[NYTr] Much Ado about Imus Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 00:42:43 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit [Imus has been fired by his network. The meeting that he was supposed to have with the Rutgers Women's Basketball team apparently didn't come off, because NJ Governor Corzine, who was going to host it, was in a serious auto accident on the way to the meeting. He's in surgery with multiple fractures. See Bloomberg story below. -NY Transfer] sent by Ed Pearl [Many, if not most of you read yesterday's op-ed in the LA Times by Constance Rice, titled "Don Imus, the good-natured racist." It's an important statement by a long-time, respected civil-rights attorney (she's not her cousin, the Sec. of State) who takes a firm position that Imus has value and should not be removed from the airwaves. Below, are varying views on the subject. Rice's column appears at the end.] Media Matters for America - April 11, 2007 http://mediamatters.org/items/200704110011 Imus Cancellation: Statement from /Media Matters Cancellation Sparked by Racist Comments Washington, DC - This evening, David Brock, President and CEO of Media Matters for America released the following statement regarding the decision of NBC News to cancel MSNBC's simulcast of Imus in the Morning. "By canceling their simulcast of Don Imus on MSNBC, the National Broadcasting Company has finally done the right thing. We hope CBS Radio will again follow NBC's lead. More and more Americans are coming to understand the damage done by major news organizations providing a platform for bigoted commentary and other conservative misinformation, and they are demanding change. MSNBC's decision is an important step in the right direction. This decision sends a clear message to other networks, journalists and media personalities that bigotry and hate speech have no place on America's airwaves. The cable networks would be well advised to think twice about their broadcasting decisions in the future. It is our hope that this will open a larger dialogue on the overall tone of the media today." Forward This E-mail To A Friend Share your concern about conservative misinformation Sign up Did a friend forward you this email? Click here to sign up to receive Media Matters for America email alerts. B) 2007 Media Matters for America *** Portside List - Readers Responses - Apr 11, 2007 Readers Responses - April 11, 2007 Re: Racism Is to Be Expected From Don Imus I'd be a little more all-sided about Don Imus. I watch him every morning and, despite lapses into chauvinism and locker-room crap, I appreciate a good deal of his show, especially his putting the Bush team, pompous pundits, and worse, on the hot seat almost every day. He got snookered by the racist asshole he has there to make racist and sexist jokes, and it got out of hand, as it has many times in the past. So, yes, it's his own damned fault anyway. But I still think he has a good heart and is headed in our direction, even if on a zig-zag path--and there's plenty of evidence to back that up. So I think his apology, and acknowledgment that he's learned something, is for real. I won't say the same for the rest of his crew, though--and he's the one who hires them. The easy thing for him to do would to step down, since he's so filthy rich he hardly needs the money. He's in poor health anyway, and would just as soon, I'd guess, be spending his last years with his charities, which are mostly rather progressive. (And while it doesn't count for much in this context, he has great taste in my kind of music.) But his networks want him to stay on, despite their protestations and wrist-slappings, since he makes so damned much money for them. Besides, I think he's a powerful antiwar voice in center and right communities. He's also has an interesting antiracist record on a few critical matters--and many decent liberal defenders, although not uncritical. He was one of the few celebrity whites that exposed the race-baiting against Congressman Ford on Tennessee in his bid for the Senate. It's be interesting to see how he handles himself with Rev. Sharpton. He also plans to meet privately with the women's basketball team and their families for a more personal self-criticism directly to them. And when you compare him to the more slick, sophisticated racism of Limbaugh and Hannity, well, I don't put them in the same ball park, however outrageous any set of comments are. So I don't 'expect' racism from 'the I-Man,' I expect much better of him, and would challenge him and call him to task to get more in tune with what I perceive as a number of decent core values he holds, and shows, a good deal of the time. Carl Davidson, Chicago ==== Bigotry is to be expected from Imus. What's interesting this time is the extent to which his racism is drawing fire while his misogyny goes almost un-noticed. Joseph Weiner ==== Some of us can remember a time when such monstrosities as Don Imus's racist comments would have aroused such an outcry in the Jewish community that it would be impossible for CBS or MSNBC to get away with the wrist- slapping action of a two-weeks' suspension -- and a suspension that, for commercial reasons, cannot go into effect until next week. Alas! those days are history. Now the slings and arrows of the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee are trained on ex- President Jimmy Carter for daring to imply that Israel's actions as an occupying power are uncomfortably reminiscent of apartheid. In this week when players on every team in the major leagues will be wearing Jackie Robinson's No. 42, it is worth remembering the role that Jewish- and