Don Imus is the latest casualty in the war that the politically correct have been waging against the world the rest of us live in. When I lived in Michigan, I used to watch part of Imus’ morning show on MSNBC. One of the things I liked about Imus was the fact that he was an equal opportunity offender. Left, right, middle, sideways, no one was safe from his pithy observations.
Last week, he made the mistake of saying some of ‘those’ words. Not a four-letter word. That would simply mean paying an FCC fine and moving on. Such an act might not even raise an eyebrow in today’s world. No, Don said some of the dreaded ‘double-standard’ words. You know, those words that have been hijacked by popular culture and made declared off-limits for utterance by a member of any group other than blacks, because if they are uttered by a white male, they can only be interpreted as a racist, bigoted act of hatred that demands the immediate and undeniable outrage of so-called civil rights leaders. You know the ones I’m talking about; they’re the ones who can’t be found when members of their own noble group use such words in public.
This is the part where I get to insert my disclaimer. I would not have said what Imus said. This is not out of fear of using the dreaded double-standard words; I grew up in the suburbs of Flint, Michigan. It’s not like I haven’t heard them before, or that I don’t understand that black people might take offense at their use. It is because I think a point could have been made without saying what was said. Imus has stated that he was looking at it from the standpoint of the impression of two very different teams and styles, in the vein of a matchup between nuns and female bikers. I have never even seen the Rutgers Women’s basketball team, but if they really do have tattoos, I’m sure their daddies must be soooooo proud, not to mention former team members, and alumni.
Don and producer Bernard were discussing the NCCA women’s basketball championship, and Imus remarked that the Rutgers team looked rough, because they had tattoos and such. Bernie fired back “tough looking hos” to which Imus replied “nappy headed hos”. That was enough to fire up the outrage machine. The left-reverend Al Sharptongue (of the famous race-baiting Tawana Brawley hoax) and Jesse Jackson ( think Martin Luther King without dignity or rhetorical genius) wasted no time in parading the predictable “This Cannot Stand!” stance, with Sharptongue calling for his immediate firing and Jackson threatening to protest.
Imus soon apologized for his words, for all the good it did him. The apologies were repeated, and Imus even went on Sharptongue’s show to sit in the hotseat and subject himself to Sharptongue’s sanctimonious finger-waving and silly expressions of outrage, all the while claiming that by having Imus on and continuing to subject him to accusations and demands that he resign. The penance was to no avail. This evening, Associated Pravda was reporting:
“CBS Radio and MSNBC both said they were suspending Imus’ morning talk show for two weeks following his reference last week to members of the Rutgers women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed hos.””
Now I have been scratching my head and trying to figure out why a man who has gotten to insult Presidents of the United States, while they were physically present, should have to endure this kind of nonsense. The answer is, of course, because the President didn’t inspire the soldiers of political correctness to outrage, but the utterance of “racially charged” words by a white male did. This is not because it is a battle worth fighting. It is because it is a battle they could win.
These “prominent civil rights” figures can’t be bothered to pursue the issue with their own people. Words such as “nappy” (which according to the Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language, means “(of hair) kinky”---as no other definition seems to apply.) are perfectly acceptable when spoken by a black person [no, I won’t be forced into saying “African-American”, since not all black Americans have come here from Africa, and since hyphenated-Americanism is one of the leading factors in our collective hypersensitivity that is destroying our nation on a daily basis] but if you are a white male, you might as well be wearing a white robe and hood and burning a cross in suburban Detroit---not that I’d recommend it. I can think of few things to get a person killed quicker.
This is the kind of hypocrisy that infuriates me. When does one group in society get to dictate the proper and improper use of English words for the rest of society? When should the rest of us stand idly by, and let a misfortunate turn of phrase define a career and its end? These really should not be rhetorical questions. If we continue to watch from the sidelines while sanctimonious, self-promoting zealots who use race and outrage as vehicle to self-aggrandizement, all in the name of preserving dignity in the name of the “oppressed” or the “downtrodden”, then freedom of speech will mean nothing at all, because only the defenders will be able to exercise that right. No one else will be deemed worthy. We will all be prohibited from anything other than prescreened and approved discourse; anything else might hurt someone’s feelings.
The stakes are high ones. We are already being betrayed on a daily basis by a media that selectively cherry-picks quotes and statements, so it can report not what happened, but the story it wanted to happen, and we let them slide every day. That is how we have gotten to a point where moral relativists and Christophobes can perpetuate the lie that “all cultures are equal”, and that religion, especially Christianity, serves only to make the human condition worse. The story gets obscured by the message. If you were in suspended animation for the last thirty years, and suddenly woke up, ran out, and bought a major newspaper, you’d have a hard time realizing that western civilization is at war with Muslims who have decided that the west must convert or die. In fact, if you could discern that we are at war, you might not be able to figure out who the malefactors really are. To hear the media’s take, the administration and most of the pentagon should be cuffed and frog marched all the way to Gitmo for their “crimes against humanity.”
