More (But It Should Be Less) On Imus

An anonymous comment was left regarding my post on the idiocy that is swirling the media like a swarm of irritated hornets over the Imus in the Morning fiasco. In my post I make the statement that Imus is an "ultra-conservative." The anonymous commenter makes the point that Imus is often seen as a "liberal." Those of us from Boston know that while Don Imus wears a cloak of liberalism, he is an ultra-conservative at heart. His prejudices, hatred for certain groups, and his consistent support for those that covet and collect power, wealth and influence over the years, even when he does offer criticism of some idiocy, points to his heart being ultra-conservative. The recent comments that resulted in his demise are nothing less than the tip of the iceberg that is the ultra-conservative hiding under that liberal cloak. If Joe Lieberman can be a Republican ultra-conservative cloaked in a Democrat's suit, Imus can be an ultra-conservative with a liberal outer shell.

In any event, he is an extremist rather than a centrist or a liberal in the classical sense of adherence to the Constitution and the principles of liberty (which is where the term "liberal" comes from in terms of political agendas). So, if I have wrongly categorized Imus' behavior and voice as an ultra-conservative (which I do not believe to be the case), I am not mistaken regarding his extremism, hateful speech and the years of lunacy he has been spewing forth upon his listeners.

CBS Evening News, ABC's World News Filed to Note Imus' History of Racially Charged Insults

Reporting on the suspension of MSNBC's Don Imus, the April 9 broadcasts of the CBS Evening News and ABC's World News described Imus as "outrageous," "provocative," and "inflammatory," but did not note that Imus in the Morning has a history of racial slurs.

On the CBS Evening News, anchor Katie Couric asserted that Imus has "made a career out of saying the outrageous" and that he "admits he went too far when he made racially charged remarks about a woman's college basketball team." The report that followed, by CBS correspondent Richard Schlesinger, asserted that Imus has "said outrageous things before, about people like Hillary Clinton, who was referred to as 'an old bag.' " Similarly, a report on World News by correspondent Dan Harris quoted University of Southern California professor Todd Boyd asserting that Imus "has a history of provocative, inflammatory comment."

However, as Media Matters for America has documented, Imus' remarks are part of a history of not just "outrageous," but racially offensive comments. For instance, Imus told the Mexican-American governor of New Mexico, "besa mi culo," or "kiss my ass," and executive producer Bernard McGuirk suggested that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) would pander to African-Americans by wearing "cornrows and gold teeth."

Additionally, as noted in an article in the July 18, 2000, edition of The Village Voice, Imus has referred to former Defense Secretary William Cohen as "the Mandingo," and his African-American wife "a ho." As The Boston Globe noted in a March 27, 2004, article, " 'Mandingo' is also the title of a 1975 movie in which a black male slave is paired intimately with a white female slave master." That article reported that frequent Imus guest Mike Barnicle had apologized for similarly using the term on his own radio show to refer to Cohen's wife, Janet Langhart. The Village Voice article described other racially charged insults that Imus has made about specific individuals....

Imus Apologizes for "Nappy-Headed Hos" Comment -- Incident is merely the latest in a string of racial slurs and incendiary comments documented by Media Matters

Don Imus today apologized for calling members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" on his nationally syndicated radio program Imus in the Morning, which is simulcast on MSNBC. His comments, however, are just the latest in a long history of racial slurs made on the show by Imus, his guests, and regular contributors.

"All too often in the media, overtly harsh and inflammatory comments are made on shows like Imus in the Morning simply for shock value, without thinking of their meaning or implication," said David Brock, President and CEO of Media Matters for America. "While we appreciate his apology in this instance, this is nothing new for Imus. It is just the latest in the string of racial slurs by Imus and those on his show that Media Matters has documented. We hope he will take this opportunity to re-examine his behavior."

Imus apologized this morning at 6:06 a.m. ET, saying his comments were "insensitive and ill-conceived" and adding, "It was completely inappropriate, and we can understand why people were offended." He further called the comments "thoughtless and stupid" and said, "[W]e're sorry."

Shortly after Imus made his comments about the Rutgers team, MSNBC released the following statement: "While simulcast by MSNBC, 'Imus in the Morning' is not a production of the cable network and is produced by WFAN Radio. As Imus makes clear every day, his views are not those of MSNBC. We regret that his remarks were aired on MSNBC and apologize for these offensive comments."

Media Matters has documented several other racial slurs on Imus' show in the past. Most recently, Imus invited Sid Rosenberg back on his show after he was fired for referring to Palestinians as "stinking animals" and saying, "They ought to drop the bomb right there, kill 'em all right now." Those and other inflammatory comments got Rosenberg fired from the show; however, Imus has continued to invite him and others back on the air.

More from Media Matters for America on Don Imus....