Apr 11 2007
Imus Fired From MSNBC
I am glad to hear Imus has been dumpod by MSNBC and is probably at risk to lose his whole franchise. The man does some good things, but no one should be allowed to taint the once-in-a-life-time crowning achievement of those young woman on the Rutger’s champion basketball team. That is the sin of of Imus. My opionion of him has only mellowed slightly from my first post on the matter. But we can demand, through our support or lack of it, a modicum of decorum from those who wish to make money off the time we take from our lives to listen and watch some of these buffoons. Imus is going to be the first of many adjustments we make.
Just because you can do something (exercise your free speech in a cruel manner) doesn’t mean you should or that you should get paid for it. Rosie and others better watch out. We have the right to lots of things. Rosie can go pick her nose in a busy intersection if she wants. But if she did I doubt sponsors would still support her. Imus did much worse than that. He did not hurt himself, he hurt young ladies who did nothing to him and were trying to celebrate their accomplishments at being the best in the country. Goodbye Imus – we will be a better country without you. You can still speak out and be a jerk, just not over OUR airwaves.
Imus and the people he attracks to his program say some of the most hateful, lying, and ugly things on the airwaves. If MSNBC does not want to continue to be a tabloid network then they need to get rid of those who use unthoughtful words. Imus is not the only one who fits that bill.
Why am I not surprised at your response to Imus?
I am sick of the “no, it didn’t happen to me but I am a victim anyway” mentality.
Did Imus call you a “ho” or say you were “nappy headed”? If you are not on the Rutgers Lady’s basketball team, it doesn’t affect you. Those young ladies who worked so hard for the success they gained are the only ones who have the right to be insulted. They were the ones he was talking about, not you. And they are the ONLY ones who have a right to say he should lose his job. Fortunately, they have more class.
Are we now going to start calling for Rosie to be fired because she insulted all of Christianity? Maybe we can change the Constitution to read “freedom of speech for only certain people”.
You cannot declare that we are a nation where free speech is allowed and then not give that same right to everyone. Imus and Rosie both have the right to say what they want. And if I am insulted by their words, I don’t have to listen to them. When their viewers and their listeners are non-existant, they will no longer have jobs.
There is an up side as well as a down side to free speech. Sometimes we hear things that we don’t like but when we start limiting what anyone can say, we might as well start burning books in the town square.
Oh, one other thing. Imus is an idiot. But if we start firing people because they are idiots, we would love most of our government officials.
LOL I have not listen to Imus since 70 or 71, how he lasted this long as boring as he was I have no idea. But I have no usage for msnbc either as boring as that station is.
Imus is gone, It’s time for Al Sharpton to follow suit…
As MSNBC caved (once again) to pressure anddropped the Imus show after his racially inflamatory remark. Again, I don’t care about Imus, I don’t watch his show, nor MSNBC (from the ratings neither does anyone else). So I can not if his sho…
I read an article somewhere today that said and documented well how morning talk radio is a minefield as you just have to wait until the wrong thing is said that offends the wrong group.
That may be operable here, even though I don’t agree with what he said.
It is only a matter of how much degree of outrage is generated to a given situation.
Yes it has to do with what he said about the girls, but it also has to do with the public discourse in general. In your private life you have freedom of speech, when you are on a national TV station if the station wants to be known as a gutter station then put Imus and his ilk on. Personally I think the public discourse has sunken to an all time low, Imus is one player. If people want to be associated with Rosie’s words, then let them keep advertising, I turn her off.
Kathie, that is the way to handle it; don’t like Rosie, don’t watch her. Same with Imus. Don’t listen to a moron.
But to say that he doesn’t have the right to say whatever comes into his empty head, limits everyone’s freedom of speech.
Yes he has the right to be the biggest dick head he wants to be and advertisers have the right to with draw their support so as to not be associated with his words. Biden, Russert, Matthew’s, Gregory, etc. loved him and didn’t care what he said and they knew he didn’t care what they said. MSNBC turned into a tabloid station. Lowest ratings of all cable. It is about time they had their come-upends.
I agree that Imus shamelessly insulted those girls. No excuses.
But as R 05 said, does he have freedom of speech or not. And as I heard Imus himself say, it wasn’t a white man that came up with the phrase Imus used. Listen to 50% of the rap songs out there. No one is proposing banning those or the people that sing them. I don’t listen to them, same as I don’t listen to Imus.
But talk about hypocrisy, Al Sharpton, indignent? Remember the Twana Brawley invention? Jesse Jackson? indignent? Hymie town ring a bell. Most public people speaking out against it are just jumping on the bandwagon for what publicity they can get out of it.
MSNBC is the lowest rated cable news station anyhow, it’s amazing anyone was even listening when he said it.
Freedom of speech to speak against racism, but only when it is white people commiting the racism. White people can not speak out against reverse racism.
Let the market dictate, let ABC decide when it’s time to fire Rosie as it was MSNBC’s perogative to fire I-man.
.
This is not a freedom of speech issue. MSNBC runs a business, they can fire anyone they like if that person is effecting their bottom line or is violating a contract.
Sure it’s a freedom of speech issue. Just as the rap songs are. When it affects someone (in this case msnbc) they have the right to do what they want or need to do. They didn’t want to cancel Imus. They just couldn’t stand the heat. I’m just gonna guess that had he said something derogatory about the Tennessee team, nothing would have been said. As I said, reverse racism is fine to the formerly MSM.
His income’s not gonna go down anyhow, if he gets off the public airways, he’ll be on satellite where you can hear much worse things than he said 24/7. As I said, listen to some rap if you want to know if it is really objectionable speech or not.
Again, I don’t condone what I mus said in any way, but a lot of America’s military have died for his right to say it. And for MSNBC’s right to do what they did.
.
I agree with Terrye. Someone who talks on a network has “freedom of speech” only as long as the network agrees to host his show. If the network fires him, then he’ll just have to make other arrangements.
I also suspect that if Imus were truly a huge source of revenue for MSNBC, then MSNBC would not have been so quick to fire Imus, bad publicity or no.
Aitch, so the rappers, who use the same language, have freedom of speech, but Imus doesn’t. The name of the game is MONEY, if rappers make money, they can say what they want to. If Imus doesn’t make enough money, he can’t say what he wants to. Simple, but it is a freedom of speech issue…
MSNBC Fired Imus…
Here’s the AP story:MSNBC said Wednesday it will drop its simulcast of the Imus in the Morning radio program, responding to growing outrage over the radio host’s racial slur against the Rutgers women’s basketball team. This decision comes as a…
If Imus wasn’t getting the numbers, the networks would have dropped him long ago.
Now, he will gain a larger audience simply because people who have never heard of him before will want to listen to him to see what all the fuss is about.
But to have him bow at the alter of that race baiting slug, Al Sharpton, makes me sick. And it just proves that you can say anything you want about Christians, Orientals and white guys, but never ever say anything against someone who is black.
I also agree with Terrye but Im not sure MSNBC is actually a real bussiness, is there any talking head in any of their programming that will make your brain think.
How is “Fire! Fire” not considered freedom of speech?
There is only so much that we honor freedom of speech; yet, we should respect freedom of speech.
Fire ! Fire! is freedom of speech, just not in a crowded theatre, I don’t think MSNBC could be considered a crowded theatre……….
.
Think people. This is only a black white issue. simple as that.
The fallout I mean.
I still don’t condone what Imus said.
.
If you want to look at a racist thing, look at this Duke Lacrosse players deal. 100% racist. All politics. Where is the outrage, where is Sharpton, Jesse, all the racist guys in the world.
No, we gotta spend our time on Imus, a comedian.
.