Don Imus

Update 4/11 4:05pm: MSNBC is dropping the simulcast of the Don Imus show. His radio show for now is still a go, but it remains to be seen what happens next. Sponsors are also pulling the plug, as is their right. Don may come back from his suspension and not have a show to resume. I don't know how I feel about that. Again not a fan, but...


First off, I'm not a Don Imus fan, I don't think he's all that funny or even interesting...

Well, I wasn't sure if I had anything to say about this current incident. For those of you to engrossed in the Anna Nicole Smith saga to know what I'm talking about let me get you up to speed. Last week radio personality Don Imus called the Rutgers Women's Basketball team a 'bunch of nappy headed ho's.' His words not mine. After a few days the whole thing exploded. Don quickly apologized, spent time on the Al Sharpton radio show and has offered to personally apologize to the basketball team, who has accepted his offer. This however, is not enough for Jesse Jackson and Mr. Sharpton who have called for his head on a platter. Imus is lots of things, he's crude, edgy and pushes the envelope on a regular basis and has in his decades long career managed to insult just about everyone on the planet.

Imus on the other hand was very critical of the handling of the Katrina disaster, basically saying that if the city were full of rich white people FEMA would have fallen all over themselves trying to help. In addition, he's spent time raising money for causes such as children's cancer autism and more. Of course, none of this seems to matter now that he's made this statement.

Look, Imus really hosed this one up, big time. He's apologized, gotten a two week suspension and his name has been dragged through the mud. I don't know if he's really a racist or if he just stuck his foot in his mouth. Live radio is like flying on a trapeze without a net, one mistake and you're roadkill.

But Sharpton and Jackson are not really concerned about the plight of black America. They see something like this and then use it to garner money, power and media attention. If they were really concerned about black America, where's the outrage over the crap that BET puts out? What about the image that many rap artists have and the messages in their music? What about how THEY objectify women, glorify drug use and the use of violence to settle a dispute? What about the fact that there are more single black mothers today than there were 50 years ago? Why are they not up in arms over this? Well, what would get them more attention, blaming Whitey McCracker every time someone says something stupid or calling attention to the real problems in their communities? How much power do they stand to lose if they start telling people that the need to be responsible for the lives they lead and not to expect the government to take care of it all for them? Really makes you think doesn't it?