Upon reflection, I can see that Imus is concerned about how this will affect his ranch for kids with cancer and blood diseases. What I don’t understand is why no one close to him clued him in to the fact that if he is going to start treading lightly now, he may as well retire. He is an easy target for those who have decided to make an example of him, and the gangpile is the predictable result. Whenever given a choice, the left won’t fight the hard battles, the ones that might actually result in a meaningful change. They will ALWAYS go after the soft target, especially if that target is high profile, and is sure to get them lots of juicy headlines to build up their own bona fides, no matter how shallow they may be. Even if he returns after his two-week suspension, he won’t ever be back. The threat of suspension or firing will stifle the rapid-fire sequence of exchanges that frequently makes the difference between entertaining radio, and background noise for a morning commute. The left will claim this as a victory. But once again, free speech is the victim. I did some searching and found a large portion of the transcript of Imus’ appearance on Sharptongue’s show. I have included portions with appropropriate commentary following. Think about it. Think I’m wrong? Tell me about it. I invite a dialogue. If you act like a shrill moonbat, you will be treated as such.
IMUS. No, I understand that, but I'm not thinking that it is a racial insult that's being uttered at somebody at the time. I think it's in the process of this - what we're trying to rap and be funny. I mean I understand it's not funny. I understand there's no excuse for it. I'm not pretending that there is. I wish I hadn't of said it. I'm sorry I said it but -
SHARPTON. Now, let me ask you this - and then we could talk about the things that you want to talk about. If you realize that something must be done, why would you then feel that we are out of order to ask that you step aside.
Have you asked rappers and other entertainers in your communities to “step aside.”? Don’t bother answering that. I wouldn’t be able to able to hear you over the sound of the deafening cricket chirps.
IMUS. I didn't say that.
SHARPTON. Oh, you don't think we're out of order.
IMUS. No, sir.
SHARPTON. So you've come to sign your resignation?
Why do you automatically assume that your desired result is the ONLY possible result?
IMUS. No, I'm not signing anything.
SHARPTON. So what are you saying?
IMUS. I'm saying you have the right -
SHARPTON. You want to determine what ought to happen even though you are the one that did the wrong?
I don’t remember you being appointed to judge the propriety or impropriety of others.
IMUS. I didn't say that either.
SHARPTON. O.K.
IMUS. I said you have the right to say and do whatever you want to do. What I want you to do, and everybody else - everybody who's calling me a racist, everybody who's calling me a bigot, everybody who says, I don't know anything about him, because I've heard people say, I don't know what's in his heart and I don't know - I've never listened to his show, but I want him fired. That's an ill-informed decision.
When have you ever known Sharptongue to make a well-informed decision?
SHARPTON. I'm going to take a break and we're going to talk about. I will give you credit for showing up and I'd even give you more credit if you'd decided to take - change your mind about resigning.
IMUS. But you're not making an informed decision, Reverend Al.
============================================================================
IMUS. And then he [Reverend Deforest Soaries] said something else, he said, you know, you said, here's what you have to understand - that's what he said now - he said, black people, at the core of their soul, don't believe that white people like them. And he said, at some point when something like this happens with someone like you, who they would - who a person could, you would think, could trust and would be on our side, he said, this just confirms that whole fear. He says, so it's an egregious sin that you've committed, and I said that I understood that.
No. Instead you have decided to trust the likes of the left reverends Sharptongue and Jackson, who’s years of tireless labor have done wonders in improving their own living conditions. Too bad they have squandered your trust, and too sad that you are unable or unwilling to see it.
============================================================================
SHARPTON. Let me - you see this young lady here? Where is she at? You see this young lady?
IMUS. Yes, sir.
SHARPTON. This young lady just graduated . . . , went to Temple. She is not a nappy-headed ho, she's my daughter.
Very good, Sharptongue. If she just graduated from Temple, that means she doesn’t play ball for Rutgers, either.
IMUS. I understand that.
SHARPTON. And when I heard what you said, I've got to defend my daughter.
Why? Does she play basketball for Rutgers?
==================================================================================
SHARPTON. - before we go there, let me say this. I don't think the issue is that you may have done good things. The issue is whether we can afford a precedent to be established that somebody can say something that you admittedly say yourself is wrong and I say is racist and sexist, and it just be glossed over. That's the issue here. Because then, if you walk away from this unscathed, the next guy could say whatever he wants and just say, I'm sorry.
IMUS. Unscathed? What are you, crazy? How am I unscathed by this? Don't you think I'm humiliated? Don't you think I'm embarrassed? Don't you think –
Don’t you think having to be in the same room dealing with your incredible arrogance and conceit qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment?
SHARPTON. You're not as humiliated as young black women.
I suppose no one would understand that better than you, having first made a name for yourself by exploiting one yourself.
