MSNBC bids Imus adieu

Look at that punim. Don Imus has reason to be cranky today. Yesterday, he was abruptly fired by MSNBC, ending an 11-year relationship with the network. The fate of his radio program is still in question. For now, CBS is maintaining that he'll be suspended without pay for two weeks. So far, that's the extent of his punishment.

I'm already tired of this story, to be honest, but I'd be remiss to leave out a few things. First, a good parody...



Stephen never disappoints.



Michael Smerconish brings up some interesting points here - he is right that people in our society walk around just waiting to be offended, but he's way off base with regard to the Rutgers women's basketball team. Words DO have meaning, and consequences. Yes, he was looking for a cheap laugh, by using racially hateful and insensitive comments.

Smerconish is normally a conservative I respect and listen to, because of his noted lack of hateful comments; he's level-headed and reasonable. But, he's got the Imus case all wrong.



I'm anticipating that this will be the first and last time in my life that I will agree with Laura Ingraham about anything, but I give her credit for reacting the way she did in this clip. The footage runs out, but evidently, she didn't return for the next segment.

It's hard to overstate how much I despise the insipid Hannity, and the footage above is precisely why the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson getting involved in this controversy clouds this issue. It gives conservative jackals fodder for the hypocrisy cannon, and distracts from what Imus said or what this whole story is about in the first place.

These two morons have a history of making highly racial and insensitive remarks themselves, so for them to come to the "aid" of Rutgers basketball players is absurd, and the height of hypocrisy.

What annoys me even more is the fact that Repubes are trying to make political hay out of the Imus remarks, when they really should keep their mouths shut. Take a look at this footage...



Terry Jeffrey, editor-at-large of Human Events magazine, probably says the most idiotic and contradictory statements I've heard on television in quite a long time.

"Don Imus represents the decline in standards in American broadcasting"?!? Surly you jest, Mr. Jeffrey.

Apparently Jeffrey's never heard broadcasts of Matt Drudge, Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, Michelle Malkin, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Tom DeLay, etc.? Talk about selective outrage. I'm choking on righteous indignation. Jeffrey almost (almost!) sounds like the right's idiotic answer to this whole mess vis à vis Sharpton and Jackson on the left.

As Keith Olbermann rightfully pointed out tonight on his show, where's the outrage over the "racist right's" comments. A recent sampling:

• Rush Limbaugh calling Barack Obama [and Halle Berry] "Halfrican American"

• Michael Savage saying the Voting Rights Act means "a chad in every crackhouse"

• Neil Boortz saying Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), an African-American Congresswoman, "looks like a ghetto slut"

• How about former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay comparing Democrats to Nazis? (Scroll down a few messages and you'll hear audio of it.)

These are just a few examples. I don't have enough time or energy to cite them all, but that's a pretty good "worst of" list.

Jeffrey winds up this clip with a breathtaking bomb:

"I think this type of programming underestimates the intelligence for the potential audience it has."

I'll remember that the next time I hear Rush Limbaugh comparing Democrats who oppose funding a destructive, idiotic war to Stalin, while Vice President Dick Cheney plays the role of Ed McMahon, nodding in agreement and braying like a donkey. (I blogged about this last weekend.)

By the way, and I know I've mentioned this before, but when you have five minutes to kill, drop by the Human Events Website - it really is a kick.

Here's a press conference that the Rutgers Womens Basketball Team held yesterday...



Elegantly said, and well put. It will be very interesting to hear what comes of the meeting between Imus and the team. I give those girls a lot of credit for even agreeing to meet with him; it's going to be a pretty uncomfortable meeting all around, but mostly for Imus. It should be.



Here's Al Sharpton on CNN's Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. I agree with just about everything Sharpton is says, but it's tough to get past the messenger. He's got such a checkered past, it's tough to look past his credibility problem. But, he's right about Imus.

I'll say it one more time, and then I'm movin' on, because I've had enough of this story already, but I hate it that Sharpton's even involved in this matter, because it's just fodder for the right's cannon of hate and intolerance.

I find it profoundly sad that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are spokesmen for African-Americans today in any capacity. Seriously, it undermines the issue whenever these two idiots show up and preen before the cameras and sound as if they've never done anything wrong in their lives.

Anyway, one down, one to go - time for Imus to go from CBS, too, but I'm not holding my breath.

I do wonder, getting back to Terry Jeffrey's comments, if this will be another excuse for Republicans to try and arrogantly push their morality on the rest of us. The FCC has done it before, and they'll undoubtedly try again. I really hope this isn't another Janet Jackson moment.

