Imus smeared Hillary Clinton, "that buck-toothed witch, Satan," and Gore, "the phoniest bastard on the planet"
On Imus in the Morning, Don Imus referred to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as "Satan" 11 times, once calling her "that buck-tooth witch, Satan." He also called Al Gore "the phoniest bastard on the planet," adding that Gore is "a horrid human being."
On the May 24 edition of MSNBC's Imus in the Morning, host Don Imus referred to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) as "Satan" 11 times, once calling her "that buck-tooted witch, Satan." During an interview with NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell, Imus even claimed that Clinton was "worse than" Osama bin Laden, but then partially retracted his statement, saying: "Well, that's a little strong." During the same interview, Imus called former Vice President Al Gore "the phoniest bastard on the planet," adding that Gore is "a horrid human being."
Imus has repeatedly and unapologetically referred to Clinton as "Satan," most recently during the May 22, 23, and 24 editions of his radio program. During a conversation with co-host Charles McCord and executive producer Bernard McGuirk on May 22, Imus admitted that he "wouldn't have a job based on stuff" he had said in the past, adding that, however, he had never had to apologize for insulting former President Bill Clinton and his "fat ugly wife, Satan."
From the May 24 edition of MSNBC's Imus in the Morning:
IMUS: Senator Chris Dodd [D-CT] is going to run for the presidency. He's going to come on this morning.
McGUIRK: Great.
IMUS: And he's the kind of Democrat -- Dodd is -- he's the kind of Democrat that actually Bernard and Charles like.
McCORD: Very much so.
McGUIRK: He's a great man.
IMUS: So --
McGUIRK: I'd go drinking with him.
McCORD: Absolutely. I don't know if I'd vote for him but he's a terrific guy.
IMUS: As long as -- why wouldn't you vote for him?
McCORD: I don't know. I haven't assessed all the candidates.
McGUIRK: You got to see his platform.
McCORD: Sure.
IMUS: Right.
IMUS: As long as he doesn't go around the country and patronize everybody like Satan is doing, Hillary, or some of these other people, then -
McGUIRK: He's a wonderful guy.
IMUS: Keeping it real.
McGUIRK: Yeah.
IMUS: If he keeps it, you know, he's -- he's a formidable candidate.
McGUIRK: Yes, he is.
[...]
MIKE BARNICLE (columnist for the Boston Herald and the New York Daily News): I can guarantee you this: He will be the only candidate on either side of the isle who travels each day carrying on his person a copy of the United States Constitution and a pair of rosary beads. That's the truth.
IMUS: If he's -- if he goes around the country and says what he thinks and doesn't do what that buck-tooth witch Satan, Hillary Clinton, is doing and patronize everybody on the planet or some -- or these other folks -- I mean, is Al Gore thinking about running?
BARNICLE: Yes, he is.
IMUS: Oh, God! Oh, God! Please. Please.
McCORD: Yeah. In fact, that's part of [New York Times columnist] Maureen's [Dowd] column this morning, isn't it?
BARNICLE: Yeah.
McCORD: Mr. Gore and Hillary.
BARNICLE: That's -- that's -- you want that. You want that.
IMUS: OK.
McCORD: And how they're both vying for the attentions of President Clinton.
BARNICLE: Right. And they both despise one another.
McCORD: Yeah.
BARNICLE: And the two of them despise him, President Clinton. This is what we want. This is what we're looking for.
[...]
IMUS: Let's talk to Andrea and see what she thinks. Good morning, Andrea?
MITCHELL: Good morning. How are you guys?
IMUS: Fine, baby, how are you doing?
MITCHELL: OK. I don't know how you're going to pick between Al Gore and Hillary Clinton. I mean, that's -- that's tough.
IMUS: You mean, whose Satan?
MITCHELL: I thought you were supporting them both.
IMUS: No, I'm not supporting them both.
MITCHELL: No?
IMUS: They're evil people. You're supporting them both. I'm not.
MITCHELL: Oh right, that's [Sen.] Joe Biden [D-DE] and Chris Dodd.
IMUS: You and the rest of your liberal weenie friends.
MITCHELL: No, it's Chris Dodd and Joe Biden that are your -- your favorites. I keep getting confused. Not that you ever switch.
IMUS: No, she is a -- she is a -- Oh, God! She is evil.
MITCHELL: Yeah.
IMUS: She is -- Lance Morrow wrote a book about her. She is the personification of evil.
MITCHELL: She just chose the week of Al Gore's movie and book launch to come out with her first big speech on the environment.
