How Don Imus jumped the shark
I'm rather surprised that it took a snarky "nappy-haired ho" crack to finally land Mr. Imus in hot water. Countless media outlets have repeated all of his bigoted remarks about people of assorted religions, races, and sexual orientations. The bottom line is this: Don Imus makes his living by insulting people. My younger brother listens to Imus regularly and assures me, the non-Imus follower, that it is part of his schtick.
Why is he in trouble now? Here is my theory: People are tired of the Don Imuses of the world. That's why they're calling Imus on his ugly remarks and deciding that Ann Coulter has overstayed her welcome. After a while, nastiness for the sake of nastiness stops being edgy and provocative. Instead, it becomes offensive and tiresome. It's not that Imus and Coulter have become any more or less offensive and nasty than they were before. It's that the American public finally said, "Enough already!"
After all, Amercans have been told for years that bigotry or mean-spiritedness is somehow edgy, revolutionary, or cool. Thus, Axl Rose could get away with freely admitting he was a misogynist homophobe, and Eminem could be dubbed a hip-hop visionary. Criticizing them made you an uptight fussbudget who didn't understand great ah-tists.
Gangsta/thug culture could thrive, because it was supposed to be an accurate reflection of black life, and the conventional wisdom was that there was something condescending or creepily racist about denouncing it. Never mind all the hip hop artists who have actually managed to sell lots of records without once using the words "ho" or "pimp." Never mind the R&B performers who also grew up poor but somehow managed to avoid demeaning women or bragging about gun violence. (Somehow, I don't remember Barry White ever singing, "I'm gonna fuck you up yo' ass, bitch.")
The right-wing bloviators were supposed to be "performance artists" and "entertainers," even though they weren't that entertaining and they weren't that funny. And, of course, they finally managed to overreach, costing GOP candidates their re-elections and publicly embarassing presidential candidates. That is why their fellow reality-challenged righties are starting to keep their distance.
At some point, the American people decided they'd had enough. There's only so many unjustified insults they can listen to. There's only so much meanness they'll allow to pollute public discourse. Given the sad state of this country, I believe that the American people are desperate for solutions and hope, not more of the same anger and negativity that seems to have no rational basis.
Not only that, but many of these professional assholes seem to have--how do I put this?--serious problems. Mental health problems. Substance abuse problems. Attitude problems. The tirades of a Mel Gibson or a Michael Richards are being recognized as the repulsive outbursts they are. Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly, meanwhile, are never going to totally live down their legal troubles. And what of Mr. Imus? Ellis Henican confirms that the real Don Imus is, in fact, a total blowhard who can't take a joke.
Long story short: the bullies, sociopaths, narcissists, hypocrites, malcontents, and drug addicts have driven the debate for too long. And this is something that transcends ideology.
Believer in free speech that I am, I don't want Imus to lose his job. For one thing, another network would just hire him for more money. No, I think a more fitting fate for the Limbaughs and Imuses of our country is to spend the rest of their professional lives desperately trying to live down their missteps and public embarassments, as listeners decide they're simply not worth the effort and move on. I'd prefer falling ratings and a squirm-inducing slide into irrelevance. It's a much more deserving punishment than a simple pink slip. The most appropriate response to a bully is to tell him or her: "You know, you're really not all that."
Why is he in trouble now? Here is my theory: People are tired of the Don Imuses of the world. That's why they're calling Imus on his ugly remarks and deciding that Ann Coulter has overstayed her welcome. After a while, nastiness for the sake of nastiness stops being edgy and provocative. Instead, it becomes offensive and tiresome. It's not that Imus and Coulter have become any more or less offensive and nasty than they were before. It's that the American public finally said, "Enough already!"
After all, Amercans have been told for years that bigotry or mean-spiritedness is somehow edgy, revolutionary, or cool. Thus, Axl Rose could get away with freely admitting he was a misogynist homophobe, and Eminem could be dubbed a hip-hop visionary. Criticizing them made you an uptight fussbudget who didn't understand great ah-tists.
Gangsta/thug culture could thrive, because it was supposed to be an accurate reflection of black life, and the conventional wisdom was that there was something condescending or creepily racist about denouncing it. Never mind all the hip hop artists who have actually managed to sell lots of records without once using the words "ho" or "pimp." Never mind the R&B performers who also grew up poor but somehow managed to avoid demeaning women or bragging about gun violence. (Somehow, I don't remember Barry White ever singing, "I'm gonna fuck you up yo' ass, bitch.")
The right-wing bloviators were supposed to be "performance artists" and "entertainers," even though they weren't that entertaining and they weren't that funny. And, of course, they finally managed to overreach, costing GOP candidates their re-elections and publicly embarassing presidential candidates. That is why their fellow reality-challenged righties are starting to keep their distance.
At some point, the American people decided they'd had enough. There's only so many unjustified insults they can listen to. There's only so much meanness they'll allow to pollute public discourse. Given the sad state of this country, I believe that the American people are desperate for solutions and hope, not more of the same anger and negativity that seems to have no rational basis.
Not only that, but many of these professional assholes seem to have--how do I put this?--serious problems. Mental health problems. Substance abuse problems. Attitude problems. The tirades of a Mel Gibson or a Michael Richards are being recognized as the repulsive outbursts they are. Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly, meanwhile, are never going to totally live down their legal troubles. And what of Mr. Imus? Ellis Henican confirms that the real Don Imus is, in fact, a total blowhard who can't take a joke.
Long story short: the bullies, sociopaths, narcissists, hypocrites, malcontents, and drug addicts have driven the debate for too long. And this is something that transcends ideology.
Believer in free speech that I am, I don't want Imus to lose his job. For one thing, another network would just hire him for more money. No, I think a more fitting fate for the Limbaughs and Imuses of our country is to spend the rest of their professional lives desperately trying to live down their missteps and public embarassments, as listeners decide they're simply not worth the effort and move on. I'd prefer falling ratings and a squirm-inducing slide into irrelevance. It's a much more deserving punishment than a simple pink slip. The most appropriate response to a bully is to tell him or her: "You know, you're really not all that."
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