On Fox News, Kalb called for Imus to resign
On the April 9 edition of Fox News' The Live Desk, discussing radio host Don Imus' April 4 comments on MSNBC's Imus in the Morning -- in which Imus referred to the Rutgers University women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos" -- Marvin Kalb, lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and a senior fellow at the school's Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, noted Imus' charity work and said Imus could make "an even larger statement about himself, his own value system, if he simply resigned." Kalb added that Imus' resignation would "make a statement to the entire industry that there are limits to what ought to be said, ought to be tolerated."
Additionally, Fox News' Megyn Kelly, who co-anchors Fox News' America's Newsroom, said the show had received mail from viewers asserting that "[i]f this had happened on a more conservative radio show, or a commentator like [Fox News host] Sean Hannity or [Fox News host] Bill O'Reilly had something like this, the media, everyone would be skewering him ... but because [Imus] leans left and is not quite in that category, they were predicting there would be ... much more forgiveness for him much more readily." Host Martha MacCallum seemed to agree with those viewers, saying, "I'm sure. I would venture that you're right about that."
Neither Kelly nor MacCallum offered any basis for the claim that Imus "leans left." As Media Matters for America has noted, Imus has previously claimed that he is voting for self-described conservative Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for president in 2008. In a January 24, 2005, article, The New York Times reported that "[a]lthough Mr. Imus's politics are more contrarian than they are Democratic or Republican, he voted for Senator John Kerry for president and criticized the Bush administration throughout last fall's campaign." In an article published in the Summer 2004 edition of The Public Interest, a now-defunct conservative quarterly, Northeastern University associate political science professor William G. Mayer classified Imus as "non-ideological." Less than a year ago, Imus referred to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) on the air as "Satan" 11 times, once calling her "that buck-tooth witch, Satan." He also called former Vice President Al Gore "the phoniest bastard on the planet" and "a horrid human being."
During the show, MacCallum also asked Kalb: "If it were someone like a Sean Hannity, for example, who uttered the kind of thing that Don Imus has uttered, what do you think the response would be by -- you know -- some of the people who will likely go right back and be on Imus' show again tomorrow?" Kalb replied: "I think it's exactly what you said. I think those people would be skewered -- absolutely right. But it would be wrong for them and wrong for Imus."
From the April 9 edition of Fox News' The Live Desk with Martha MacCallum:
KALB: And I think that Imus, by the way, ought to be congratulated for the wonderful work that he has done for poor children over the years. He's a very wealthy man, and he uses money to good effect in that way. I would think, at this point, he would be making an even larger statement about himself, his own value system, if he simply resigned. Simply make a statement to the entire industry that there are limits to what ought to be said, ought to be tolerated. All kinds of people go on his program. They can find another anchor. That's not a problem.
[...]
KELLY: You know, what's interesting, Martha, is, on our show, this morning, we covered this a little bit. We got just tons of viewer mail on it and the viewers were saying -- to pick up on Marvin's point about whether people will continue going on his show -- they were saying, "If this had happened on a more conservative radio show, or a commentator like Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly had something like this, the media, everyone would be skewering him.
MacCALLUM: The same people that would be back on the show tomorrow.
KELLY: There would be no forgiveness. They -- you know, they would be banned, but because he leans left and is not quite in that category, they were predicting there would be a much more forgiveness for him much more readily.
MacCALLUM: I'm sure. I would venture that you're right about that.
[...]
KELLY: Let me just get a quick thought from Marvin Kalb. Marvin, what you think about that? If it were someone like a Sean Hannity, for example, who uttered the kind of thing that Don Imus has uttered, what do you think the response would be by -- you know -- some of the people who will likely go right back and be on Imus' show again tomorrow?
KALB: I think it's exactly what you said. I think those people would be skewered -- absolutely right. But it would be wrong for them and wrong for Imus. If he wants to do something that has value, step out right now and make a statement to the entire industry because this industry is in trouble and needs help.
Imus leans left?
Well he did support John Kerry, is buddy buddy with Harold Ford Jr, calls Dick Cheney a war criminal and has Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer as a guest. That being said he also has called Hillary Clinton satan. So my belief he is that he leans to only what he likes.
I also personally heard him call Gore "the most evil man in the world".
He takes the lazy "everyone is corrupt" way out, and mouths the mainstream media's storylines. That makes him right of center and left of Fox.
Sorry, "the most evil man in America".
And I have also heard him say Newt Gingrich is "Fat" and a "disgrace".
Yeah, I even remember Bernard saying that Newt made him want to vomit.
The bottom line is this is a man and show that spew hate toward anyone Republican or Democratic. I NEVER understood why msm types and politicans like Kerry, Ford Jr, Schumer, Lieberman, Biden go on this show .
