Don Imus is done. He's as dead as a looks (if that's possible). While some lamented over the past few days that Imus will rise again, like a bad monster in a laughable horror movie, Imus was on his way out anyway. No, not this year or next year, but sooner than you might think. The Rutgers women offered CBS and MSNBC a way out of a Tom Hicks'-esque $10 million per year contract.
So where do we go from here?
Do you want the truth, or more idiotic ramblings? If ramblings is your cup of tea, I would tell you this will be the beginning of an attempt to clean up a society and a culture that has tipped too far towards rampant incivility. I would tell you that the bright light of exposure and outrage would now be turned on the hip hop world, a world which first introduced the type of language Don Imus used. I would tell you it is the beginning of a major "conversation" in our culture, and that, from the ashes of a now outdated shock jock’s career, and a pretty unimportant scandal, will come true change for the better.
But that would just be a lie. Some pleasantries. Some kool-aide for the masses. An excuse to make us all feel better about spending so much time on as irrelevant a man as Don Imus and the stupid thing’s he said.
The truth is this "conversation" is over already. Don Imus is home. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson got what they wanted, a little more camera time, a little more exposure, another opportunity to look more important than they actually are, and another chance to try and convince the world that the real problem facing black America continues to be white racism. They won’t be taking on the real fight, because the real fight isn’t against some decrepit, ugly, inconsequential has been white shock jock, an easy target for almost anyone. The target of the real fight would be the rap artists and black purveyors of perversity and degradation, the same type of people they routinely try and curry favor with. They give lip service to such a fight the way Democrats give lip service to "taking on" the entertainment community. It won’t ever happen.
So while Sharpton and Jackson, two despicable men who, by their very existence, set the black communities’ causes back 10 years, go home content with their two week assignment, they may try to turn this new desire for "civility at all costs" on the public airwaves into a campaign against conservative thinkers who routinely point out their hypocrisy, they will easily side step any actual confrontation.
How about politicians? If you honestly believe that Hillary Clinton, who is taking huge campaign checks from rap artists as we speak, will be going on the hunt against such nasty, mean-spirited lyrics as the ones softly echoed by Imus this month, you’re lost. She doesn’t want THAT discussion, because that discussion will inevitably bring to light her own glaring hypocritical nature. How about Barak Obama, John Edwards or any of the other Democrats in the field? Again, I wouldn’t want to be the one in a breath holding competition for that. And don’t look for Republican’s like Rudy Giuliani and John McCain to raise the issue any time soon. While both men might have more of a leg to stand on, in regards to trying to clean up the culture (I don’t think either one will have Juvenile hosting a fund raising dinner for them any time soon) than their Democratic opponents, both still defended Don Imus. Whether that was right or wrong, loyal or delusional, it still takes them out of the "let’s clean up the airwaves" sweepstakes.
How about talkers themselves? Will the radio police their own? Of course not. If a "conversation" is coming, the topic won’t be about getting rid of horrid, degrading lyrics, the topic will be how to try and knock off conservative voices that so extremely vex the left in this country. They tried challenging conservative talk radio in the market place and they failed miserably. Air America, a station invented by Al Gore (who also invented the internet and I believe global warming to help him win an Oscar) could barely keep its doors open from day one. They have tried to get the masses angry over comments made by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and a host of others, only to find those radio personalities a heck of a lot tougher to bring down than the feeble Imus. Now, this "conversation" might offer those bastions of tolerance another opportunity to try and rid the world of another voice that is different than their own.
And how about the kids themselves? How about the young women at Rutgers, their overly emotional coach (as Kansas City Star Ledger columnist Jason Whitlock pointed out earlier this week Martin Luther King Jr. spoke for 8 minutes during his "I have a dream" speech, where the actual survival of his people was potentially on the line. Vivian Stringer, while seeming like a decent person, spoke for 30 minutes, trying to make the whole situation seem a lot worse than it actually was), and the rest of the student body? This controversy was brought upon the young women at Rutgers, and for the most part they handled themselves with class and dignity, so they are not required to prove themselves in any way, but if we are to believe that these young women were so emotionally scarred by what Imus said than I hope, this weekend, none of them were out with friends, bumping and grinding along to the lyrics of a 50 Cent or Akon song, songs that paint them, and all black women, as simply sexual equipment for young men to experiment with. I hope none of those songs are blaring through their Ipod as they run through Rutgers’ campus. And I hope Vivian Stringer, who tried so hard to sound like a throw back 1960's civil rights leader, isn’t just ignoring the pre or post game celebrations that feature music that promote the very thing she seemed so despondent about this past week. Because, if they are, then their dignified, yet outraged response to Imus was more of an act in this sad real life play.
So what will come of this?
Nothing. The outcome has been cast. Don Imus is home. CBS radio must now scramble to fill that spot. Do they go with an all sports program, perhaps promoting their Mike and the Mad Dog afternoon sports show to the morning slot? Do they go out and try to entice a Mancow personality to jump ship for more money, more affiliates, and a chance to dominate the New York market? Do they try and find young talent elsewhere, someone perhaps without the name but with the talent to make an impact in the radio world?
Those are the only questions left to answer. Those are the only true repercussions of this unfortunate, overblown, annoying mess. And in the end, when something real happens, when something more serious takes place, when the world intervenes to remind us that we are in a war with the greatest evil of our time, when the news interrupt their "sensational sells" programming to bring us real information about far away enemies like Syria and Iran, when some crisis breaks out in some tucked away corner of the world, a crisis we will inevitably be called upon to fix, we will all laugh at how foolish we seemed worrying about what Don Imus said about women basketball players. We’ll feel foolish and a little bit ashamed, but the one thing we wont do is learn. That, we never seem to get right.
