people can be reformed and changed.”
Then there’s the curious case of leading media pundit Howard Kurtz of Washington Post and CNN ubiquity. Kurtz is on record as saying, “I don’t believe (as a regular listener and very occasional guest on the program) that Imus is in any way racist. He sometimes crosses the line, as he himself would admit, in trying to make people laugh, but it’s all shtick. He’s no bigot.” No bigot? Judge for yourself, from Imus’ own description of Kurtz as a “boner-nosed… beanie-wearing Jewboy.”
Why would Kurtz put up with such bile? Perhaps it’s because, as Auletta noted in his New Yorker article, (quoting a top Simon and Schuster executive,) Imus is “the second most powerful person in the country in terms of selling books.” The publisher specifically credited the shock jock with boosting his company’s print order for Kurtz’s book “Spin Cycle” from twenty-five thousand copies to two hundred thousand. The motivation for Kurtz’ acceptance was perhaps best explicated by the novelist, Newsweek and onetime New York Times columnist Anna Quindlen, who when speaking of the market power of Imus, told Auletta, “All you need do is hear him wax poetic about your book and you say, ‘Hell, I’d buy that book.’” As Auletta concluded, “Five mornings a week, from five-thirty to ten, Imus in the Morning takes care of his ‘guys’—promoting their books, their columns, and their lives to more than ten million listeners.” The payback? “The program generates nearly half of the fifty million dollars a year in revenue which WFAN contributes to its corporate parent, CBS Radio.”
Besides book sales, there are other reasons bigwigs continue to enable Imus. Another Imus regular, ex-CNN political analyst Jeff Greenfield (now of CBS News) told Auletta, “For a lot of people, going on Imus is a way for them to be a different person.” Greenfield told Auletta he often got more comments for his Imus appearances than for his own television work. “People who talk to Imus are selling themselves as personalities, far removed from, say, the confines of a scripted newscast,” Auletta explained. “The television anchors Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather are regulars; another is Mike Wallace, of 60 Minutes, who says, ‘You get to feel like you’re a member of his club.’” Wallace in particular should have known better than to join the club; he had exposed on 60 Minutes Imus’ use of the word “nigger” just a year before speaking with Auletta. (Wallace interviewed an ex-producer who quoted Imus as saying he had hired staff member Bernard McGuirk “to do nigger jokes.” Imus responded that the conversation with the producer had been “off-the-record.”)
Saddest of all, however, is hearing that the estimable Clarence Page has decided he too will return to the Imus airwaves. Page, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Chicago Tribune who happens to be African-American, once encouraged Imus to take an on-air pledge to stop his racist behavior and, among other things, “cease all simian references to black athletes.” Forswearing his minstrel show, Imus and Andy parodies, the I-Man promised Page, “I’ll do the best I can with your pledge and rein in these renegades, okay?” Now, despite the many transgressions of the 2001 on-air pledge, Page now says he too will let bygones be bygones. “You make a martyr out of him,” Page told the Observer. “It’s not worth it. He’s not worth it.” No word yet on whether Gwen Ifill, another African-American journalist whom Imus once referred to on air as a “cleaning lady,” will join Page on the program…
Why can’t we all just “lighten up” and “move on,” you may ask… Stop being so “politically correct” and “humorless,” you may complain. If you don’t like what you hear, just “change the station” and “stop listening,” you may advise. After all, everyone who’s anyone is happy the I-Man is back. Citadel Broadcasting stands to make lots of money. Publishers will still be able to move lots of books by using the Imus show to give a platform to authors. (“I don’t think he’ll miss a beat,” Seale Ballenger, a publicist at William Morrow, said. “I think his show will pick up right where he left off, and I think it’ll be just as important as it was in its previous incarnation.”) Sponsors will still be able to sell lots of products they advertise there. Impressive guests will return for expressive conversations, and listeners and our very democratic system will benefit greatly, no doubt…
One problem: it’s all wrapped around the most vile sort of dehumanizing hate speech, repeated ad nauseum over literally decades. As far back as the turn of the century, the TomPaine.com website chronicled “the sewage spewing from Imus’ microphone” in a series of articles by Philip Nobile and others that reached back into programs that aired years before. The website also purchased a prominent op-ed page advertisement in the New York Times and even bought time on Imus’ show to raise the issue. Nobile also laid it out in an article for the Columbia Journalism Review entitled, “In the Kingdom of Imus, the Courtiers Are Quiet.”
