tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27835148.post6018302304655744326..comments2023-10-09T10:28:35.762-07:00Comments on Hangin' With The Nuss: Why is it so hard for Americans to forgive?Nusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16787190878612482337noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27835148.post-82030405854017817852007-04-16T19:56:00.000-07:002007-04-16T19:56:00.000-07:00I am.I am.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27835148.post-6470206811781725482007-04-15T22:12:00.000-07:002007-04-15T22:12:00.000-07:00"To simply martyr Imus for some 'cause' ... defeat..."To simply martyr Imus for some 'cause' ... defeats the possibility of an ongoing dialogue about the topic. More importantly, it plays once again into the American way of life: to simply forget what actually happened -- and why -- and begin another new chapter of revisionist history as quickly as humanly possible."<BR/><BR/>Couldn't have said it better myself.<BR/><BR/>Should I be scared that we agree about something other than sports?Nusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16787190878612482337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27835148.post-63884548644631986122007-04-15T21:11:00.000-07:002007-04-15T21:11:00.000-07:00I couldn't agree with your post more. My initial ...I couldn't agree with your post more. My initial reaction (since I can't stand Imus) was to want him fired as well. His actions were completely inappropriate and absolutely inexcusable. <BR/><BR/>Then I got to thinking about it later that night and Bill Maher popped into my head. As the host of a show called Politically Incorrect, he said something politically incorrect, albeit arguably quite true, and got fired. But the thing that differs in his case is that there was no greater ill of society that 'caused' him to say what he said -- no racism, no sexism, no homophobia, etc. He made a statement that enough people found unpopular given the current climate, a bunch of sponsors pulled their ad dollars and he lost his job for -- let me say this again -- saying something POLITICALLY INCORRECT on a show called "POLITICALLY INCORRECT!"<BR/><BR/>Now, there are two ways to look at that, as well as Imus', situation:<BR/><BR/>1) Being the very liberal, grassroots, pro-union, power-to-the-people sort of person I am, you can look at the firings as a victory for the will of the people to effect change on a grand scale through protest.<BR/><BR/>or...<BR/><BR/>2) You can look at it as freedom of speech being controlled, once again, by corporate interest. As Neil Robison said on the first day: all news media in any form is a filler for the advertisements that come in between the content -- a delivery system for consumerism. The idea that Don Imus or Bill Maher actually had the freedom to say what they chose to say is naive; the outcomes prove that.<BR/><BR/>We do, indeed, have a culture that glorifies the payback; how else would we be able to start every war we have for the last 50 years (regardless of whether we're actually retaliating for something that actually happened)? How else would a film like Dirty Harry be considered a classic unless we believed in the utmost punishment for whatever wrong was done? How else could we think it A-O-friggin'-K for our current president to have allowed the execution of the most prisoners in a state's history while he was governor despite that he is fervently 'pro-life' and that there has NEVER been any legitimate study done in history that proves any concrete correlation between the implementation of capital punishment and the reduction of any type of capital crime -- while at the same time there have been numerous studies to show proof that many victims of execution at the hands of the government were actually innocent of the crime for which they were convicted?<BR/><BR/>My opinion, without getting too preachy, is once again, that we have bred critical thought out of our entire society. There are no shades of gray, there are just 'right' and 'wrong.' Not <I>how</I> wrong, but just plain wrong. Say something racial, lose your job. Say something unpopular, lose your job -- and then just go away. After all, Imus used rough vernacular that was most certainly racially charged, but it's not as if he called for the hanging of the entire squad from the nearest tree as if there was a Klan meeting afoot.<BR/><BR/>My point, and yes I'm aware that it has taken me a great deal of time to get there, is that incidents such as these need to be handled with at least a modicum of critical thought: make the punishment fit the action. A two-week suspension, a fine, and a pretty harsh tongue-lashing would've been enough, as it was deemed enough at the start. To simply martyr Imus for some 'cause,' thus possibly ending a career that I can only assume from the look of him has been ongoing since roughly the Taft administration, defeats the possibility of an ongoing dialogue about the topic. More importantly, it plays once again into the American way of life: to simply forget what actually happened -- and <I>why</I> -- and begin another new chapter of revisionist history as quickly as humanly possible.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27835148.post-45141037209261639892007-04-15T20:55:00.000-07:002007-04-15T20:55:00.000-07:00I don't really see this as a free speech issue, at...I don't really see this as a free speech issue, at least not on the part of Imus. But since money was the driving force behind his dismissal, who was the driving force behind that? It was the loud voices of "outrage." <BR/><BR/>People like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have every right in the world to their speech, but as a journalist, I wonder: Do we have to make it so easy for them to have a platform? <BR/><BR/>That platform already bit the media in the butt once this week when everyone -- including Jackson and Sharpton -- did their best backpedal in response to all charges against the Duke lacrosse players being dropped. As journalists, we'd be wise to stay above the fray next time and just report the news.<BR/><BR/>Alas, I wonder if that time in American journalism has passed.Nusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16787190878612482337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27835148.post-55397673633151087322007-04-15T19:49:00.000-07:002007-04-15T19:49:00.000-07:00Sadly, dollars determined Imus' job. The moral out...Sadly, dollars determined Imus' job. The moral outrage of the network deemed a suspension appropriate until advertisers pulled their money.<BR/><BR/>Also, an unfortunate truth is that many of the incensed groups and individuals are hypocritical in how they attack Imus' speech, but they don't campaign against this same type of speech in other forms.<BR/><BR/>As a journalist, I would imagine you might feel the free speech vein may be an as yet untapped angle to approach this story. When is the attacking, charged voice too much?Dr Pezzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09160506091556539766noreply@blogger.com