Saturday, April 14, 2007

Here is the official list of grownups in the Imus controversy:

1. Don Imus
2. The coach and members of the Rutgers basketball team

Why? Because Imus, after making a pretty stupid joke about the Rutgers team re: their general appearance on the court, apologized (AFTER losing his job) and the team accepted his apology (which is what adults, young old or otherwise, should have done.)

Practically everybody else in this scenario who have commented and called for the head of Imus, are fuckin’ pathetic whiny pieces of shit.

As much as I could personally care less about whether Imus goes back on the air or retires to the ranch (or wherever), my take on the controversy (which will probably piss off a lot of people) is: it’s come full circle and firing Imus, rather than simply sticking to the original 2 week punishment, was excessive and unnecessary.

Of course, corporate pigs, being the Chicken Little alarmist idiots they can tend to be, pulled ad money from the radio show and that didn’t help. But in reality, where would the damage be in that regard? For every Procter & Gamble backing out, there’s a 1-800-LOAN-YES or a “How to Make Millions in the Stock Market” company more than willing to pony up the cash to fill in the gaps. You know, like what you see on CW and Fox TV affiliates on weekday mornings and afternoons. And what’s more, Imus could blow off residual steam from the stress of the past controversy by making fun of the sponsors (which would be shooting fish in a barrel for some of these outfits.) Hey, he used to talk plenty of shit about Gold Bond Powder (once, I heard him audibly commenting, “Just take a shower!” DURING the running of the ad) and they still kept paying for the airtime. It could work out in the end and keep things going until the folks who pulled their advertising realize what a bunch of overreactionary idjits they were and call to get back in the loop.

But that, of course was not going to happen and now, for the first time since the Jacko “not guilty” verdict (or perhaps the inexplicable re-election of Dubya,) people who are cursed with a clear sense of reality are scratching their noggins and wondering, “What the fuck?”

Two people I have a surplus of contempt for in this controversy:

The first being:

ANN COULTER: Naturally, any news program desperate enough to let her on (usually with a now just-as-obscene three letter “F” word in its name) let her whine on about how Imus should stop apologizing and how it’s nice to see this happening to a liberal for once. Does anyone really give a flying fuck about what she has to say about this issue? Having this stringy headed attention hoe comment on this matter is like asking Gary Glitter to put forth on his opinion of Pete Townsend’s kiddy porn bust. How can you take anything said with any degree of seriousness? And why bother?

And the second person is:

BRUCE GORDON: The CBS board member who was on every media outlet who’d let him calling for Imus’ firing. Guess the squeaky wheel gets the most grease after all, eh? A gander at the current CBS Corporation roster indicates that Mr. Gordon appears to be one of exactly TWO ethnic minority board members (Linda Griego being the other) and what’s more there’s a pretty, erm, shall we say Wonder Breaded roster of executives at The Eye Incorporated as well. It would seem to me that this is evident of what’s REALLY fucked up with the American society as opposed to three words irresponsibly uttered by a guy already certified as a shock jock. So, hopefully Mr. Gordon uses all of that seemingly endless supply of angst and at the next board meeting has the cojones to get up and say, “So… why doesn’t the racial composition of our top levels of the Corporation reflect the same diversity as our audience, or for that matter, of our nation as a whole?” I’ll be waiting for that moment, and in the meantime, I’ll grab a REALLY long book to pass the hours away.

A whole group of people who should be used as a excuse to bring back tar and feathering are:

THE WASTES OF DNA WHO ARE MAKING DEATH THREATS TO AL SHARPTON: Sure, Reverend Al was acting like an asshole to bring Imus on to his radio show and after airing a live apology STILL called upon his firing. But there is no excuse to threaten some one's life like this. I have a sneaking suspicion anyway that these folks making the threats don't even listen to Imus and have a Confederate flag up on the garage wall up between the noose and the poster of Hitler if you know what I mean and I think that you do.

Yeah, yeah I know, it’s already died down (after all, it was the 12th when Imus was fired, it’s already Saturday the 14th as I’m writing this and the whole matter will be forgotten/ignored by the all the usual flacks by Monday the 16th) but what this whole media circus has revealed to me is sort of disconcerting. What sort of world are we shaping right now for the future? A 65-year-old white guy gets fired for making a stupid remark while the most xenophobic behavior is silently and successfully carried out and even tolerated in so many suit-and-tie circles. So, before you judge the Imuses of the world too harshly take a good long look at your local boardroom or tract housing neighborhood before acting too shocked.