IMUS: Well, he's --
MITCHELL: I don't -- I just don't understand why you and Maureen and everybody else are so suspicious. What's the matter? Charles --
IMUS: He's the phoniest bastard on the planet -- Al Gore. What a horrid human being. Anyway, but we have good people --
MITCHELL: There's a more horrid person than any of the favored politicians in your -- you know -- pantheon and that is Osama bin Laden out with his new tape.
IMUS: She's worse than he is.
MITCHELL: No way. Come on.
McCORD: Now, wait a minute.
IMUS: Well, that's a little strong.
From the May 22 edition of MSNBC's Imus in the Morning:
IMUS: But I mean, to ruin their careers and hang them [the Dixie Chicks] for it doesn't -- I mean, then I'd be out -- if that were the case, I wouldn't have a job based on stuff I've said. Would I, Charles?
McCORD: Probably not.
IMUS: No.
McCORD: I mean, this is --
McGUIRK: Unless you kept saying it.
IMUS: Well, I --
McGUIRK: You know, before you get paroled, you have to admit that you did something wrong and you're -- you're sorry for it.
IMUS: I never admitted it when I went down there and got in all that big jam, insulting Bill Clinton and his fat ugly wife, Satan. Did I? Did I ever say I was sorry for that?
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I actually liked Imus for a while...he even claimed to support Kerry in 2004. Then, shortly after the GOP convention, he had Zell Miller on as a guest. Imus practically licked the old codger's boots! It made me want to puke.
Imus is as big a phony as the rest of the talking heads.
If so, that means 98% of America is obese!
Besides his general misogyny and specific hatred of Sen. Clinton, besides his slandering one of the few truly good men to ever hold office in this country, a man who would like us all to, y'know, breathe...
... on top of all that, Imus calling anybody ugly is ludicrous. He looks like the stuntman for everybody getting hit in the face with shovels in Hitchhiker's Guide. The California Raisins called up and offered him their botox coupons. Bulldogs and Shar Peis come up and sniff his face, trying to see if they know him.
Or would that be the hate speech from the Angry Left I've heard tell about?
... on top of all that, Imus calling anybody ugly is ludicrous. He looks like the stuntman for everybody getting hit in the face with shovels in Hitchhiker's Guide...
Good one, and true.
What has happened to our public discourse? How is it that a creature like Imus can say that a US Senator is worse than bin-Laden, and not be held to account? Now, had he said Bush was worse than bin-Laden., wingnut media would be demanding he be taken off the air.
Amazing and true. He would have punched a one-way ticket to being fired if you substitute BushieCo for the Hillary comments (I won't even get into the relative "who deserves it."). Who owns the media also owns BushieCo. Done. Imus is now a shill.
Imus in the AM thinks Senator Clinton is worse than Bin Laden.
Olbermann in the PM claims his timeslot competitor on Fox is the "Worst Person in the World" quite often. (I have never read of Bin Laden being chosen, but then I rarely watch any part of the show, so maybe he has been selected a time or two.)
All those references to Bush being Hitler and the like...
Do you support that discourse?
Perhaps not for the reasons you're expecting. Hitler was unique; Bush is unique. I can despise Bush for being a lying, warmongering, hypocritical, incompetent, barely literate tool without referring to Hitler at all. Any invocation of Hitler has nothing to do with Dubya lying us into an illegal war, alienating our allies around the world, only going half-way with the Taliban so now they're back in ascendancy in Afghanistan, creating secret prisons, condoning torture, beggaring the Treasury, screwing up Medicare, trying to screw up Social Security, helping out his friends in the oil and finance industries, destroying the manufacturing job base and setting us on the road to all being burger-flippers and Wal-Mart greeters, promoting huge handouts to Big Insurance and Big Pharma, doing everything he can to undermine civil rights, pollution regulations, and the freakin' Constitution, and threatening freedom of a press that doesn't even deserve it at this point.
Who needs Hitler? We've got somebody every bit as evil... and he's a f***-up.
These statements are not right wing lies. All Imus is doing is looking for a few yuks from what is going on in the news.
I realize that accurately describing Hillary and Al like that could be a little rude and hurtful - it may even be a tad insensitive.....But does that make it "Smearing"? ;-) Even more ammusing is the fact that all of these people whining about it regualrly do the same thing to Bush and others. How sad and pathetic that is.
This is Imus's USUAL shtick. That's NOT to excuse him or anything he says--it's just the TRUTH. Personally I've NEVER understood why anyone bothered to listen to the guy. Or Howard Stern for that matter...another waste of space.
BUT Imus obviously has an audience OR he'd have been canceled by now.