Do you want the truth, or more idiotic ramblings? If ramblings is your cup of tea, I would tell you this will be the beginning of an attempt to clean up a society and a culture that has tipped too far towards rampant incivility. I would tell you that the bright light of exposure and outrage would now be turned on the hip hop world, a world which first introduced the type of language Don Imus used. I would tell you it is the beginning of a major "conversation" in our culture, and that, from the ashes of a now outdated shock jock’s career, and a pretty unimportant scandal, will come true change for the better.
But that would just be a lie. Some pleasantries. Some kool-aide for the masses. An excuse to make us all feel better about spending so much time on as irrelevant a man as Don Imus and the stupid thing’s he said.
The truth is this "conversation" is over already. Don Imus is home. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson got what they wanted, a little more camera time, a little more exposure, another opportunity to look more important than they actually are, and another chance to try and convince the world that the real problem facing black America continues to be white racism. They won’t be taking on the real fight, because the real fight isn’t against some decrepit, ugly, inconsequential has been white shock jock, an easy target for almost anyone. The target of the real fight would be the rap artists and black purveyors of perversity and degradation, the same type of people they routinely try and curry favor with. They give lip service to such a fight the way Democrats give lip service to "taking on" the entertainment community. It won’t ever happen.
So while Sharpton and Jackson, two despicable men who, by their very existence, set the black communities’ causes back 10 years, go home content with their two week assignment, they may try to turn this new desire for "civility at all costs" on the public airwaves into a campaign against conservative thinkers who routinely point out their hypocrisy, they will easily side step any actual confrontation.
How about politicians? If you honestly believe that Hillary Clinton, who is taking huge campaign checks from rap artists as we speak, will be going on the hunt against such nasty, mean-spirited lyrics as the ones softly echoed by Imus this month, you’re lost. She doesn’t want THAT discussion, because that discussion will inevitably bring to light her own glaring hypocritical nature. How about Barak Obama, John Edwards or any of the other Democrats in the field? Again, I wouldn’t want to be the one in a breath holding competition for that. And don’t look for Republican’s like Rudy Giuliani and John McCain to raise the issue any time soon. While both men might have more of a leg to stand on, in regards to trying to clean up the culture (I don’t think either one will have Juvenile hosting a fund raising dinner for them any time soon) than their Democratic opponents, both still defended Don Imus. Whether that was right or wrong, loyal or delusional, it still takes them out of the "let’s clean up the airwaves" sweepstakes.
How about talkers themselves? Will the radio police their own? Of course not. If a "conversation" is coming, the topic won’t be about getting rid of horrid, degrading lyrics, the topic will be how to try and knock off conservative voices that so extremely vex the left in this country. They tried challenging conservative talk radio in the market place and they failed miserably. Air America, a station invented by Al Gore (who also invented the internet and I believe global warming to help him win an Oscar) could barely keep its doors open from day one. They have tried to get the masses angry over comments made by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and a host of others, only to find those radio personalities a heck of a lot tougher to bring down than the feeble Imus. Now, this "conversation" might offer those bastions of tolerance another opportunity to try and rid the world of another voice that is different than their own.
And how about the kids themselves? How about the young women at Rutgers, their overly emotional coach (as Kansas City Star Ledger columnist Jason Whitlock pointed out earlier this week Martin Luther King Jr. spoke for 8 minutes during his "I have a dream" speech, where the actual survival of his people was potentially on the line. Vivian Stringer, while seeming like a decent person, spoke for 30 minutes, trying to make the whole situation seem a lot worse than it actually was), and the rest of the student body? This controversy was brought upon the young women at Rutgers, and for the most part they handled themselves with class and dignity, so they are not required to prove themselves in any way, but if we are to believe that these young women were so emotionally scarred by what Imus said than I hope, this weekend, none of them were out with friends, bumping and grinding along to the lyrics of a 50 Cent or Akon song, songs that paint them, and all black women, as simply sexual equipment for young men to experiment with. I hope none of those songs are blaring through their Ipod as they run through Rutgers’ campus. And I hope Vivian Stringer, who tried so hard to sound like a throw back 1960's civil rights leader, isn’t just ignoring the pre or post game celebrations that feature music that promote the very thing she seemed so despondent about this past week. Because, if they are, then their dignified, yet outraged response to Imus was more of an act in this sad real life play.
So what will come of this?
Nothing. The outcome has been cast. Don Imus is home. CBS radio must now scramble to fill that spot. Do they go with an all sports program, perhaps promoting their Mike and the Mad Dog afternoon sports show to the morning slot? Do they go out and try to entice a Mancow personality to jump ship for more money, more affiliates, and a chance to dominate the New York market? Do they try and find young talent elsewhere, someone perhaps without the name but with the talent to make an impact in the radio world?
Those are the only questions left to answer. Those are the only true repercussions of this unfortunate, overblown, annoying mess. And in the end, when something real happens, when something more serious takes place, when the world intervenes to remind us that we are in a war with the greatest evil of our time, when the news interrupt their "sensational sells" programming to bring us real information about far away enemies like Syria and Iran, when some crisis breaks out in some tucked away corner of the world, a crisis we will inevitably be called upon to fix, we will all laugh at how foolish we seemed worrying about what Don Imus said about women basketball players. We’ll feel foolish and a little bit ashamed, but the one thing we wont do is learn. That, we never seem to get right.
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