Posted on 04/13/2007 9:10:26 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday that radio host Don Imus' comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team were "disgusting" and she was pleased he was fired.
Imus called the women players "nappy-headed hos" -- racist, sexist remarks that resulted in a barrage of protests and ultimately in the outspoken host losing his CBS Radio show, which was also televised.
"I'm very glad that there was, in fact, a consequence. I think that this kind of coarse language doesn't belong anywhere in reasonable dialogue between reasonable people," Rice said in an interview with syndicated radio show host Michael Medved.
Rice, the first black female U.S. Secretary of State and a former college professor, said the young women Imus targeted were fine athletes trying their best.
"It gets ruined by this disgusting -- and I'll use the word 'disgusting' -- comment which doesn't belong in any polite company and certainly doesn't belong on any radio station that I would listen to," she added.
Asked how she handled racist, sexist comments directed her way, Rice laughed and replied: "I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. And I really don't care because, you know, I'm a mature woman
(Excerpt) Read more at today.reuters.com ...
Each company gets to make its own hiring/firing decisions.
Imus can go make his own rap album if he wants. In contrast, if he was *censored*, he'd be forbidden by the government from uttering the words.
He's not forbidden, though. He can go make his lowbrow rap album that idiots will buy (hey, they bought his ancient "I'm shocking people" radio schtick).
But he's not going to get a CBS Radio paycheck any longer.
...alas, perhaps the distinction between "firing" and "censorship" is too vast for some of today's kids to grasp.
Imus’ comments were directed as specific young ladies you are not public figures or nappy headed or whores. That is the difference and the minute those girls held that Press conference his job with CBS and NBC were over. This has little to do with Sharpton or Jackson (beyond Imus making the whole matter worse by appearing on Sharpton’s radio program.)
You said — “People don’t realize that she didn’t volunteer this opinion. She was responding to a question from Michael Medved on his show.”
That can be all well and good — but — it has never stopped any politician from “refocusing” the question to giving an answer that is more relevant to what the politician wants to say.
In other words, yes, perhaps the press asks a certain question, but that’s not the *really* relevant question, so you refocus and drive home the right answer.
That’s basically what Condi Rice should have done — especially light of that stuff I posted with post #55...
Regards,
Star Traveler
Condi is part of the establishment — much more reasonable and moderate than most, but still a part of the establishment. The establishment point of view is that Imus should have been fired.
You said — “Imus’ comments were directed as specific young ladies you are not public figures or nappy headed or whores. That is the difference and the minute those girls held that Press conference his job with CBS and NBC were over. This has little to do with Sharpton or Jackson (beyond Imus making the whole matter worse by appearing on Sharpton’s radio program.)”
All this does fit together in a grand way. First of all, of course, Condi Rice doesn’t have anything to do with Imus being fired. That’s not her business and she shouldn’t really comment on that. But, if she were to comment on this sort of thing (supposedly as simply a private citizen, because what on earth does the State Department have to do with nappy headed hoes?) — then what she should do is put things into perspective and show how *so much worse* is going on out there and that people should (in addition to reprimanding Imus) — go after those others who promote this kind of abject degenerate behavior and popularize it in rap music.
if she’s “got license” to comment on Imus, she certainly has license to comment on Ludicris. And if she can comment on Ludicris then she certainly can comment on the apparent discrepancy of the Sharptons and the Jacksons in ignoring the “greater evil” of what is being done with these rappers.
THEN, one could also call “corporate America” into account, too. I mean, if corporate America, by means of one company, whom employed Imus, can decide to fire him because of the inappropriate use of *three words* — well then — *how much more* could corporate America do to Ludicris and the other rappers for their *volumes* and *libraries* of degrading words and phrases.
And if the Democratic Party was *really interested* in this matter — when it came down to three words, spoken one time on a radio station, then they should *certainly* be interested in taking some kind of action against those who *flood* the music boxes of all these teens from 13 years old and up and thereby *inculcate* the very behavior that they’re rapping about.
It turns out that the Democratic Party and the others who called for Imus’ ouster are really not interested in this at all. They’re only interested in maintaining a *position of power* and enforcing “political correctness” insofar as it benefits them. And, of course, it doesn’t benefit them, with “political correctness” (in the *context* of the *use* of political power) to castigate the rappers for their *volumes* — over and against the three words from Imus. No, there is a serious discrepancy here.
Furthermore, the *public* is even party to this uneven standard and ignore the “nappy headed hoes” when Ludicris raps, but not when a white boy says three words on the radio.
There is something seriously wrong with our society— that’s for sure, and I can see it even extends to Condi Rice...
Regards,
Star Traveler
she is a bit Worf-esque.
They got close...in one of the Cardinal skits last year, I saw over at You Tube, they called her a "snaggletoothed...nappy headed Negress."
I hope she’s not caving like the rest of them.
Her comments are disappointing to say the least.
He got what he was headed for from the first time he thought any on them were his “friends”. My comments were entirely directed at the inappropriateness of our Secretary of State commenting on this situation at all. It seems like she is falling under the spell of the media asking her opinion on a case beyond the normal Iraq war stuff she is peppered with daily.
As far as I care Imus was someone who same with the sharks and got what he was headed for. That is despite the fact that his JOB is to be an annoying personality, which he did well. The faked furor was just an opportunity target for the libs latest racism claims. This is just donation time for Sharpton and Jackson. That is what they do.
They are far worse than Imus in so many ways. They consciously incite racism and do so not to make things better but to make money and gain power. They are the actual wrong parties here. They make money off this while setting race relations back every time they step into a situation.
“You know, until she came down on the side of firing what’s his name (I had never heard of him until this)... I actually thought Rice would make a better candidate than Hillary.”
So it is Hillary in 2008 for you if Condi runs, for a conservative this is a very interesting thread, the man that opened your heart is called Imus.
I can. There is a line, sometimes rather fine between humor and rank, vile insult and Imus ran over that line many times in his descriptions of her.
He deserves a punch in the mouth.
“He deserves a punch in the mouth.”
Well said,
evidently you are a conservative.
I was/am a big fan of the Imus show but I’ll never forget guest Mike Barnicle saying Rice was more like an employee of the Motor Vehicles Bureau than a secretary of state.
That’s a bit uncalled for. :) Although, she would make a hell of a Klingon, I think. I wouldn’t want to deal with her if she was waving a sword and a phaser.
Government had nothing to do with Imus getting fired. Private enterprise fired him after they determined that his continued presence was a liability.
I would give a weeks pay to find out just what songs were on the girl basketball team’s I-Pod’s BEFORE Imus met with them.
I am not trying to stir the pot. It is just a thought I can not get out of my head at the moment.
Nobody thought anything about the phrase at the time.
Leni
“I was/am a big fan of the Imus show but I’ll never forget guest Mike Barnicle saying Rice was more like an employee of the Motor Vehicles Bureau than a secretary of state.”
Yeah, well, she sure doesn’t seem to be doing much to make the world a better place to live.
What do these people in Washington actually DO besides cashing their paychecks every other week? Hell, I almost don’t blame Nancy Pelosi for going overseas and taking over the Secretary of State’s position - nobody on OUR team seems to want it.
What? Where did she advocate government intevention? Imus suffered the private consequences of his actions - his employers fired him because their advertisers didn't want to be associated with speech that offended a large portion of their market.
Imus is suffering nothing more than the consequences of his actions. Cry me a freakin' river.
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