Sacha Baron Cohen is mocking racism by taking it to an extreme. It is not a subtle point. Also, he was not going up to a schoolyard of jews and calling them "dirty greedy jews." The fact that Imus was referring to real, actual individuals as Hos - they do not take $ for sex, nor are they nappy headed - real black women, sucessful ones, from a college, who have families and friends and lives - makes it quite different than even gangsta-rap (which I think should be gone-after, and Sharpton and Jackson do...) which is typically unspecific (although offensive). But equating satires-of-racism with actual racist commentary is mising the point.
I don't know about the above case, but Michael Ray Richardson (Black person) just got fired a few weeks ago for prejudice comments. As far as I know just a single set of comments. Maybe... 1) Cohen IS a jew; 2) it was an R comedy movie (have to go out of your way to see it, minors protected).
Relevance? By changing the culture of CBS, they are censoring Don Imus? Does he not have the ability to speak unless he's on the air at CBS?? Perhaps they decided they don't want to provide airtime for people who are bigots? It's not a government entity. They are a profit-making corporation. There's no reason they have to provide airtime for all viewpoints.
Who's culture are they trying to change, theirs or ours? The culture that "permits a certain level of objectionable expression"? What does that mean? Radio personalities are not even sure what they can or can not say at this point. One was fired for making "nappy headed ho" the phrase of the day. Yes it's a corporation, but it is still censorship. This is corporate America's power. It is the government entity.
If radio personalities have no idea what they can or can't say, they are complete and total morons that should be unemployed anyway. It doesn't take very much intellect to realize you can't call a bunch of people you don't know "nappy headed hos". There are thousands of radio and TV personalities that have no problem staying away from saying stupid stuff. If the line is that blurry to some particular host, he or she shouldn't be on the radio anyway. Just let them spew their bigotry off the airwaves.
Imus has no more right to a job at CBS radio than I have such a right. He is an employee and can be fired just like Van Gundy can be fired if he isn't serving the organization well. If you're such a fan, don't worry. I'm sure he'll go on satellite or internet radio and you can listen to him spewing racist diatribes all day long to your hearts content.
The other radio host didn't call anyone anything. He just made "nappy headed ho" the phrase of the day. He was fired. What stupid stuff do you mean exactly? does that include political and social commentary and criticisms? Who decides what is stupid? You, me, corporate America? We are being controlled by fear and greed.
A group of white people who came to see Chris Rock would know what to expect. It might bomb due to unoriginality, but he would get away it.
The guy had been doing his job for 40 years. Doubt he is a moron. And why can't you call a bunch of random people "nappy headed ho's"? What on earth is the big deal about that? Who gives a damn. He's a "shock" jock. He's supposed to be controversial. He's suppose to cross the line. That's why his listeners love him. It doesn't make him a racist. He didn't say "Black women are all a bunch of nappy headed ho's" - now that would have raised my eyebrows. That's not what he said. People shouldn't have to tip toe around race people. It's part of our identify. And now - please tell me, why is it ok for Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to use the word "cracker" but it's not ok for Imus to say "nappy headed ho?" Anyone?
He unlike Imus would make it actually funny! If Imus said "nappy head ho" and it was funny instead of unfunny, none of this would be happening.
I once heard a report that I had a genius level IQ. Or was that my dog. Yes, I think it was the Wonder Dog. Certainly, he had more intelligence than Imus or Sharpton. He used impeccable language. No slurs, no bad jokes. He was the soul of discretion. A true gentleman and scholar. Not for him the path of fame by exploiting the race, creed, or misery of others for a few advertising dollars. And he was hypoallergenic. A genius indeed. D&D. The Wonder Dog.
Sponsors don't like controversy much. If he's supposed to be controversial, he got his wish and caused a controversy. Free market capitalism caused his value to plummet and he got fired. Big deal. Because the people offended by them let them continue to do it. If you have a problem with it, stand up to it. Others will stand up when they are offended. If you don't, that's your own problem. Who are you to tell others when they should or shouldn't be offended?
Link please? and i'd like to see the actual racist remarks bolded if you dont mind. and speaking of hipocrisy, i fnd it amusing that despite the fact that it was Imus who displayed hs genius IQ, somehow he's the good guy and Sharpton (who is an opportunist) is the bad guy. Cry me a river... If it was a one time thing, losing your job is definitely too harsh. Imus does this repeatedly. I'm scratching my head on how anyone can see Imus as the good guy.
Al Sharpton is controversial - why is he allowed to have a radio show? I didn't say people shouldn't be offended, I'm saying that being offended isn't enough to get someone fired. By the way, is it coindcidence that Imus, someone known to be on very poor terms with Hillary Clinton - someone with a lot of influence - has been replaced by a pro-Hillary guy? There might be more going on here than meets the eye.
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Don't you mean: no one has political points to score by complaining about it? I mean, Imus is an easy target. Hillary hates him and I am sure she is happy to see him go. Could it be that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, with strong ties to Hillary, had uterior motives in playing the race card? With upcoming primaries, it can't hurt to have Imus replaced by a pro-Hillary program. But Al Sharpton - who would gain by going after him? He has power allies, and he won't hesitate to cry wolf if you attack him (you're a racist for attacking a black leader). Imus is a sheep, Sharpton is a wolf. That's why Imus is gone, and Sharpton remains. Has nothing to do with being offensive. That's all a red herring.
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