Now the courtiers have returned, and as TomPaine.com executive editor Isaiah J. Poole wrote in the wake of the “nappy-headed ho’s” affair, “A lot of people who consider themselves reputable—both Democratic and Republican politicians, political consultants, journalists and pundits—have shacked up in this seedy AM radio motel as if it were a five-star forum for serious political discourse. They knew better, as did the advertisers who bankrolled this enterprise and the networks that broadcast it. They have no one to blame but themselves for the soil on their own images as a result, and for whatever consequences they face if they go back in.”
Imus is a performer. Satire is his “tool of trade”, using wit, irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, to expose, denounce, or deride vice, folly, etc.
ChanX
“irony is wasted on the stupid” Jonathan Swift
Hip-Hop response
November 16th, 2007 at 12:18 pmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-snG4KCwtg
Perhaps we need a African-American shock jock to stop this Imus trash. Somebody who will broadcast all of the dirty little white cracker jokes spoken in private among blacks. You know, if you can’t beat’um, join’um. Perhaps getting some of this trash thrown back at them will open their eyes to how hurtful and vile it is.
November 16th, 2007 at 12:47 pmFirst off, there is no such thing as different races, we are all part of the human race. Race identity and the politics that go with it have poisoned the well of social discourse in the United States. We are all far too sensitive and need to take Imus with a grain of salt. He’s an equal opportunity offender and if anyone would like to repudiate Imus they should do so in a humorous manner in much the same way Imus does. As someone who started listening to Imus when I was 9 years old, I grew up with him and personally don’t think he’s a racist or full of hatred like those talentless cretins, Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage. Long live the glorious proletariat, the Naked Gun movies and Don Imus! Vlast Naroda!
November 16th, 2007 at 1:55 pmI am glad Imus in the Morning is back. The enablers you mention have much to add to the dialog of the Nation.
I would just love to hear an African American Shock Jock make jokes about the White folk’. It would be hilarious. I am a Causcasian and don’t mind satire about my race. But I don'’t think you will find one unless they have to use the “N” word and “F” word. That is the problem with the Black comedians. Some white ones too. But Imus never used those words.
So as Imus re-emerges in the Political season the voice of reason will bring the “REAL NEWS”, not the make believe news you hear at 6PM everynight.
Bring it on. We the I-Nation love the man and he is our leader. Hillary can kiss her butt good bye.
November 16th, 2007 at 3:18 pmWelcome back Don Imus, we have supported you and sent e-mails of support from TN every since the unfortunate cancellation of your from TV and radio. Carol and Bill support you and welcome you back I-man.
Thank you.
November 16th, 2007 at 4:18 pmCarol and Bill in TN
Imus said something very stupid which he admitted and apologized for doing. I was watching that morning and I can’t say I was appalled because I expect occasionally dumb things to be said by “shock jocks.” Imus seemed to be in a pre-caffeinated fog and blithely repeated what his producer, Charles said with a slight embellishment. It was without doubt a racist remark though I have listened and watched enough Imus to know that I do not believe him to be a racist at heart. I BELIEVE the reason that Imus got drummed off the air had little to do with his remark but more to do with the fact that the Fascist right wing in this country wanted him off because in redneckville Imus was the single most important and vocal OPPONENT of the war in Iraq that can reach that market. So, basically, the Fascists let the simpletons on the left do their executing for them based on knee-jerk political correctness when it’s something they couldn’t have achieved themselves.
November 16th, 2007 at 4:20 pmGet a grip - The guy is funny, not to mention very generous.
November 16th, 2007 at 4:27 pmImus is too liberal.
November 16th, 2007 at 4:35 pmCan’t wait until December 3rd. Imus is not racist. He said something stupid. That’s all. End of story.
November 16th, 2007 at 7:54 pmTo Gjoh: I hear black comedians make fun of white people all of the time. If I think it’s funny, fine - if not, I’ll turn the dial. You are welcome to do the same.
