--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], Robert Gimbel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Just because Mr.Imus is white; > And just because he had been dissing- > Everyone from Hillary to Cheney... > It's a satirical show; is our culture that retarded? > Really he was mocking the rappers lyrics...
No, he wasn't. Excerpt from a post by John Shure on Blue Jersey, a progressive blog, about Imus's appeal: The other part of the appeal, I think, is the nature of Imus's usual targets. He generally unloads on politicians and show biz people. Now, those two groups have something in common. They both seek public approval, and they seek it hard. One group wants votes and power; the other money and fame. We can all probably agree that the attempts of both groups to win us over can get a little pathetic sometimes. So we kind of like to see them put down. Especially when it comes to politicians, there is something in the American psyche that wants our leaders to be no better than we are. Why that is and what to do about are topics for another time. But we enjoy it when they get ribbed and we want to see how well they can take it. Their willingness to sit still for this earns them points with the public. And if they turn out to be good-humored and quick with a comeback, it helps that much more in their quest to be seen as a regular guy--or woman. Bottom line: it's not a great system, but these people--in the world we live in--are fair game. You could go so far as to say they're asking for it. That brings us to what was so downright tacky about Imus's attack on the Rutgers women hoopsters. They didn't appear on national TV last week in search of our votes or our money. They were there because they won the requisite basketball games to play for the NCAA championship. That was a pretty impressive moment in the spotlight, but it by no means made them fair game. What made it even worse was that Imus picked on the way they looked. I think they looked just fine, but that's not the point. Had anyone on the team done anything in the title game that was the least bit questionable (I don't know, a hard foul or an obscene gesture), well then maybe you could go off on them. But to make fun of their appearance? That's juvenile. That's bullying. That's the sort of thing the cool kids could always get away with. Imus is being accused of being racist and/or sexist. Either could certainly be applicable. But I think what has so many of us so annoyed by his latest insult is that is was just so damned mean, so damned nasty, so incredibly uncalled for even under the standards of the political/media culture we live in today. The RU basketball team wasn't asking for it. http://www.bluejersey.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4493
