4/16    Just a quick question for those who aren't upset about Imus being
        fired...If the two reverends who had gotten Imus fired were Robertson
        and Fallwell, and talked about "cleaning up the airwaves", would you be
        upset?  -emarkp
        \_ this isn't about "cleaning up the airwaves".  imus has said many
           horribly offensive things in the past.  so have many other radio
           hosts.  he got fired because this time the story grew legs.  the
           same reverends you are so upset about have complained about him
           before, but it never led to his firing.  the story got legs, the
           advertisers got worried, they pulled their support, he got fired.
           now, if you want to examine why it got legs this time around, that
           may be an interesting topic.  but tom's right.  this is a red
           herring.  --scotsman
        \_ Rather a red herring, don't you think, considering those are both
           bigoted assholes who would never call on anyone to be fired for
           racist remaks against blacks.
           If Imus had instead called the University of Utah basketball
           team a bunch of "Mormon white boys screwing their own sisters,"
           I think he should have been fired for that, too.  -tom
           \_ I don't think those two got him fired.  I think advertisers
              threatening to not advertise with CBS anymore got him fired.
              I am curious, do you listen to Imus' show?  Are you really
              going to defend someone who hired someone just to
              write nigger jokes?  I had more respect than that for you.
              \_ Sharpton and Jackson were in on the board meeting of CBS
                 before he got fired.  They also were publicly calling for
                 pressure on his advertising.  From that I conclude that they
                 were involved. -emarkp
           \_ See tom I see the problem as anyone being able to point at
              someone and get him fired. Imus has been making nasty comments
              for decades, but this time the Reverends pointed their fingers
              and he was gone.  I would think that would raise eyebrows here
              considering how much antipathy there is on motd for organized
              religion. -emarkp
              \_ Imus has gotten fired numerous times without Jackson and
                 Sharpton being involved.  And frankly, it is sad that he
                 wasn't fired immediately by CBS and that it took community
                 pressure.  -tom
                 \_ He wasn't fired by CBS immediately because he was making
                    money for them. And has been for years. I've never listened
                    to him and given his history I wouldn't ever listen to him.
                    However, I *also* wouldn't call for him to be fired.
                    -emarkp
                    \_ Really?  Why not?  There's nothing stopping him from
                       spewing his shit somewhere else.  If he is going to
                       to be a well paid moron, he should be tough enough to
                       face hard economic consequences.
                       \_ I think freedom is very important, especially
                          freedom of speech.  For instance, I hate smoking but
                          voted against the massive taxes on smoking (prop 10)
                          and outlawing it in all buildings.  I could never
                          vote for McCain because of his assault on 1st
                          amendment (campaign finance). -emarkp
                          \_ Imus makes money for CBS, therefore it's OK
                             for him to say what he wants--is that your
                             position?  Well, I think it's also freedom of
                             speech for the people affected by his bigoted
                             speech to use *their* free speech rights to
                             call CBS's advertisers (the ones paying Imus)
                             and tell them to fire the guy.  -tom
                             \_ No, it's for CBS to decide if he should be
                                fired. I just wonder why people aren't pointing
                                out that it's clergy that are calling for the
                                air to be cleaned up.  And as for others using
                                their speech, I think it would be better for
                                others to respond to it and stop listening if
                                they're offended.  Wasn't that what people were
                                saying when Janet Jackson flashed her boob?
                                -emarkp
                                \_ Of course when Janet Jackon showed her
                                   boobies THE GOVERNMENT (FCC) was involved
                                   in punitive actions.  Do you see the
                                   difference between government action
                                   and private citizens taking action?
                                   Imus managed to fly under most people's
                                   for a long time, went way over the line
                                   and suddenly people noticed "hey, what is
                                   this asshole doing this schtick that makes
                                   CBS many millions a year?"  and found
                                   a way to make it clear to CBS that hey,
                                   if they wanted to keep him around it was
                                   going to cost them via private economic
                                   boycotts.
                                \_ People *are* pointing out it's clergy.  You
                                   are.  It's completely irrelevant, which is
                                   why no one else is.  And are you really
                                   trying to equate insulting people based on
                                   their race, with flashing a nipple?  Who
                                   did Janet injure?  -tom
                                   \_ My children were injured.  Tom, if you
                                      injure my children, I WILL GET YOU.