I saw this coming from a mile away that the media would find scapegoats!!!! Scapegoat number 1: Hip Hop a. Hip hop was here before Imus. Hip Hop is not all gold , hoes , and crime. There are other artists who have insightful lyrics. Similar to the concept that all white people are not racists, some are and some are not. Common, Blackthought, Dead Prez, Talib Kwele, Mos Def, and others all speak to the intuitive minds of listeners , not just yelling crap over a microphone. b. Why doesn't anyone blame the production labels for profiting off of these rappers? They are the enablers of their acts who promote and produce them. c. 75% of all rap music purchased are done by Whites. Enough said. Scapegoat number 2: Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson Al Sharpton did not make the racist and sexist comments. Imus did. Al Sharpton has conducted forums and symposiums (sp) about the lyrics and behavior of some rappers. He has spoken to them directly condemning the actions against the beautiful women who for the most part raised them. Jessie Jackson did not make the racist and sexist comments. Imus did. Jessie Jackson has done a lot for all communities in America. Jackson has also publicly condemned certain rappers for behavior and lyrics. His comments about "hymie town" were unjust and derogatory. So the question is why didn't the Jewish leaders speak out??
What Imus said was pretty bad and I thought he should've been suspended. But why can Al Sharpton, a "civil rights leader", get away with saying this stuff: "White folks was in the cave when we built empires. We taught philosophy and astrology and mathematics before Socrates and then Greeks homos ever got around to it." (he also said the n word a ton of times) <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zlaEdChOzPs"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zlaEdChOzPs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FVJ14uL22R4"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FVJ14uL22R4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object> or these comments. Some of which caused or inflamed riots where people were killed.: "We will not stand by and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business." “If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house." "Talk about how Oppenheimer in South Africa sends diamonds straight to Tel Aviv and deals with the diamond merchants right here in Crown Heights." Al accuses district attorney Steven Pagones of raping Tawana Brawley (which was obviously a hoax)- “We stated openly that Steven Pagones did it. If we’re lying, sue us, so we can go into court with you and prove you did it. Sue us—sue us right now.” Pagones did sue and Al never paid pagones. Pagones received death threats and threats against his kid, because of Al's bull****. and the worse thing he ever did was call the Central Park Jogger, while she was in a coma, a "w****" as he chanted her name on the steps of the courthouse. First off you aren't supposed to leak the name of a rape victim; second how the hell can you call her a w**** while she's in a coma? If Imus deserved to get fired from his comments, Al should be banned from the radio and he should step down from whatever the hell his "job" is.
yeah but they dont have the power that sharpton and jackson have. sharpton and jackson get meetings with all the corporations and they get meetings with the police commissioners. they do whatever the **** they want.
if i miss any just let me know: "If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house"- http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0704100440apr11,1,4717361.column?coll=chi-news-col "Diamond merchants" http://www.thebulletin.us/site/news.cfm?newsid=18235238&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=576361&rfi=6 "Talk about how Oppenheimer in South Africa sends diamonds straight to Tel Aviv and deals with the diamond merchants right here in Crown Heights."- http://www.nationalreview.com/lowry/lowry200312030840.asp ""We will not stand by and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business."- http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=27826 Sharpton telling Pagones to sue him if Sharpton's lyin: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_2000_March_20/ai_59705344/pg_3 Al calls the Central Park jogger a w****.- http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/LarryElder/2007/04/19/another_white_man_bites_the_dust http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0704/13/lkl.01.html Al refused to apologize to Pagones and has a friend pick up the tab.- http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16991931&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=161556&rfi=6
Hey... Its been about two weeks already. Hip-Hop, the Sopranos, Ann Coulter, or Chris Rock stil being harrassed by the countless protests led by Jesse and Al?
Did anyone else hear that Al was gonna give Def Jam's LA Reid some kind of award but he decided not to because he "didn't want to be hypocritical" because he's going after rap now... All I want to know is why he was going to give him the award in the first place It's not like LA Reid just got into the rap industry last week....
It's not a watershed moment. It's just another example of how free markets work. Conservatives everywhere should be proud.
No. His ratings increased during the whole debacle. Besides, the "free market" isn't going to produce a man's firing in less than a week. Advertisers didn't pull out because their commercials weren't reaching a large number of people, they pulled out because of Al Sharpton and the feigned outrage circus he created.
Advertisers made the considered decision that on balance the damage to their brand by continued association with Imus outweighed the benefit of exposure through his radio show. That is the market at work.
His ratings increased due to bad press that his sponsors didn't want to be associated with. They fired him as a result. That's the free market at work. An old rich white man basically called the Rutgers basketball team black whores. I don't think it's feigned outrage. Sharpton is just a huckster and you give him way too much credit.
On a very surface level, yes. But markets are determined much deeper. Marketing and brand association is a huge part of free market economics. This was purely an economic decision on the part of the sponsors, which then made it an economic decision on the part of CBS. The beauty of the free market.
Before this happened, I never watched his show, but as soon as they were threatening to fire him, I began watching.
Marketing and brand association doesn't mean **** if no one is buying it. This was one small segment of the "market" being pressured by a few people with political and personal motives...
I was trying to impose my will on the paint thing, but the mouse and I got confused, then I got a headache. However, I believe the gist is susceptible to being gotten.
Unless those people have the power to influence consumer behavior (part of the free market), the sponsors had no reason to be pressured by them. With public corporations, its virtually always an economic decision.