left-led unions played in helping to break down the color barrier in our so-called national pastime. Tamiment Library's archives will not let us forget that wonderful picture of District 65's baseball players marching in a May Day parade with signs calling upon Judge Landis to erase this shameful blot nor of Paul Robeson leading a delegation of African-American publishers to meet with the same Landis and citing his own experiences as an All-American football star as evidence that the time was ripe for such a breakthrough. On a personal note, I was teaching some four blocks from Ebbets Field when the Dodgers announced that they were going to sign Robinson from their Montreal farm club that day. I made my way to the stadium and was on hand for the signing. It was the first night of Passover, and as the youngest of the four Foner brothers, it devolved upon me to ask and answer the question, "Why is this night different from all other nights?" My explanation found its way to the bottom of the 6th inning of Ken Burns' now famous baseball TV documentary. Isn't it some form of poetic justice that this immortal question from a Jewish ceremony should be linked to the struggle against Jim- Crow? Henry Foner, President The Paul Robeson Foundation ==== The comments of Don Imus, as noted by FAIR, were indeed offensive and racist. One must not forget, however, who taught the world this kind of language. These kinds of hurtful phrases are sadly rampant in the communities in which they originated. They represent a deep-seated disrespect for women and reveal a far greater attitudinal problem than was displayed in Imus' stupidly echoing such hurtful remarks. While we should all condemn his use of such disparaging remarks the adage of the ancients bears some weight on the subject as well: "Physician, heal thyself." Richard Cross *** Los Angeles Times - Apr 11, 2007 http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-rice11apr11,0,5538321.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail Don Imus: the good-natured racist The shock jock was only mimicking rappers and comedians who make millions at the expense of black women. By Constance L. Rice 'THAT'S SOME nappy-headed hos." When white radio shock jock Don Imus dropped this little gem about the Rutgers women's basketball team onto the airwaves, he couldn't possibly have imagined that it would trigger a two-week suspension of his top-rated radio gig, the "Imus in the Morning Show." On the Imus insult meter, "nappy-headed hos" wouldn't rate above a 3. It doesn't even come close to one of his meaner riffs. Regular listeners of the show expect racist and sexist banter. As Imus explained to Mike Wallace on "60 Minutes" in 1998, his show has someone specially assigned to do "nigger jokes." But rest assured, the Imus crew has plenty of kike, wetback, mick, spick, dago, Jap, Chink, redneck and unprintable Catholic priest jokes too. Not to mention the rabid homophobia and occasional Islamophobia. The Rev. Al Sharpton, the NAACP, NOW ? the whole civil and women's rights establishment ? are up in arms, and they should be. Imus' remarks were racist, offensive and, given that these athletes are not fair targets, out of bounds. There is no excuse for what he said. But there's also no basis for firing him or ending his show. Firing Imus for racist riffs would be like firing Liberace for flamboyance. It's what he does. More to the point, Imus should only be fired when the black artists who make millions of dollars rapping about black bitches and hos lose their recording contracts. Black leaders should denounce Imus and boycott him and call for his head only after they do the same for the misogynist artists with whom they have shared stages, magazine covers and awards shows. The truth is, Imus' remarks mimic those of the original gurus of black female denigration: black men with no class. He is only repeating what he's heard and being honest about the way many men ? of all races ? judge women. Just as black comedians who make mean jokes about Asians and Latinos don't see themselves as racists, I'm sure that Imus doesn't see himself as a racist either. He reveres blues artists such as B.B. King and Ray Charles. He praises American icons such as Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King Jr. He clearly likes former Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford and has interviewed Sharpton a few times. He treated Lani Guinier with uncharacteristic respect during her guest appearance to discuss her latest book. His sympathy for the Katrina victims came through. And after the James Byrd dragging-lynching in Texas in 1998, Imus did not joke. In serious tones that couldn't hide his sorrow or disgust, he quietly remarked that it was unwise for black people to ever trust whites. After listening to him for 10 years, I've concluded that Imus is not a malevolent racist. He is a good-natured racist. And the streak of decency running down his self-centered, mean persona is sometimes pretty wide. Imus and company are jocular misanthropes who say what a lot of folk only dare to think. That's why many tune in: to eavesdrop on a seventh-grade white boys' locker room ? and to hear some of the best political interviews on the air. More often than not, the humor works, but it is universally offensive and sometimes goes too far, as it did in this case. It is what it is. If his show has to go, there are hard-hitting black and Latino acts on cable that will be put in the cross hairs next. In the end, it's healthier to have what people of all races really think out in the open rather than hounded into the shadows. After Imus sincerely