Imus: Public enemy No. 1
Posted on Monday, April 16, 2007
America will be a lot better off
now that we are finally done
with Don Imus. He led us into an unjustified and dangerous war based on the flimsiest pretense. His political henchmen supervised the firing of eight federal prosecutors for political gain. He has exposed CIA operatives, alienated our allies around the world and created an unmanageable federal budget deficit. Yes, Imus is a bad sort. In his spare time, he stirs up trouble on the Little Rock School Board and lobbies for payday lenders. He gives charm lessons to Simon Cowell and is an image consultant for Sanjaya. His nationally syndicated radio show was but a clever ruse designed to conceal the sinister ambitions of a man who can well be described as public enemy No. 1.
Many will suggest that this critique is born of professional jealousy, seething, uncontrolled, bitter hatred and resentment for another more fortunate, talented, hard-working, ambitious and deserving individual. Furthermore, Imus does have his defenders, led by the internationally renowned broadcast team of “Opie and Anthony.” These are the same outstanding professional entertainers who once desecrated St. Patrick’s Cathedral on a Roman Catholic holy day. Only a backwater mediocrity would dare criticize the almighty I-man, so let’s rock on.
It is a fact, and a proud personal distinction, that I have been badmouthed on national radio by Don Imus. That occurred during a remote broadcast from Little Rock back during the Bill Clinton years. The previous evening, Imus viewed my cable television show while he was dining at Doe’s Eat Place. Based on nothing more than a flickering image (sound familiar ?), he did not hesitate to insinuate, to a national audience, that I was the lowest kind of sexual predator.
Specifically, Imus said of me, “He’s got a bag of boy’s underwear someplace.”
As a public person, professional broadcaster, entertainer and commentator, the free publicity was much appreciated, no harm was done and there is nothing to be forgiven. I want no acts of vengeance.
In addition to having made all the money on earth for most of 40 years, Imus has had at his disposal a highly motivated promotion department whose task it is to dream up charitable ventures designed to soften his otherwise shabby exterior. Imus ’ ranch for sick kids is one of the slickest stunts in the long, sordid history of American hucksterism. It looks like a great tax-deductible vacation destination for Imus and his zany crew.
Imus spent most of last week whining, while simultaneously advising his audience that it was time to move on. The only thing any funnier is how those goofy MSNBC and CBS executives feigned dismay over the most recent episode of hateful thoughtlessness, which has been the Imus franchise for longer than many of his listeners have been alive.
While the host’s rambling caricature of the Rutgers women’s basketball team was unnecessarily hurtful, it would appear that most of the commentators have overlooked one racial epithet uttered by a member of the Imus cast. People, I was born in Mobile, Ala., in 1950. In my personal memory, black folks were made to eat at separate lunch counters, drink from different water fountains, come in and go out through the back door, and ride in the back of the bus and on separate railroad coaches. I have not heard such a disgusting word in 40 years, and it is mighty troubling that anybody still talks that way in 2007. For Imus, it was just another tasteless punch line. In the fashionable land of the cool, every person’s value is measured in either purchasing power or sex appeal. What Imus had to say about the Rutgers athletes presumed that sexual promiscuity was astounding, but
consider the source. Too bad for Imus
that these young ladies fought back. He’s never been any good at sincere apologies, so the outcome should not be a surprise. Don Imus is, for now, finished on TV and radio, which is the intelligent business decision. Hypocrites and self-seeking vultures like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson who have been threatening to bring in the Federal Communications Commission have already been exposed as irrelevant charlatans. You may be assured that Imus will be replaced by something even more repulsive. Listeners know what they like. The rest of us should spend more time watching the guy who is really causing all the trouble. That man lives in the White House.
—–––––•–––––—Free-lance columnist Pat Lynch has been a radio broadcaster in Central Arkansas for more than 20 years.
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