Imus is NOT a news show...he's pure entertainment (well I don't find him entertaining, but a lot of people must)...so he's going off on Hillary and Gore, tomorrow it'll be someone else. IF you find him disgusting--then tune him out. Other than that, I don't get the big deal here. I'm pretty certain IF he were dissing Bush, Cheney, Rice etc MOST of you wouldn't have a problem with him AND you'd even think he was a really funny guy.
Jeter2 -
You hit the nail right on the head.
if YOU ever LEARNED how THAT you DON'T need CAPS to GET your POINT across IT might BE easier TO read.
ASIDE from THAT your POINT is PRETTY dumb. SEE dailyhowler.com FOR how THE press THINKS Gore IS phony AND yet BUSH is THE one CAUGHT in MULITIPLE lies AND further dailyhowler.com POINTS out HOW Bush CONSCIOUSLY crafted HIS image AND yet THE press GOES after GORE for BEING phony. IMUS is certianly PASSING off THE whole WAY the CAMPAIGN (2000) was FRAMED and HOW the NEW campaign WILL be FRAMED if GORE runs.
IMUS Is just so HA ha HA ha HA.
Then DON'T read MY posts.
As per usual your post does NOT even address what I wrote.
What the hell are YOU even going on about?
This thread is NOT about the entire press.
It's ABOUT Imus.
Try to STICK to the topic.
>>What the hell are YOU even going on about?
Nice Jeter. I see your into name calling. If my post was so hard to follow, now you know yours read. Dumbassmanpants? Is that the best you can do?
Why don't you address my point? Imus called Gore phone; That is one of the media "scripts" (as the dailyhowler.com) calls it, or talking points. It is a dumb talking point.
I made this clear in my post. Yes, hard to read when people use all caps. Do you think emphasizing every other word somehow makes your point stronger?
I said THIS was TYPICAL Imus.
This is what he does. Did I say I approved? Nope.
Go back and READ my post.
Geez....
No, you didn't say you approved; nor did I imply you did, though. You stated that MMFA should not criticize Imus. I disagree because he passes along the stupid talking points on how we are supposed to see Gore (and Hillary, for that matter).
"You stated that MMFA should not criticize Imus."...by funnymanpants
=====
Did I? Funny I can't find where I WROTE that...Kindly PRODUCE THAT exact quote for me. Like I told you on the Broder thread--Put up OR shut up...capeesh?
Imus has been doing this forever, and its not just to Senator Clinton, he also attacks the Vice President calling him Fat and a Pork Chop. He also attacked Senator Frist.
Imus is hateful but he could careless if you are a Repub or Democrat.
Imus could stand to get a few pointers from Bill "We don't do personal attacks" O'Reilly.
Wink-wink.
Way to raise the level of national discourse Imus. Bravo.
...when I hear Imus, all I hear is "Mfghmf mf fmmpgh mumphemphupgh mummumphinfuf mumph"
Is Gore really all that scary a candidate? He was elected President for God's sake. And he was pretty darn popular with the people at the time.
Jesus. Look who's running the country [into the ground] now.
Imus is like the ratty homeless guy on the corner... you feel a little sorry for him -- and loiter a bit to hear the ravings of a curmudgeon/madman...
But, such hostility...
While Imus can perform some interesting and serious interviews, he is a source of entertainment for millions of listeners who get his schtick. Media Matters, but this program is built around a strong personality whose opinions and comments are often designed to provoke a reaction... He even believes some of what he says.
I understand correcting errors of fact, but I happen to share his view that Hillary is an evil two-faced... But when I say that in a group of three or more, I know that I will provoke a strong reaction. So does Imus.
>>I happen to share his view that Hillary is an evil two-faced.
And you believe this because?
is people like Andrea Mitchell saying "yeah" when she hears someone claim that Hillary is "evil".
WTF? That would be the last time I would ever do that show, if I were a journalist who wasn't a complete presstitute. I know that doesn't apply to Mitchell, but again, WTF?
Plus, calling someone "Satan" gets old and unfunny about the second you do it. How can Imus have listeners who would put up with this?
Imus is an equal opportunity offender. He insults Bush and Cheney all the time. He's even referred to Hannity as a "Bush butt-boy." Getting all worked up over a few comments about Sen Clinton is silly.
..the timing makes it worse. The "liberal media" is piling on Gore for his film. The "liberal media" piling on Hillary because they're afraid she's going to run for president in 2008.
....I must agree with the poster above. He definitely has a face for radio.
He says things like this for R-A-T-I-N-G-S!
They are probably in the tank so he's juicin' up his mumbling act, and talk about your butt-boys, his cohorts are the epitome of the term.