November 16th, 2007 at 8:20 pmGod, it is soooooooooo simple, if you don’t like Imus, don’t watch or listen! I love Imus, his show, his cast, everything! I can’t stand Limbaugh, O’Reilly, or Sean Hannity, no big deal, I don’t watch or listen to them, see how easy it is? There are literally hundreds of TV/Radio choices out there, pick one, and let Imus and his followers alone!
November 16th, 2007 at 8:26 pmYou are right about one thing — We Imus Enablers ARE Back!!! And, guess what — there are lots and lots of us, we are mad at the silly, hypocritic ‘mock outrage’ spewed by you and so many like you.
We plan to “enable” Imus to continue to be the most intelligent, fiercely independent, and talented interviewer on any media outlet, bar none.
Welcome back Imus — you have been sorely missed.
November 16th, 2007 at 9:17 pmNot an Imus fan. It’s sad that rudeness and crude language are nowadays seen as somehow more real and authentic than regular (un-hateful) communication. Any money says all these others (pro-Imus)responders are predominantly STRAIGHT WHITE MEN. (Who, incidentally, are rarely maligned!) Are there any women, GLBT people or people of color who are happy to have this individual back on the air ? No- I won’t listen to his show- but it’s a pity that people seem to enjoy callous and hateful remarks. What a waste.
November 17th, 2007 at 1:32 amHey whatever, I’m an African-American female who listened to Imus EVERY morning! Don’t try to speak for me! FREE IMUS! Can’t wait ’till December 3rd!
November 17th, 2007 at 4:36 amI am no fan of Don Imus and i think what he said is absolutely offensive and demeaning and hateful. However, he did apologize and was punished. Senator Robert Byrd used to be a member of the KKK. Has anyone suggested he not be allowed to be senator? Of course not, he has more than made up for his past.
November 17th, 2007 at 9:17 amAre you as outraged by the enablers of rappers and rap moguls such as Russell Simmons, Snoop Dog, etal., BET and music execs who have accumulated billions of dollars by denigrating the women of their own community? Did they apologize to the women of their community, or did I miss something? I’m still waiting for Sharpton to organize a boycott of the advertisers who sponsor misogynistic videos on BET and rap lyrics on the radio’s public airwaves. “Protests” and “marches” now and again will not suffice, nor will “recommendations” by Russell Simmons to refrain from such language. Why don’t you demand the immediate firing of these rappers and executives? Why don’t you shut down Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock and other comedians? Why don’t you demand the firing of Isiah Thomas? The self-righteous holier than thou hypocrisy is staggering!
Political correctness to the left is what sexual puratinism is to the right. Those who decry pornograhy the loudest are usually the ones who enjoy it the most in private. The same may be said about the Imus critics — they probably enjoyed his “offensive” humor in private just was we, the fans, enjoyed it shamelessly.
Proud to be an Imus enabler! Hope he has not learned his lesson, and that he’ll pick up where he left off…
November 17th, 2007 at 9:48 amHey Whatever: I am a Jewish, liberal feminist from the pre-political correct era who was never insulted by “sexist” or ethnick jokes. Rather, I laughted right along with the show. And there are many other avid female listeners of the show were never insulted — check out the Imus fans sites. The feminists of yesteryear propelled us to positions of unimagined strength and power. But, thanks to the new generation of NOW and its PC cohorts, today’s generation has transformed us into whining victims in need of protection, lacking the spine to laugh at ourselves and laugh off and to dish it right back. Perhaps that explains Justice Kennedy on the Supreme Court when he wrote that women need to be protected from themselves because they don’t always realize the consequences of their actions. Where was NOW on this issue? This is how “untold” numbers of women are hurt because of actual legal policy, not because some idiot on the radio makes a stupid joke.
November 17th, 2007 at 9:57 amThe one truth which comes out in almost all the blogs is that Imus is an idiot and makes stupid jokes. Unfortunately, I think some people think he is a serious commentator.
November 17th, 2007 at 11:05 amImus is no idiot but you people who want to give him another chance and enable his atrocious behavior are. Words don’t mean anything to people like you. Our president gives words whatever meaning he wants them to have and then shoves them down your throat. Imus is even bolder; he uses the accepted definition of words to cut and tear at those he chooses to demean and you idiots not only allow it you encourage it. Outrageous and pitiful from Imus and from you !
