THE REAL NAPPY-HAIRED HOS...

Don Imus got canned for saying something that would have been lost in the noise, if it weren't for the mainstream media making it a federal case. In fact, Don Imus's twelve listeners were the only people that knew that he offended the Rutgers women's' basketball team, until the press got hold of the transcript.

As the storm built, Imus went to the crib of the biggest race pimp in America, the Reverend Al Sharpton. When his apology was deemed a bit too insincere, CBS suspended Imus for two weeks (beginning not immediately, but after he finished his radiothon for the Imus Ranch); and, MSNBC bowed to pressure from their advertisers (and their two viewers) and cancelled his simulcast.

Subsequently, Imus was fired by CBS for his supposedly racist comment. As of this writing, the Reverends Sharpton and Jackson have still not apologised for referring to Jews as the devil, New York as "Hymietown", the Duke lacrosse players as rapists, and white folks as the bane of Western Civilisation. (Okay, the last one is untrue, but the first three are not.)

This raises an interesting question: What is acceptable for an on-air personality to say on the public airwaves?

I note three things:

First, the Rutgers basketball team are public figures, by virtue of their appearance in the Women's' NCAA Championship. Given that fact, without malice, there is little chance that a defamation case would succeed. As anyone who has listened to Imus knows, his show is meant to be funny (as evidenced by the fact that he gives airtime to Senators Biden, Kerry and McCain). His comments were a poor attempt at humour, and that should have been the end of it. In fact, the Rutgers Five (or ten, or twelve, or how ever many there are) indicated that their first reaction, not having heard Imus make his comment, was to let it go. Instead, they changed their position, and expressed outrage. I also note that had Fifty Cent or Snoop Dogg made the comment in a rap song, they'd be basking in the light reflected from their gold (or platinum) record.

Second, the firing of Don Imus, by a bunch of self-loathing white guys, may have been a business decision. It may have been a result of intense pressure from advertisers. It may have been because they have no balls. (I vote for number three.) This decision will have a chilling effect on free speech. The next step is to ban political speech, such as comments that global warming is based on bullshit science, that Democrats hate America, or that Democrats want to raise taxes and buy votes with social programmes. This is prior restraint of the worst type, and it will soon spread to the print media and television. We will be left with a steady diet of Alan Colmes (without Sean Hannity), Keith Olberman, and Joe Morgan (who should be fired immediately).

Third, it punctuates the double standard in America. Imus makes a comment about blacks, he gets fired. He calls someone a "dick-nosed, beanie-wearing Jewboy", he gets laughs.

Blacks and democrats can do no wrong. Republicans (and Don Imus) can do no right. This year, when Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) went to Selma, Alabama and did her speech in her best Amos and Andy voice, she got kudos for connecting with her audience. Not one media outlet commented on how condescending and patronising this was. Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) talked about "niggers and white niggers" and was ignored. President William Jefferson Clinton lied about black churches being burned and was anointed the "First Black President of the United States." President Lyndon B. Johnson would not have gotten Civil Rights legislation passed without Republicans (yet blacks vote for Democrats exclusively, because they have succumbed to the soft bigotry of low expectations). Mayor Marion Barry said that there was "no way that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican" and got re-elected after being caught smoking crack with a hooker. Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) lost his leadership role when he spoke positively about the late Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC) (who, interestingly enough, was a Democrat, a Dixiecrat, and a Republican; and, a man who did a lot for the blacks in South Carolina).

The bottom line, we are sliding down the slope, and the landing will not be very soft. The limitations on speech are growing, and the pressure is not coming from the so-called Religious Right, but from the Left.

Again, Imus made a joke. A really bad joke (but then again, most of his attempts at humour fail). He shouldn't lose his job, or be suspended. Instead, he (and his employers) should have weathered the storm. Like Katrina, it would have blown itself out (no doubt leaving damage), and the rebuilding could have begun. Instead, Imus is now on the dole and Americans have seen their First Amendment rights restricted. It also proves that most white Americans are afraid of black folks.