Has Mike Wallace gone soft?

Earlier tonight on 60 Minutes, journalism legend Mike Wallace interviewed Fox Noise Channel's Bill O'Reilly. I was underwhelmed.

I didn't expect a shouting match, but I did expect, and hoped for, tough questions. Not because Mike was interviewing blowhard Bill (okay, maybe a little), but because Wallace, unlike his son, Chris Wallace, who is picture-postcard proof of a hack if there ever was one, has a well-deserved reputation for going after guests and asking tough questions.

Fizzle.

Wallace did take Bill to task for several things, including Bill's pointing at him and guests on his show (wife's advice be damned); pointing out Bill's incorrect assertion on Maria Shriver; and for arguing with guests he doesn't agree with (which seems to be just about everyone).

But, there were some whoppers that Wallace didn't approach. How about a Keith Olbermann question? Bill-O has a notoriously short fuse, and that would have undoubtedly lit it. The Wallace of 20 years ago would have wasted no time going there. But tonight, no mention of Keith.

How about O'Reilly falsely boasting about having won two Peabody Awards when he hosted Inside Edition? (He later cleared it up after Al Franken bitch slapped him by saying, "I misspoke, I called a Polk Award a Peabody Award." The show did win a single Polk Award, but after Billy left. He just utters these lies thinking no one will check on their accuracy.)

And what about a host of other lies, including O'Reilly's repeated assertion that he never tells guests to "shut up." He even repeated this whopper during Wallace's interview, stating that his staff went back and looked up how many times he's said it since being on the air, and they found "six times" when he told guests to shut up. The irony isn't lost on me that Bill lies about his lying.

That's my issue with him more than anything - he lies. Lies, lies, lies. And no one calls him on it. Political differences I can deal with - I listen to Tucker Carlson, Joe Scarborough and even Michael Smerconish from time to time. But, the far right idiotas who just lie, degrade, defame and name call, like Billy, aren't worthy of my time. I laugh with glee at people who equate O'Reilly with Al Franken, and I've heard this from a number of conservatives I know. Really? When's the last time Franken told someone to shut up, or threatened a guest on his show with violence, or was sued for sexual harassment? Just a thought.

Is there anyone who believes O'Reilly anymore? One can hear Billy say "shut up!" six times in a few shows, or in a week at the most. The thing is, there are people who believe whatever he says and take it at face value. Very few people take him to task for his lies and distortions.

Not even Mike Wallace.

I just dug up Billy and Franken fighting at the Book Expo on C-Span. This is how Billy reacts when called on a lie. When he's busted for lying, O'Reilly calls it a vicious attack. Really, it's just someone calling bullshit on his lies.

Anyway, enjoy - this is good stuff.



One final thought - Bill O'Reilly accusing someone, anyone, of being blinded by ideology is the height of idiocy, and hypocrisy.

Can Stewart & Colbert swing an election?

This is a pretty good overview by Joe Scarborough of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report and their potential impact on this year's election. At first, I thought Scarborough was going to slam both shows super hard, but he really didn't, and I was pleasantly surprised. Scarborough, much like Michael Smerconish, is a conservative I can at least listen to in order to hear different political points of view. I don't agree with either one politically - not even close, but these two don't seem to verbally regurgitate outright lies, slander and vicious attacks against people who differ with them politically.

I rarely miss The Daily Show, and I occasionally catch Colbert, but it's undeniable that they have broad appeal, especially among Democrats, but among moderates, too. I can't speak to Colbert's show too much, other than to say he was simply brilliant when he was on The Daily Show. Stewart, however, I'm pretty well versed in, and if I had to make a guess as to why it has such a loyal following, I'd say 1. Stewart isn't above criticizing Democrats, and has critically done so when they've deserved it, 2. He has on guests from both sides of the political spectrum; Rick Santorum and Bill O'Reilly among them, 3. Stew gets people with video tape - I don't think I've ever seen anyone more effective at zinging people with their own words, and 4. I defy anyone to find an instance where Stewart has lied or distorted to serve some thinly veiled political agenda. You know, like Bill O'Reilly. Good luck, because I believe you're going to have a pretty hard time.

The great thing about The Daily Show is that it has no Republican equivalent; as I've said before, I seriously doubt that people, especially young voters, are crowded around radios listening to Rush Limbaugh.

I believe Stewart will have an even bigger impact in '08. We'll see.