Just watch. FOX is going to spin this ad infinitum every time a Dem goes on the show-- that's the tactic, They're not going to let this phony issue go-- which is why I detest MM pursuing it. Imus was clearly joking and he wasn't serious, and sorry, racists jokes don't equal "racist remarks." They're not good, but they're not at all the same thing.
Poor conservatives, always the victim - even when they having nothing to do with the issue.
BTW, I thought BO was an "independent" is Kelly telling me he's really a conservative?
I think Bill-O is an amorphous blob who can shape shift into any form he wants.
Another note on FOX
Seeing Al Sharpton on the Today show this morning, he told Matt Lauer and Imus that the reason he would not appear on Imus is becuase he does not want to give him an audience. Yet Al Sharpton appears on FOX, which is as reprehensible as Imus. Double standard Al. You appear on BO and Hannity and therefore you endorse that hate.
What galls me the most about these comments from these Fox people is that they are being at best disingenous, and at the most, very severely untruthful, or they haven't been paying attention. Because this weekend, this is all I heard about on the radio, and over the internet. Lots of people talking about what Imus and his cronies were saying last week. Do they not even pay attention to what the media (including themselves) are saying? Jeesh. If the most watched news channel (sadly, it is FoxNews) isn't "the media" I don't know what is, and they were skewering him left and right and up and down. What the hell else do they want? He has been chastised (rightfully so) since he made his stupid comments, and now he's on a mea culpa tour, which hopefully nobody will buy. As others have said, he's been saying stupid ridiculous racist things for years, and finally, people are now paying attention.
Again, this reminds me of some conservative posters I've known in other forums where they post a story and ask, "I wonder if the NY Times is going to report on this story?" And of course, checking their boogeyman, the NY Times website, indeed, they always seem to have the story in question on there. Do a little research you conservative stooges. It doesn't take much. Use The Google, I mean, it really is THAT easy. But no, instead, take the lazy way out, and make it try to appear that the so-called "liberal" media is not reporting on "one of their own" again, although I don't know anyone who would say Imus is a liberal, far from it.
Brit Hume's rumored extramarital gal pal, the recently divorced and recently promoted Megyn Kelly ought to know that Sean Hannity and many others of Kelly's associates have made their bigotry pretty darned clear and so far havegotten away with it. They haven't said anything as stupidly obvious as Imus' remark but the bigotry is unmistakeable. You can see a video of some of FNC's "finer" moments at foxattacks.com or you can check some of the posts under the "racial insensitivity" topic at www.newshounds.com.
Kelly should stick to diagnosing the Duke rape accuser (another case with racial overtones). Funny how she and her FOX News crew always seem to rush to the side of white people making bigoted remarks.
The nuts on FOX to say a word about double standards and who would appear on the show the very next day when Ann Coulter calls John Edwards a FA@$T and then where is she defending herself the next day...yup, that's right FOXNOISE.
Imus chases the almighty buck, I personally cannot stand him. The only guests he has are paid by his own network. He hates everyone, except Tim Russert. His political leanings blow with the wind, depending who is popular at the moment, or who will listen to his wife, or himself sell their products. The guy is on a nowhere time slot, hope this is not just a ploy for sagging ratings. Quite simply this guy is miserable and a has been.
give imus a break. He's the voice for the disenfranchised 60 somethings that grew up with having the right to be more candid and Honest in their dialouge about the issues that face our melting pot of a country.
At what point does it end? Will anyone have a sense of humor once the PC police control our rhetoric. ?
Just because the words are erased doesn't mean the thought doesn't remain. White guilt is paralyzing caucasions ability to speak freely. He said "nappy headed ho's".. Many more commentators have said much more aggresive statements. He should be fined, apologize to the women and move on.
gonna save words on you OH and ask what's candid and honest about nappy headed ho's?
think first
Here is an e-mail I sent to MSNBC viewer services 3/28/2007 when MMFA chronicled Sid Rosenberg's reappearance on the Imus show. Am I psychic or what?Dear Sir or Madam,I guess you could call me a fan of the Imus Show since I was a teenager (1980's). I had to listen to Imus surreptitiously because my father prohibited me from the show because as he said "I will not have you listening to that racist in my house." My retort was that Imus was racially neutral and spread his comedy evenly across racial lines. Regretfully, I can no longer maintain that position.I very often find myself with Imus and enjoy the jocular nature of the broadcast and the first rate programming and guests. However, I will not listen to Imus or watch the broadcast if I continue to hear Sid Rosenberg spew his racially targeted humor which I find not only personally offensive but gratuitous within the context of a sport report.I am sorry of Imus feels he has to find his ratings here. I think his listeners and guests deserve better.Best regards,I think we should be suspicious of Fox News here because they would certainly benefit from Imus's firing from MSNBC.Let us petition for Imus to admit his mistakes and never let Sid Rosenberg back on his air. Sid is something of an enabler for Imus' tendencies. I hope he realizes that now.
