We Bad Man-We Bad !

Yeah, the civil rights activist are gathered in the backrooms
today passing the champagne, patting themselveson the back.
Yeah the Frankinstein monster has been slainthis week. I feel
bad for Don because I hate to see anybodylose their job unless
it's Bush. You know I often wonder,are we becoming the same
heartless race of people that weproclaim to be our oppressors
or are we exacting a revengeon guys like Don Imus because
in reality we lack the will andbackbone to really attack the
real issues that dog black folks. Homelessness, healthcare
and affordable housing are thereal monsters. Black activist
wait for someone else topractically solve a problem then they
start to act, or whenthe media suddenly puts one of those issues
into itscrosshairs then they jump into the frey. But until then
those larger issues are dragons and for the moment their
armour is much to thin and it doesn't quite feel as good as
that three-piece tailor made suit from Brooks brothers.


It took Don Imus decades to get to the pinnacle of the radio world, and about a second to utter the five syllables that would ruin him.After an eight-day media drumbeat and unrelenting pressure from activists, advertisers, a member of CBS Corp.'s own board of directors and its staff, CBS Corp. announced on Thursday afternoon that the "Imus in the Morning" radio program would cease to be broadcast "effective immediately, on a permanent basis." His MSNBC TV simulcast was canceled the day before.

The firing came after a 75-minute meeting Thursday at CBS' headquarters in New York, nicknamed "Black Rock." Civil rights and feminist leaders urged CBS President and Chief Executive Leslie Moonves and four of his executives to take a stand against Imus' sexist and racist comments. At one point during the meeting — which was described variously as "very pleasant," "emotional" and "tense and confrontational" — Moonves was asked whether he or his lieutenants had daughters. Yes, Moonves answered, he has a daughter in college. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was at the meeting, said network executives were also asked,"What are your standards?

Is referring to women as 'hos' or to Hillary Clinton as a 'bitch' or saying Venus Williams should be in National Geographic, is this your standard? And if it is, you should declare that, and if not, you have a decision to make."And when would Moonves make that decision?"Soon," he replied. Three hours later, the controversy that began April 4 when Imus called the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" had culminated with the decision to end Imus' CBS radio career. In an e-mail to CBS employees announcing the firing, Moonves reflected on how the controversy had ballooned beyond Imus and cast a spotlight on demeaning speech in general.

"One thing is for certain: This is about a lot more than Imus," the e-mail read in part. "As has been widely pointed out, Imus has been visited by presidents, senators, important authors and journalists from across the political spectrum. He has flourished in a culture that permits a certain level of objectionable expression that hurts and demeans a wide range of people. In taking him off the air, I believe we take an important and necessary step not just in solving a unique problem, but in changing that culture."For Imus, 66, it was an abrupt and unexpected end to a career that was beyond successful by any standard. His was a powerhouse radio show, generating millions of dollars in revenue, reaching nearly 3 million listeners, and in the process turning him into a very rich man.

On the air almost every day for several hours, Imus displayed a dual personality — one minute he could be a foul-mouthed crank dishing insults and the next an erudite student of history, asking politicians tough questions about their stances. He referred to Arabs as "rag heads" and took Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) to task for supporting the Iraq war. Imus always survived his scrapes with the taste police after making offensive comments about Jews, gays, blacks and others. On talk radio, just about any verbal outrage can be forgiven as long as ratings, revenue and the boss' reputation aren't hurt. But this misstep was caught on TV, in the MSNBC simulcast of Imus' show, and in replays it gained a life of its own.

"Imus in the Morning" aired on about 70 stations — in Southern California, on KCAA-AM 1050 in San Bernardino. It offered a platform for politicians, pundits and authors pushing books on serious subjects. Imus managed, despite his raunchy humor and puerile sensibility, to turn the show into a kind of clubhouse for the Washington/New York politico-media elite who were comfortable with the "I-Man" and did not criticize him for his outrageous conduct.





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