I suggest C-Span during this time slot.
how refreshing: pure Jerry Springer style 'entertainment' and redneck language!
Same old, same old. But it sells! And it sells good.
Imus is clearly not a news person, and his schtick, depending on the day and how you like his type of humor, varies between very funny and very un-funny..
But when Andrea Mitchell comes on, that blurs the line between journalism and everything else. Itonically, the best approach for reporters is to act funny, by telling him he's an idiot or changing the subject, because when they act like uncomfortable journalists, like Mitchell, they just come across as straight men, which tends to overemphasize Imus's sometimes bizarre opinions.
There is a lot of "shut him down" on this board, but what you're missing is that every politician and politico stumble over themselves to get airtime on this show. Like it or not Imus has achieved an iconic status within the beltway and with the power brokers in NYC. You are considered hip and with it if you appear and better yet get a return invite, not to mention if Imus and crew fawn over said guest.
When I've tuned in Imus seems to be an equal opportunity offender. I agree with him on Hills pandering to voters. I do look forward to the showdown at the OK corral between Hills and Al. There is not enough O2 in the room for both. Who will be left standing?
>> Like it or not Imus has achieved an iconic status within the beltway and with the power brokers in NYC.
Why is it every apologist for smear artist sound the same? The old "Like it or note, his ratings are high...he does it for fun...that's just the way it is?' No, it's not funny. Yes, he plays an influence on what people think. I'm sure a lot of us have uncles that sound as stupid. We shouldn't give them air time.
Who's the apologist? I'm pointing out a fact. Your misdirecting your anger there FMP. Try Sens Joe Bidden, Chris Dodd, and John Kerry for starters. They regularly beat a path to the Imus show and suck up endlessly to the host and crew. Imus can say whatever he wants, no matter how outrageous, and they always give him a pass and never ever challenge him on topic or content.
If this show is as bad as yourself and other make it out to be, then why do our prominent elected officials make it must see TV?
I usually watch and listen to Imus in the morning every day before coming to work. I don't know if Imus is back on his drugs or binging but hes absolutely rude and abusive to most of his guests, and no one stops this man from running his ugly thoughts and mouth daily.
I intend on watching CNN or any other channel from hereon in. How can he say the things he does and then have the people on eventually as his guests? Hillary and Bill should sue him for what he said about them. He should keep his mouth closed and say nothing if he hasn't got something nice to say. His wife is a pretty woman with an empty head and she would have to be to marry the likes of him.
With trash talk like Iv'e heard from this show I will make sure to tell all my friends to watch other channels.
Imus is running a "cancer ranch" scam funded by contributions. He takes these sick kids and basically has them doing the ranch work, while he and his wife lavishly furnish their lifestyle. I'd be honored for that shrivelled old POS to consider me one of his enemies.
Let's get this straight, you're saying MSNBC should cancel the show BECAUSE IT GETS GOOD RATINGS? WHat are you nuts??!! You don't have to be a TV exec to realize that you WANT good ratings. SO come on....this show is entertainment, not serious news. THe probl;em is with the folks who go on and kiss IMUS's ass, like he WAS some kind of smart fellow. He's not smart, just a smart ass who's gotten away with so much over so long that his swagger scares the hell out of self-important news people, like Russert and Brian Williams.
why is it that when someone like Imus or Beck make comments like these, it's always dismissed as "humorous, libs, you need a sense of humor, don't you get it? bla bla bla." An insult is an insult and those who make them need to be held accountable for them. I like a good joke as much as the next person, but the masked hostility behind Imus' comments are just too obvious to me.
I cant understand how Imus & his lackeys can call Hillary satan & the personification of evil & than go on to spew all their nasty & Evil vile on anyone they dont agree with or who dosnt agree with them. Phony? Have you ever seen the group of a kissers on Imus' payroll. Mc Cord McCuirk.My god Their more obvious than Ed McMahon. Imus! How high do you want me to jump? Imus ! Meet Pot!
imus has been brainwashed by the standard sampling practices of the far right.
consider this piece on the mischaracterization of Gore, by another radio talk show host, which also appeared HERE (with links), where he apologized for voting for Bush, then mischaracterized Gore (and democrats) on a critical isssue, and, lastly, WHY.
but first, the unpopular but very necessary inquiry into how such blatant mischaracterizations are so allowed to pervade the American psyche in the first place, and how Imus can even say such idiotic things and not be mocked out of his pathetic job , is,
Don Imus is a big puffed up overblown bag of wind. Is he trying to be the monkey on Hillary's back? Is that the best he can do, call her Satan?