Great Reads from Dennis Sanders

Dennis Sanders has two excellent posts that relate to the whole Imus issue while touching on deeper matters. The first looks at what it means to stand up in the face of adversity while avoiding the culture of victimhood. The second looks at the nature of bigotry, what it means to be a bigot and whether Imus qualifies.

Give them a read.

Why Imus' Words Hurt

Tyrone Steels II has the best reasoning I've read as to why Imus' words were particularly hurtful. It doesn't chage my opinion on the matter, but it does raise some enlightening points well worth considering.

Imus Done in by Media Mobsters

At first the Don Imus imbroglio amused me. Then it irritated me. Now I’m mad. CBS and MSNBC have both fired Imus for his bigoted comments. Sure, they have the right to fire whomever they choose. But that doesn’t make their decision anything more than a sad commentary on the failings of modern society and modern media in particular.

Imus has been a so-called shock jock for a long time and has uttered an uncountable number of insensitive remarks over the years. CBS and NBC knew who he was and what he was likely to say. Yet this mildly racist, undeniably sexist comment gets him axed? Why? The answer is simple: the media needed the next sensationalistic story. Once that story was running nonstop, advertisers got scared and pulled away. CBS is just following its advertisers who are following the media who are following the immature, irresponsible, narrow-minded ideology that far too often masquerades as journalism these days.

Not only is this a complete overreaction to the crime committed, but it sets a horrible example. First, Imus’ quick and seemingly sincere apologies are being completely ignored. The lesson? It’s best not to speak at all than risk saying something you regret – your apologies will not be accepted.

The second horrible lesson is summed up in the statements of Les Moonves, the president of CBS who said: "There has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society. That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision."

So that’s how it is now? Instead of teaching our youth to stand up to adversity and shrug off the idiots of the world, we’re telling them that they must be protected from all slights less their poor fragile egos will crumple and die. The women Imus insulted are incredibly talented, college-educated women who had the strength to pull off a Cinderella basketball season. We don’t need to protect them from the likes of Don Imus. Please. That’s horribly insulting to these young women.

Really, I couldn’t care less about Imus. I’ve rarely listened to him and consider him no better than a more political, less scatological Howard Stern. His comments were abhorrent. I have not the slightest desire to stand near the man. But I can’t stay silent. Just because I don’t care for the man doesn’t mean I shouldn’t call a wrong a wrong.

Imus is being unfairly punished by a nauseatingly righteous bunch of media mobsters and their cohorts. What’s worse is that those leading the pitchfork-and-torches charge are ostensibly from the left. If liberals no longer have the stomach to stand up for free speech (even when that speech is insulting or idiotic), then who will?

The whole thing makes me sick. My apologies for the rant. Some events simply demand an outraged blog post.

Bigotry's Media Circus

So, Don Imus is an idiot.. So is Mel Gibson. And we might as well throw in Michael Richards and Isaah Washington too.

Big mouths have a tendency to say hugely stupid things – that’s an old story. The new story is that those same big mouths now spend days upon days rambling off “heartfelt” apologies. That’s how it works in modern America. These are the new rules:

1) Any and all insensitive remarks by celebrity figures are to be met with screeches of outrage from the offended group. Said group will demand a slew of serious punishments and deem the offender a person we simply can’t tolerate as a director/actor/comedian/talk show host, etc.

2) The offender will immediately acknowledge their unforgivable error and then ask for forgiveness. Acts of contrition must be performed in a public forum, preferably before an approved representative of the offended group (Al Sharpton is on call 24/7).

3) Whether or not forgiveness is offered, the whole story eventually fades away and life moves on.

I have no desire to defend, justify or otherwise condone what all these big mouths have said. But I do feel the need to question what the heck is going on in our society when off-the-cuff remarks (however distasteful) are treated like grand crimes. I have a rather old-school approach to civil liberties – one that tends to think public floggings for disapproved speech is bad for all speech.

The truth is, people say bigoted things quite often. I bet each and every one of us has at some point said something that another group would find terribly offensive. Does that make us bad people or does that just make us imperfect in an utterly human way?

Sure, bigotry is not a desirable quality and bigots should be called out for their idiocies. But there is a significant difference between a bigot and someone who simply makes a bigoted remark. I, for one, don’t want my entire character to be judged by what I might happen to say in a moment of rank stupidity.

There are better ways to address bigoted statements than to whip up anger and turn the event into a media circus. As with so much these days, we need to find a higher level of maturity.