November 17th, 2007 at 11:13 amI am not a fan of Don Imus..but in all fairness what he said about the Black basketbal players was not nearly as important or heart-wrenching as what the current administration, Judicial and the Cogress are doing to the whole country…can we just focus on the rally big stuff, the live changing politics of our Constitution,that are being played out, right in our own country, FIRST..! And after we have fixed some of the major issues..then we can worry about trivial “he said-she said” stuff
November 17th, 2007 at 12:33 pmANOTHER “second chance”?
November 18th, 2007 at 8:58 amSure, why not/ Imus and his fellow slugs enable each other. His fellow millionaire celeberty “journalist” pimps and whores,political”representatives” of the people, all club members get continuos second chances to lie, demean, cheat, and generally undermine us all for fame and fortune.
It’s called US DemocracyCapitalism.
Symbolic of these constant second chances for the elite is as Administration spokespersons say when asked about the illegal attack(s) and invasion(s)/occupation(s) by US: “That’s Old News, Lets’ Just ‘Move On’…”
The murderers claim killings just completed are “Old News” and therefore irrelevant…
All the current appologists set the tone and justifications for the path this country is on.
I wear my “I miss Imus T shirt often and usually get positive comments about it.
The juvenile, “locker room” humor often gets old, however, the indepth discussions with persons of knowledge is very enlightening.
Besides as a lifelong Dem. I don’t want Jesse and Al tell me who I can watch or listen to.
Has the turncoal Harold Ford decided to return to the Imus show?
November 18th, 2007 at 2:11 pmRutgers has had the best recruiting they have ever had…I think Imus did them a favor.
http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNjUmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcyMjM0NDImeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2
“…Stringer, already a Hall of Fame coach with the unique distinction of taking three different programs to the Final Four, signed her most heralded recruiting class ever, turning national letter of intent signing day into a coup for the State University of New Jersey. Stringer has recruited well before, and has three All-America candidates on her current roster in Essence Carson, Matee Ajavon and Kia Vaughn….”
November 19th, 2007 at 5:29 pmI HAVE VIDEO OF IMUS USING THE N WORD
November 20th, 2007 at 7:06 pmSEVERAL TIMES WHILE HE WAS A DJ ON WNBC
RADIO.
I agree with karen above.
He’s coming back with a bigger and better show than ever. Maybe some of you will want to listen/watch. He will be on WABC and RFD-TV 6-9 a.m. every morning beginning December 3, 2007. That’s a done deal. You can either watch or you can NOT watch. Your choice.
November 21st, 2007 at 8:42 am“Any money says all these others (pro-Imus)responders are predominantly STRAIGHT WHITE MEN”
You have GOT TO BE KIDDING? Imus has many, many female fans. And we are strong for the I-man. You need to check out any of the Imus fan sites.
We are going to enable him, we are going to support him, we are going to buy the products he is selling. So it will be smart money to sponsor his program.
November 21st, 2007 at 8:49 amlistened to imus for 10 years on msnbc; he really made me mad sometimes, but i came back; im glad he’s back, and i hope minus his silly thoughtless self-serving whining outbursts; his show was great with a lot of great guests; there are a lot of people i know today because of imus’ introduction on his show; he is what he is…he was rude, insulting…..his schtick; im glad he’s back and there is money to be made for his ranch too; he needs it…..he does good things too…..im learned a lot about imus’ episode with the rutgers girls, who, by the way, were a mixed-race team; i learned that sharpton does NOT speak for the black community….lotsa new, younger thinkers who prefer to do their own policing and dont want to hold white people hostage
November 21st, 2007 at 12:42 pmI am an American Indian-Irish, “white”, woman. Don’t talk to me about minorities or discrimination! I have listened to Imus for years, understand the humor, appreciated his honesty, admire his courage to stand up to big PHARMA re: Autism, and raise untold millions for the rehabilitation of our military wounded and their families, support the survival efforts of debilitated children…and asked nothing in return!
December 3rd, 2007 at 1:07 amImus is perhaps, the LAST honest person in broadcasting…like it or not. The basketball fiasco was just that… a sorry spectacle made of freedom of speech…that particular freedom is not just for one race, gender or political party, but for ALL! Imus, thank you for coming back, your voice of reason was missed! Listen up people!