Don Imus

Everybody seems to have an opinion, here is mine. Imus is a comedian, an insult artist, a crabby guy who doesn't have a nice word for anybody besides Kinky Friedman. You tune into his show, if indeed you listen to him, to hear what outrageous crap he is spitting out. He is an equal opportunity insulter, taking on people regardless of race, creed, color, political position or sexual persuasion. I used to listen to him every morning on the radio when I was working in Tucson. He has not been on the radio here much. I vastly preferred him to Howard Stern, to whom he is often compared, primarily because Imus talks mostly about politics and sports, while Howard pretty much sticks to sex. His MSNBC simulcast doesn't do much for me because I really don't want the TV on in the morning. There was a time when I would record his show and watch it later but it really isn't appropriate as a viewing experience. I think that background noise while driving is as good as he gets.

Anyway, my opinion on this is that people need to get a life. Imus has said things that were just as offensive about thousands of people and hundreds of groups over the years. What makes the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team so special? If you don't like him, don't listen to him. I stopped watching recordings of his show because of a recurring character that was supposed to be Brian Wilson. I am a big fan of Brian Wilson and a found this caricature to be offensive to Wilson, the Beach Boys, people recovered from severe psychological problems, people with brain injuries, etc. I didn't call up MSNBC and demand that he be fired. Why does Al Sharpton get to do this? Imus can call the New York Knicks a bunch of pimps on a regular basis. Why is this different? Why does the NBC Nightly News lead with this "controversy" and spend 12 minutes on it? Why is it OK for rap artists to denigrate black women with similar phrases but not OK for Imus? Does that make it ok for Imus to call white women "hos"?

I think this is about the same deal as the Michael Richards thing, blown way out of proportion by people who see it as an easy chance to prove how liberal they can be. I agree with Howard Stern when he criticised Imus' apology and said "He should have said, 'F--k you, it's a joke.'"