Life Wonk

Well sadly this morning, no one is celebrating more the firing of Don Imus than you guessed it, Al and Jesse. The media attributes his firing to the pressure of civil rights leaders and the conscience of CBS.

Well first lets look at how these ‘leaders’ are using this tragedy to their advantage.

First we have Jesse, on Keith Olbermann who rambles on and on and goes on his fail safe argument, “There are no Black news programs on MSNBC..” Relevance? Granted, I would like to see a Black journalist with a mainstream news show, but I don’t think Don Imus’s intention in making those comments was to make MSNBC a more racially diverse news channel.

I look at the news and see Al, heralding CBS and the public for “unifying”
together to get Imus fired. The media is not doing any better by solidifying such claims.

Its all a bunch of crap. The older I get, the more news I watch, I see this societies being real. It is clear and obvious that the only reason behind this firing was money. Here is what the CBS President and CEO, Les Moonves reason for firing Imus.

“”From the outset, I believe all of us have been deeply upset and revulsed by the statements that were made on our air about the young women who represented Rutgers University in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship with such class, energy and talent. Those who have spoken with us the last few days represent people of goodwill from all segments of our society—all races, economic groups, men and women alike. In our meetings with concerned groups, there has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society. That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision, as have the many emails, phone calls and personal discussions we have had with our colleagues across the CBS Corporation and our many other constituencies. “

From the outset? By the way the world revulsion is defined by Merriam-Webster as

1 : a strong pulling or drawing away : WITHDRAWAL
2 a : a sudden or strong reaction or change b : a sense of utter distaste or repugnance

We all know the chain of events. He made the comments on April 4th, it wasn’t until April 12th he was canceled from CBS Radio. I’m trying to figure out when the revulsion kicked in that led them to this swift and immediate firing.

The only ones revulsed were the advertisers, who ultimately led to Imus’s firing. My father taught me as a child ” Whoever has the money, has the power.”  The one being heralded as heroes in this mess, are the most self serving, spineless, ruthless people of all, Jesse, Al, CBS and MSNBC. Two corporations and two pawns they use to create a diversion. CBS nor MSNBC had no intention on firing Imus because of the social injustices, no no, the almighty dollar. 

Sadly, you know who is still left out in the cold to hurt. The Rutgers University Women’s Basketball  and the entire student body. They have to turn on the TV and see this banter go on and on and the media profiting off of their embarrassment and humiliation.  To add insult to injury, there are reports that the Women’s team are receiving hate mail. (sighs…)

This makes perfect sense. I am convinced the Rethuglicans are in control of the media, and they have just made a ton of money off of this scandal, just as they are making billions in Iraq off of the cost of young, innocent, dedicated Americans in our military all on a lie. How sadistic a society…..

Wonk-ed off!

More from the Imus-gate fiasco…

Finally, MSNBC decided to pull the plug on the simulcast of Don Imus’s Morning show…not a total fix because he will still be on the radio. At least I wont accidentally flip to MSNBC and see Imus apologizing to the Black Community for 2 hours. That was getting old fast.

“This decision comes as a result of an ongoing review process, which initially included the announcement of a suspension. It also takes into account many conversations with our own employees. What matters to us most is that the men and women of NBC Universal have confidence in the values we have set for this company. This is the only decision that makes that possible. Once again, we apologize to the women of the Rutgers basketball team and to our viewers. We deeply regret the pain this incident has caused.”

Review process? Justice?

“General Motors Corp. and Sprint Nextel both announced Wednesday they were suspending their advertising. Procter and Gamble Co., Staples Inc. and Bigelow Tea Co. also have removed their ads from the program. “

Yeah right. Its always about money. Remember, the guy is still on the radio, there is money to be made, even in the shadows of racism and hate. Yet another slap in the face. Someone needs to tell their sitcom writers not to write their press release, we can tell the difference between what’s real and what’s made up. Clearly this was just a facade to shut the fuss up. My Wonky-sense is telling me that it wont.

Hey….what happened to Gonzo-gate? sighs….

del.icio.us tags: Imus, justice, rutgers, nappy, Media, MSNBC, women, basketball team, racism, racist, hoes, firing, Don Imus, Imus in the Morning, Gonzo, Alberto Gonzalez, Gonzo-gate

Its so funny looking at race in America. I avoided writing about Imus-gate, but I find it disturbing that the way people respond at race when things like this come up. It seems like there is an equation and get it wrong each time. As a realist, I realize that race is something that has divided us so long that it will take more than two self serving civil rights activists to solve the problems that we face here in 2007.

The equation usually goes something like this..

Conservative Radio Jock /Washed up Racist Comic makes ignorant and racist comments towards Black Americans in a random fashion and very viscous with such remarks + media outrage + plus you can not forget the rhetoric from the self serving civil rights activists( they usually fizzle out after a week or so….until something else comes up or its time for a hair relaxer) = Said person with foot in mouth, apologizing and downloading ‘Roots’ on his/her iPod to atone for their sins to the Black Community (probably a suggestion of one of those guys who thinks they speak for the entire Black community).

You do not have to be an actuary to see that no one is addressing the issues at hand here. The fact is with this conservative control over the media, people have gotten this air that it is okay to do such things. When it all comes to light, and the offended parties are out raged there is an apology, but for what? I am all for Imus getting canned, and I thought that long before this happened. 

Ok….my tirade on Imus is done…Fire the guy because he is a jerk and it was wrong. 

I find it funny how the media tries to approach this with sensitivity at the same time attacking the black community. In watching the coverage of this paroxysm of racism, I noticed that the media loves to play on the “hypocrisy of the Black Community.” Constantly citing the flaws in our argument of demanding respect when racially maligned by White Americans, while trying to approach the subject with sensitivity and understanding. They project this image that we should let things go because the Black Community uses certain slurs as non offensive when used by other Black people, and it should be taken the same way. Well, we haven’t, nor ever will take it the same way.

I hate the condescending tone that the media takes, especially in these times. I think they see this as a science and every few months they run experiments on the Black Community. It starts with a catalyst, they have to get everyone’s attention, the easiest way to do this is a racial attack on a random target. Usually, its Black Americans actually doing positive things and contributing to this country, i.e. Sen. Barack Obama, The Champion WOMEN at Rutgers, and countless others. What they will do is try to relate to our community by taking some of the things that plague our community, that most in the Black Community revile nonetheless, and use it to attack. Upon analysis the argument is, ‘ you use the ‘N’ word’ or ‘its common in rap music and comedy for men to refer to women as hoes and bitches’ and they ask is this uproar necessary. YES! Like most scientists they just take a sample, experiment and then draw conclusions. That’s what the media is doing here, they take the subject of the offended, pair them with pundits and other racial ethicists (please tell me how you get that job) engage in irrelevant punditry, and the subject has changed from, of what one person said out of hate, to a weak arguement like ’ well all black people use the ‘N’ word, you stop using it and we will do the same.’

Well, we are yet again under the microscope and I am upset because they have yet again attacked. This time a diverse group of successful young women at Rutgers University during their moment of Glory only to send a message and try to break the morale of the already fragile Black Community.

I hate the news……..

WONk-ed off! :X