Today's Star Ledger announced the bad news - Imus is coming back on the radio - and worse yet, he's taking the place of Curtis & Kuby on WABC's 6-10 a.m. morning slot.
For those from other areas who may not be familiar with Imus, he is the radio "shock jock" who was booted off the air for making racist and sexist remarks on his radio show. I said "good riddance" back then and am sorry to see him return to the airwaves.
I am particularly sorry to see him take the place of Curtis & Kuby. As I pointed out in my post from April, their show included both sides of a story, both right and left. And opinions were delivered with civility, and even good humor, on both sides. Sure, sometimes discussion was heated, but it never crossed the line. And most of the issues they talked about were serious subjects discussed with intelligence.
Now WABC will have Imus on instead; and I'm sure he isn't going to tone down his rhetoric one bit. And if calling a bunch of Rutgers women hateful, disrespectful names is an example of his form of discussion, I wouldn't call it intelligent. I suppose he will bring his own audience of fans with him, but WABC has lost this one.
Today's Haiku:
Curtis and Kuby
Now gone but not forgotten
How will I survive?
11 comments:
Ah, but civility doesn't get good ratings. And nice message that the network is sending to the girls he so horribly impugned.
I'm sorry to see someone supports his racist and misogynistic rants. Time to find a new morning talk show.....
I say let the bigots say what they want, so we know the depth of their ignorance and can avoid them.
I also had a post about his previous infamous statement in NEXT...
Punditmom, you are right, probably they figured they'd get even better ratings with Imus. I always thought Curtis and Kuby did well but then, I don't follow these things closely. I am really disgusted with ABC; it's bad enough they have Rush and Hannity and Mark Levin, among others. Now they have Imus. I guess I'll go back to WOR 710 in the morning and see what they're up to these days. And on the way to work - CBS 101.1 - the Oldies station!
Nick, thanks for linking to your previous comments, I agree. And I hope people vote against him by turning off his radio station. Sadly, those that follow him probably won't...
I agree - and of course, Ann Coulter as well. Despicable people, all of them.
How will you survive? Get a Sirius satellite radio. You'll never go back to regular radio again!
I'm Canadian. I had no idea who Imus was before this incident.
We had a guy like that here on the radio and he was also booted off the air.
Freedom of speech but...
Look at what Halle Berry said on The Tonight Show. Saying to Jay that on the picture she had a Jew's nose. Why didn't she get a big slap on the hand for that? I guess in depends who you're attacking, right?
while i didnt agree with the firing of Imus (as hateful as he is -- and i am also SO not the Imus fan) -- i think the fact that Hannity and Rush stayed on the air made this one big case of hypocrisy. they all need to go. but i also believe that if you dont like them - dont listen to them
oh my meandering thoughts
8-)
i am sad to see that WABC (which i never listen to) is taking off Crtis and Kuby to put that chump back on.
Bunny, I've been seriously (Siriusly?) thinking of getting satellite radio - this may be pushing me over the edge! Although I did read in one article that it's possible one of our other stations, WOR, might want to grab Curtis and Kuby. We shall see.
Nancybee, you're right, there is definitely a double standard when it comes to remarks that are made. I hadn't heard about the Halle Berry remark but from what it sounds like she may have just been saying something ignorant and not realizing how bad it sounded. But you're right, it seems as if remarks about Jews (such as the comments Ann Coulter made about them needing to be "perfected" into Christians) generate less outrage.
DCap, I agree with freedom of speech and not listening to what we don't like. But it just seems as if, with each triumph of these horrible people (including Rush and Hannity) and each loss of more intelligent discourse (Curtis & Kuby) our culture degrades further. I agree Imus' firing was hypocritical, and ABC's hiring him so soon afterward just shows it was just lip service at the time.
There is such a big market for Imus and his ilk, because Bush, the GOP, the neocons and the theocons have made hate mainstream.
Just my two cents, Imus was a jerk but compared to those others - the aforementioned Hannity, Coulter, Rush, Glenn Beck etc. I mean, WTF?
Not to defend Imus, but he did have a pretty broad swatch of guests whom he did not yell at or bully.
Again- that is not to let him off the hook, but comparitively speaking, Imus was nothing compared to those hate Nazis.
If he goes- they all go.
The problem is- hateful or not, dismissing any of them undoes free speech.
Democracy- its work!
Tomcat, you are so right - that is the problem - hate has become mainstream. This is the real danger of this type of discourse.
Fran, you are right, the free speech part of democracy (and all of the rest) is indeed hard work and there are always these thin lines to be walked! It's a true balancing act.
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