Ah, the great PC debate: why should slurs be considered acceptable dialog? Because if they aren't, the libs win. Case closed.
PC is right. Instead of allowing Imus to speak his mind, lets allow the LImbuaughs and the O'Reillys weave their furtive mixture of hate.
Were Imus's epithets poorly chosen? Sure. Does he surround himself with enablers both overt and covert? No need to respond. But so long as this thinking goes on anywhere, there'll be both erudite and crude spokespeople to deliver the message.
Fire Imus? Sure, but also follow suit for the like removal of Hannity, Olbermann, and the asst'd political hacks like Scarbourough Kasich et al and every single opinionated personality on cable since there's little left on the wirewaves that resembles the patina of unbiased reporting, be it news or chit chat.
Fox snooze telling a commentator that they went over the line. Now that has to be a guinness book of world records.
So, all you great thinkers... please let me know why it is that black people can, sometimes viciously, call each other 'Hoes', "nig***s", Mot***f***er's"... their 'girlfriends' are bitches... their music puts their own women down to such a degree that there is no respect left for them... Why do the women allow that to happen? And why is it that Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson and other 'leaders' do not speak out and call out their own society for the trash they spew and the anger and deprivation they spread? And, on top of that, none of YOU brave people speak out against it. What are you afraid of? Why do you not speak out against the rap music and the way that these people swear and curse and speak filth in everything they do?, But, as the bandwagon rolls by, you great thinkers and indignants shake your head and call Imus "trash" and "the devil" for saying a word that black people use to refer to themselves? You are so proud to be speaking to your own choir, but I'd be interested in hearing you really speak out about the real problem, to the double standard that you try to impose on the world... you won't because that would mean you would really have to stand for something, and I don't think you're capable of that...
DMBCMJ4477, I as a 72 year old African American woman DO speak out. I do not use the "N" word nor do I allow the three children and one grandson I have to use the "N" word. We do not listen nor but any rapper music that degrades black people or black women. All 11 of my brothers and sisters also have raised their families in the same manner. I don't have friends who use or speak such language, therefore I HAVE EVERY RIGHT NOT TO ACCEPT SUCH LANGUAGE FROM IMUS. You chose to take a general statement and apply it to all African American people as if we are all the same to you. That may be the only thing you know but about African American people but I would suggests you expand your circle BEFORE you make general statements and assign them to an entire race of people.
I used to watch Imus because he was a grumpy old man who did a lot of good but the hate speech in his program became to much. What his said was wrong, period. When rappers call black women Ho's and bit***s that's wrong to.
I watched his apology and accept it.
LIKE YOU I DO NOT ALLOW THE USE OF THE N WORD IN MY HOUSE OR IN MY PRESENCE. LIKE I EXPLAINED TO MY TEENAGE SON WE SHOULD NEVER CALL OURSELVES ANYTHING WE DO NOT WANT TO BE CALLED BY ANOTHER RACE. I TOO DO NOT ALLOW MUSIC THAT DISRESPECTS ANY RACE OR SEX. IMUS WAS JUST WRONG AND SO IS ANYBODY THAT USES THOSE WORDS. HOPEFULLY HE HAS LEARNED THE POWER OF WORDS. AND MAYBE CAUSE SOME PEOPLE TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES FOR BURIED RACISM. I ACCEPT HIS APOLOGY AS WELL. AND I HOPE HE LEARNS TO THINK TWICE AND SPEAK ONCE.
How do you know that people aren't speaking out against it. I don't stand for it and I don't promote the denegration of any group of people. It's funny how some can lump all balck people into one category and thne not realize simple minded it makes them look.
So Fox - what if Hannity had said this - is NOT THE POINT!! The fact that Imus gives money to charity IS NOT THE POINT! Imus is a senile, racist nut who's outlived his entertainment value. He is hateful is the clearest sense of the word. To answer the pananoid right wing - Limbaugh says as horrible things daily - THAT's what happens to the likes of Hannity - absolutely nothing! The Right needs to go back and educate themselves - get come historical perspective on this thing. It's maddening to hear the same clap trap addressed to every issue. No wonder my Fox-watching is limited to The Simpsons!
It wouldn't hurt if everyoneread this column...
Imus isn’t the real bad guyInstead of wasting time on irrelevant shock jock, black leaders need to be fighting a growing gangster culture.By JASON WHITLOCKColumnist
Kansas City Star (kansascity.com)