apologizes to the women on the Rutgers team and listens to the well-deserved criticism, he should go back to doing what he does best ? tearing down the powerful. And then the rest of us concerned about black female denigration can begin to examine our own glass mansions. [CONSTANCE L. RICE is a civil rights attorney in Los Angeles.] *** Bloomberg - Apr 12, 2007 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=at01LXp.JTRw&refer=home New Jersey's Corzine Is Injured in Car Accident By Adam L. Cataldo and Terrence Dopp April 12 (Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine suffered leg fractures, broken ribs and chest injuries from a car accident and is recovering at a Camden hospital in critical but stable condition. The governor is undergoing surgery at Cooper University Hospital and his injuries aren't considered life-threatening, said Anthony Coley, a spokesman for the governor, at a briefing at Cooper University Hospital. He has multiple broken ribs, a cracked sternum and collar bone, broken vertebrae and a head laceration, Coley said. Corzine suffered no spinal or brain damage, he said. "The governor at the moment is stable," said Dr. Steven V. Ross, head of the division of trauma and emergency medical services at Cooper. "He will be hospitalized in our intensive care unit in critical but stable condition." Corzine, 60, was injured when the car he was riding in struck a guardrail on the Garden State Parkway after hitting a vehicle that had swerved to avoid a pickup truck driving erratically. His two-car motorcade was on its way from Atlantic City to the governor's mansion, Drumthwacket, in Princeton, where Corzine was to host a meeting between radio talk show host Don Imus and the Rutgers University women's basketball team. The Drumthwacket meeting followed racially charged remarks made about the team by Imus, who was fired over the incident today. The meeting proceeded without Corzine, Coley said, without providing more specifics. Corzine earlier today appeared at the New Jersey Conference of Mayors annual meeting at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City. Acting Governor, Again Richard Codey, president of the state Senate, is serving as acting governor while Corzine recovers, Coley said. Codey, 60, a Democrat, served as governor for 14 months after former Governor James McGreevey resigned in 2004 after disclosing he had engaged in an extramarital affair with a man he had placed on the state payroll. In an interview with WABC-TV, Codey said he isn't sure how long he will serve as acting governor, estimating it would be from two days to about a week. He noted that McGreevey and former Governor Christine Todd Whitman also both suffered broken legs in office. "Governor McGreevey had the same accident, a broken femur," Codey said. "Governor Whitman broke her leg as well. We have had a run of bad luck obviously shall we say." The accident happened shortly after 6 p.m. on the northbound side of the parkway in Galloway Township, Atlantic County, said Colonel Rick Fuentes, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. Corzine and a state trooper were transported to the hospital for treatment, he said, and an aide to the governor was taken to the hospital as well. Investigation Fuentes said it wasn't raining at the time of the accident and that the investigation is continuing. Police are still searching for the driver of the pickup, who didn't stop at the scene. The driver and the passenger of the car struck by Corzine's vehicle in the accident gave statements to the police. "From our preliminary investigation, it looks as if the trooper did a tremendous job in maintaining what control he could over that vehicle given the fact that the other vehicle swerved into his path," Fuentes said. Fuentes said whether Corzine and the trooper were wearing seatbelts is being investigated. Another briefing was expected later tonight as more information became available. From Wall Street Corzine, a former chairman of Goldman Sachs, & Co. and U.S. Senator, became governor in January 2006, vowing to use his Wall Street experience to shore up the state's finances. Two months later, the Democrat proposed raising the state's sales tax to close a budget deficit, causing an impasse with lawmakers in his own party that shut down the government for a week last July until a compromise was reached. Earlier this month, he signed legislation to provide more than $2 billion of property-tax credits to a majority of homeowners in the state, which has the highest real-estate taxes in the U.S. Corzine as governor has also passed laws to spend state money on stem-cell research, authorize civil unions for gay couples. Corzine grew up on a family farm in the central Illinois town of Willey's Station. He received a bachelor's degree at the University of Illinois and a master's degree in business administration at the University of Chicago, and began a career in finance at the Continental Illinois National Bank in Chicago. In 1975, Corzine was recruited by New York-based Goldman Sachs, and he and his family moved to New Jersey. He was named a partner in 1980, became chairman and chief executive in 1994, and left the company in 1999. In the Senate, Corzine was one of President George W. Bush's strongest critics, voting against the use of force in Iraq and the president's tax cuts, a led his party's fundraising efforts. * ================================================================ .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org .List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ .Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================