Tapsearch Com EditorImus in the mourning
April 12th 2007 03:25
MSNBC just killed its simulcast of his radio show.
Also, Ann Coulter has a fairly amusing (except in the middle, where it's just rambling) column about the incident.
I like one of the distinctions she draws:
And this is classic Coulter:
However, I think she's wrong here:
OK, she's right about Al Sharpton, but here I go back to something I said about Michael Richards. In that case, the two hecklers deserved what they got, but Richards chose to put it in terms that insulted a whole community. I argued he needed to apologize to the community, but not to the individuals.
Here, even the specific targets did not have it coming, so Coulter's right that Imus should concentrate on apologizing to the specific women he spoke of. But the term "nappy-headed" is racially charged and thus insults blacks as a group. Groveling in front of Al Sharpton isn't the way to fix anything, but Imus does owe blacks an explanation, an apology and some effort toward making up for it.
By Robert VerBruggen
Also, Ann Coulter has a fairly amusing (except in the middle, where it's just rambling) column about the incident.
I like one of the distinctions she draws:
The reason people don't like what Imus said was because the women on the Rutgers basketball team aren't engaged in public discourse. They're not public figures, they don't have a forum, they aren't trying to influence public policy.
They play basketball — quite well, apparently — and did nothing to bring on an attack on their looks or character. It's not the words Imus used: It would be just as bad if he had simply said the Rutgers women were ugly and loose...he attacked the looks and morals of utterly innocent women, who had done nothing to inject themselves into public debate.
They play basketball — quite well, apparently — and did nothing to bring on an attack on their looks or character. It's not the words Imus used: It would be just as bad if he had simply said the Rutgers women were ugly and loose...he attacked the looks and morals of utterly innocent women, who had done nothing to inject themselves into public debate.
And this is classic Coulter:
If Imus had called me a "towheaded ho"...it would be what's known as "funny."
However, I think she's wrong here:
Imus should apologize to the Rutgers women — and those women alone — send them flowers, and stop kissing Al Sharpton's ring.
OK, she's right about Al Sharpton, but here I go back to something I said about Michael Richards. In that case, the two hecklers deserved what they got, but Richards chose to put it in terms that insulted a whole community. I argued he needed to apologize to the community, but not to the individuals.
Here, even the specific targets did not have it coming, so Coulter's right that Imus should concentrate on apologizing to the specific women he spoke of. But the term "nappy-headed" is racially charged and thus insults blacks as a group. Groveling in front of Al Sharpton isn't the way to fix anything, but Imus does owe blacks an explanation, an apology and some effort toward making up for it.
By Robert VerBruggen
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