IMUS OFF HIS MOORING?

            That Don
Imus made distasteful remarks about any demographic, including the women of the
Rutgers basketball team  should come as
no surprise, but  . . .  a number of things should be considered, not
the least of which is that America has a short attention span and there are second and third acts in our
country.  Two examples are relevant, one
being Al Sharpton (of  Tawana Brawley
shame) and another being the Rev. Jesse Jackson, he of some not so kosher
remarks about “Hymie Town”, his personal take on NYC.  Were such remarks spoken by a non-right wing
white politician, (don’t forget Trent Lott again has major influence in
Republican Washington) their stench would have a much longer shelf life.  And while Mr. Imus may claim that his insults
are of equal opportunity, but they are not equal in intensity; any who’ve
listened to the Imus show’s body of work knows his crew has enthusiastically
engaged in caricatures of blacks that are more pointed than those other groups,
and with the exception of their obsession with Bill Clinton, done with more
venom.



That noted,
we feel strongly that Don Imus is a man with a superb legacy of charitable work
for many of the most deserving and needy and that should be taken into account
when judging his punishment (a two week suspension) which seems appropriate.  But if Mr. Imus is serious about making changes
in his show, he should start by expanding the scope of his influential guests
while contracting the influence some assistants who’ve hardly assisted, based
on their body of work.  First as to his show’s content, there are
certainly black columnists of import; the gifted Bob Herbert of the NY Times
comes to mind, and black talk show hosts who would be more than guest
worthy.  Next, regarding some of his in
studio “kicks”, frankly, Mr. Imus reminds one of a well intentioned person who
has fallen in with a bad crowd.  The
content spewed during his budding growth to the right brings to mind a scene
from the movie “Good Morning, Vietnam”,
starring Robin Williams as an Army DJ in Saigon.  In a climactic moment, a hard but fair General reprimands the Sergeant
(who does not share the fair part) and who has been Mr. Williams’ antagonist
throughout the picture with the most salient of remarks to the effect that he has
no higher purpose, saying “You’re
just mean, that’s all”.  And while Don
Imus may jump to defend his (on the right) sidekicks, they’re just mean, that’s all, and they’ve done no small part to
help set the stage for the stage he’s now on. 
At least that’s our view, or should we say, our listen, and we hope Mr.
Imus is back, and this time in control in all respects, all due respect. 

Postscript: The day after this letter was written, it was revealed in the national media that on
April 4^th, one such cohort, Bernard McGuirk, described the Rutger’s
women as “Some hard-core hos”, Imus then repeated the sentiment on the air; we
all know what followed.  Let’s see now if
change gone come.