Don Imus Is Still A Racist

In what must be shocking news to Citadel and ABC Radio that carries the "new and improved" Don Imus, the tainted radio host made another racially charged comment on his new show today. Of course this is no surprise to everyone outside of those radio boardrooms who do not profit off of Don Imus and those that enable him with ratings. The fact is, this wasn't about it if he would make another comment, it was just a matter of time.

From The Politico:

On “Imus in the Morning” Monday, the controversial radio host Don Imus — who was fired last year for making racist and sexist remarks about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team — made a racially freighted comment about another African-American athlete.

During the show, conversation turned to a story about how suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones now wants to drop his well-known nickname. In the course of the segment, Imus is told that Jones has “been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005.”

Imus asks: “What color is he?”

“He’s African-American,” the host is informed by one of his on-air sidekicks.

“Well, there you go,” Imus said. “Now we know.”

What is it with Imus and minority athletes? Did he get picked last for teams during recess in elementary school? Nah, he just prefers to remain willfully ignorant about race in America and decides to stir the pot to get ratings, not caring about the outcome. If Imus wanted to address race and crime in this country with substance, he could address roots of the problem, not to make jokes at others' expense. Like CBS, it is time for Citadel and ABC to rid themselves of this menace and other radio stations should pay attention as well.

Stephanie Miller Fills In For Imus At MSNBC

Whenever a radio personality as big as Imus was drops off the airwaves, there is always a gap to be filled. While MSNBC looks for a permanent replacement for their morning show, a breath of fresh air is going to be on TV Monday through Wednesday of next week. The extremely talented Stephanie Miller from Jones radio will have her syndicated broadcast televised for the cable news network, allowing their audience a taste of what many liberal radio affiliates have been enjoying for quite some time now.

People who listen in on Stephanie are never disappointed. She delivers the news with a sharp wit and a good staff that backs her up as she goes after the villains making headlines. Stephanie isn't shy with her crushes either, which includes MSNBC's own Keith Olbermann. Being so close to Keith for three days must have made her day or even her week.

If you like what see and hear, make sure you let MSNBC know about it. Having her permanently on the network would be a fabulous site to see. Her affiliation list is growing by the month, so if a national audience were to get her on TV the response would be fantastic for her affiliate representatives to get new stations to add.

Now That Imus Is Gone...

Congratulations is in order to the corporate bigwigs who caved to the pressure of many groups demanding Don Imus be off the air. Yet there is still a widespread problem of hate being spewed on the radio and on television. The list of names is long indeed, including Bill O'Reilly, Neil Boortz, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh and many others. So as long as we are clearing the air and making progress towards more civilized debate in talk radio, why not make efforts to getting rid of these goons?

Catherine Crier discussed this on CourtTV last night (via Crooks and Liars):

Court TV's Catherine Crier doesn't think this scandal should end with the firing of Don Imus. During last night's "Crier Wire," she quickly ran through a small handful of the hateful things uttered by the likes of FOX News, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, and makes the obvious point that they should also be held accountable.

Download (22) | Play (24) Download (6) | Play (22)

"Let's tell hate spewing radio and TV hosts, and misogynist rappers that this divisiveness is unacceptable."

I am certainly no fan of censorship but the names on the list above can spew their hate-mongering in safer places, such as their living rooms. Reasoned debate is one thing, shouting and screaming ideology and bigotry is another. If I remember correctly, the FCC granted the networks space on the public airwaves for loftier purposes than the insanity that exists today.

What Will CBS Do Without Imus

Perhaps something a little more mainstream? Letterman has an idea:

Bye Bye Imus

Wow, he is finally gone. No more racial insults parading as comedy, the ridiculous antics shuttered and the Stetson hat is no more. CBS followed MSNBC's example yesterday and fired Don Imus from his popular show. This wasn't about ratings, the guy had 2.25 million listeners a week. So do I take back what I said earlier about the corporate decision being about money? No way.

Here's why: Having millions of listeners is great but the reason why you want them is to get big name advertisers to shell out gobs of cash for listeners to hear their ads on the air. Unfortunately for CBS, big names such as American Express and GM were running away from Imus because of the monstrous public outrage towards the shock jock. Once the big names went, so did the rest of the sponsors. When you can't make money from a show its worthless, despite the value of the content. It really is all about the almighty dollar.

Imus Gets Suspended....So What?

It took five days and a story that wouldn't die to get Don Imus suspended for two weeks following his blatantly racist remarks about the women's basketball team at Rutgers University. The coach condemned him, Al Sharpton condemned him, Jesse Jackson condemned him and so did many people here on the left. However, NBC/CBS's response does not even come close to being adequate.

Lets face facts, Imus will never be fired, even if he deserves it (and he certainly does). What really counts to his corporate masters is ratings and money. As long as Don brings in cash he can say whatever the hell he wants. He has apologized for remarks like this before. Swore he would never do it again. Blah blah blah. The truth is that Imus can apologize all he wants but with his history, it isn't hard to say that he believes what he says.

Don Imus is only a small part of the problem. He is an example of the racist attitudes that linger under the surface for a large portion of America. The microphone gives his kind the power to voice what is underneath the facade and that is why so many people listen to him. Our corporate society allows this stuff to manifest because it is profitable for them. The greed and the bigotry go hand in hand. Perhaps if the networks would place ethics before profit, we could sever one of those hands and start to work on the real problem.