Wedge issues from the right..this week- Race, Imus, Rap Music, et all

[NightWatcher]

Yeah, We're all talking about race and rap music.
Can we talk about flag burning or something else that we can go back and forth about while America slowly dies?

George Bush sure is glad that we are spinning our wheels while he ruins our country and lies to cover it up.

We're at war and maybe a second, I mean third war is around the bend. Bush is acting as a king- above and beyond the rule of law....

....but what are we STILL talking about? race.

Race is one of those things that we can talk about for a hundred years and it will never be solved. I wish that we could talk about real issues.

I pray that next week, we can stop talking about these fruitless wedge issues and get back to trying to hold the Bush administration accountable for their wrongdoings.

I know, I know, race is an important issue, but talking about it is only a dead end. Bitching about some old white guy, who has already been fired, is a waste of time.

That is all I have to say about that- feel free to flame away.

[gatorboy]

1. No flaming here.

I think this has showed that just enough public outrage still does wonders.

Now it's time to filter that into other areas.

[NightWatcher]

2. I agree, he needed to go.

and if we could get rushbo or beck fired, I'd be all in, but the focus is starting to lose strength and drift into general racist debate

[kestrel91316]

3. The memo went out and the little RW trolls have been busy

posting thread after thread of nonsequiters and nonsense, just to clog up the bandwidth and deflect attention from the war and DOJ/USA issues.

[frogcycle]

4. agreed

Certainly race is an important issue.

But the right is making hay out of this episode in multiple ways.

One, any diversion from Iraq is welcome

Two, its an opportunity to try to get rid of any broadcaster they don't like (you won't hear Huckaby mentioning limbaugh or coulter)

Three, it's an opportunity to blame Imus' disgusting personality on rap music: "where did he learn that expression - he didn't dream it up!"


The first two are self-explanatory, but the last deserves elaboration:

They are trying to excuse the use of an obnoxious expression because others use it. The fact is, the expression itself, bad as it is, is not the issue. The use of it by Imus on the air directed at a group of student athletes is the issue.

The firing of Imus is being used as "singling out" an individual and overreacting for "political correctness". Bullshit! His behavior offended listeners, his bosses took him off the air. End of discssion. A Chicago oldies-format radio station decided to change its format and fired 160 employees one morning, with no warning. Too bad for the employees, but it was the station's right to do that.

Enough of the ranting and raving over where the phrase came from and whether everyone else needs to have their tongues cut out.

He was rude and obnoxious, used words hurtfully. Common decency says there are limits to the degree of divisive, hurtful behavior a society should tolerate. Limbaugh should have been canned for the MJF episode, and should have been canned for the Edwards episode, and should probably have been canned for a hundred other episodes I don't know about. But that is immaterial. You don't KEEP Imus after his transgression just because somebody else keeps limbaugh! And you don't try to say it is just using a rap music expression that is out of bounds (to let the others off the hook) and you don't say rappers say it so its alright.