Secretary Rice did well. Imus deserved to be fired for his idiocy just as Amos & Andy would be fired today if they tried to air their bigoted old blackface “comedy.”
...and firing people isn’t censorship, for all of the brainiacs out there who are hopelessly confused on the subject.
Censorship is the government banning your right to utter words.
Firing is a corporations right to decide to whom they extend paychecks.
Thus, firing and censorship are two vastly different concepts.
Leave bigoted blackface behind. The whole “I’m gonna shock my audience” schtick is old, anyway.
Fire ‘em all.
Firing is a corporations right to decide to whom they extend paychecks.
Thus, firing and censorship are two vastly different concepts.
Ah, but it is the reasons behind the firings that are important.
If they had said "Look, this guy has been a problem for months/years, here's why, and this lack of good judgment is the last straw." fine...
But fire him just for making a racist remark? Hey, who "fires" the racist rappers for making racist remarks? Who "fires" the so-called "artists" for burning/desecrating flags? Who fires the racist school administrations for bending over backwards to accommodate various political/religious sects?
The answer is of course, no-one. There is a tremendous, mind-boggling double standard here. I call someone a Nazi or a Jew, etc. and I'm a racist because they find that personally offensive. An "artist" burns the flag and I'm supposed to allow it? Support it? I find that kind of behavior personally offensive to the point of having taken a swing at someone - my freedom of expression.
My problem with this whole situation is that the very people who espouse "celebrate diversity" and "embrace tolerance" are the very people who scream for vengeance at the first sign of someone who disagrees with them. What's his name expressed a "diverse" opinion (albeit crudely and inappropriately) - I'm sure it diverged from the players opinion of themselves and their effort. But the thin-skinned brigade swung into action and got its pound of flesh. We can all sleep well again.. ;-/