[DustyMoment]

My freedom of speech was questioned. Some of the complaints that came in fell in that same category; I was denying Don Imus his freedom of speech. Far from it. Don Imus has the right to say whatever he wants, however hateful, stupid or uncaring. He DOES NOT have the right to say it on public airwaves or on the cable broadcast of a publicly owned company. That is a privilege, just as you do not have the right to have a license to drive a car. It is a privilege. Privileges can be revoked if certain criteria are not met.

Sorry, Al, the First Amendment makes no such distinction. Don Imus or anyone else in public life has as much right to make a fool of him/herself on the public airways as anyone else - including Al Roker. If rappers may talk about "nappy haired hos" and use the "N-word" without restriction on the public airways, so may Don Imus.

The fact of the matter is that if Al doesn't like what Imus says, he doesn't have to listen to him. And, if enough people decide that they don't like what Don Imus says, the market forces will take over and his network will respond accordingly. This is the magic and wonder of capitalism that leftists never have and never will understand. Roker is obviously over his head and out of his league on this one.

[teddyballgame]

“Sorry, Al, the First Amendment makes no such distinction. Don Imus or anyone else in public life has as much right to make a fool of him/herself on the public airways as anyone else - including Al Roker. If rappers may talk about “nappy haired hos” and use the “N-word” without restriction on the public airways, so may Don Imus.”

Not exactly. Don has to answer to employee General Moters and Viacom and not a record label that knows what it is getting when it produces the album. Don has the right to say what he wants but risks getting canned when advertisers pull the plug. There is also the FCC rules. Big difference.