Kaye Grogan
Imus dribbled the ball . . . in the wrong court
By Kaye Grogan
The furor over the insult Don Imus directed at the young ladies on the Rutgers basketball team really has opened up a large can of worms.
Let me say up front, I am not a fan of Imus. I determined a long time ago that he should be removed from the airways (like yesterday), but for other reasons. How the man and his co-hosts managed to squeeze past the FCC's watchful eye for as long as they have, is beyond me. The last I heard: between the hours of 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. all obscenity and profanity is supposed to be mute. And somebody has been grossly negligent (are you listening MSNBC and CBS?) by allowing the verbal filth to pollute the airways for so long.
This "Imus in the Morning" show has been airing for a long time — so what is your excuse for waiting so long to react?
Fifteen minutes of watching the controversial program the first time I tuned in, was enough for me. But I will have to (begrudgingly) give Imus credit for apologizing "umpteenth" times to the young ladies not only on the air, but in person, for his "foot in the mouth" comment.
Now, let's target some more deserving people who need to be tied to the whipping post. I agree with Don Imus when he asked: "when is Al Sharpton going to apologize to the Duke Lacrosse players who were falsely accused of raping a stripper who performed at a party the young college men orchestrated?" But as usual many people think they are exempt from accountability.
People of all color and ethnicity can be racist, and it's ludicrous and irresponsible to think racism is only confined to one nationality. The definition of racism: discrimination against or antagonism toward other races. Note: since race is in plural form, this encompasses all ethnic groups, not just one race.
Next, just about everybody has called President Bush everything but a "Child of God." Wait a minute! ...he's been called that too, by anti-God groups, when they want to ridicule him for his faith.
Hippies in the late sixties started a revolution that has now reached high-level proportions of resisting and refusing to adhere to moral and lawful authority. And this trend has been handed down to their offspring, and escalated, as the years have progressed.
For years, decent people have been calling for restrictions of freedom of speech. But up until now, supposedly everything seedy and vulgar from pornography to modern day rap singers is protected under the guise of freedom of speech.
Consistently, liberal proponents insist that bad speech is protected, and yet they want to restrict the free speech of Christians and conservatives. Boy! ...talk about getting priorities mixed up (intentionally).
Just recently a "gag" order was lifted from the Jamestown, Virginia historical site. It seems a group of ill-advised, anti-Christian folks wanted the site to refrain from pointing out that America was indeed founded on Christianity, blatantly ignoring there are verifiable records to back up the claim.
While Imus has been a whipping post for the past week — hopefully, this will start the ball rolling to not only monitor objectionable material, but to increase accountability for the content of programming that has crossed the line. What Imus said about the female players on Rutgers basketball team was hurtful, deplorable, and should not be tolerated. But just targeting one out of thousands of name-calling, personal attackers — will not suffice to solve the ever growing problem.
Next in line: Internet Service Providers, Search Engines, etc. — should be raked over the coals for allowing people who lack respect for themselves, much less respect for others — to spew their hatred and personal nasty attacks on blog boards using anonymous nicknames. . .especially if they are getting paid to launch these attacks.
This type of activity would not be tolerated in the workplace or out here in the real world, and it should not be tolerated online. The notion that free speech gives people the right to say whatever they want to, without suffering any consequences, is just wrong. Not only from a moral standpoint, but period. If the same people approached the person they are trashing on blog boards face to face, and talked to them the way they do behind anonymous nicknames — they would be charged with verbal assault or worse — so it stands to reason: Internet providers, web site owners, and search engines need to be held responsible for allowing this type of written verbal abuse to continue.
I have to wonder what kind of people would wish a painful cancer death directed at congenial Press Secretary Tony Snow or anyone else using liberal blog boards to spew their personal hatred? Maybe it's time for a lot of serious soul-searching for many. If people can act in this manner, and look at themselves in the mirror without feeling guilty — they have a real problem.
Evidently, these uncaring people have not digested, that whatever they say and do, will come back around to them sevenfold. And whether the rebound is good or bad will be determined by the person's prior actions.
And that's just my opinion!
© Kaye Grogan
The furor over the insult Don Imus directed at the young ladies on the Rutgers basketball team really has opened up a large can of worms.
Let me say up front, I am not a fan of Imus. I determined a long time ago that he should be removed from the airways (like yesterday), but for other reasons. How the man and his co-hosts managed to squeeze past the FCC's watchful eye for as long as they have, is beyond me. The last I heard: between the hours of 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. all obscenity and profanity is supposed to be mute. And somebody has been grossly negligent (are you listening MSNBC and CBS?) by allowing the verbal filth to pollute the airways for so long.
This "Imus in the Morning" show has been airing for a long time — so what is your excuse for waiting so long to react?
Fifteen minutes of watching the controversial program the first time I tuned in, was enough for me. But I will have to (begrudgingly) give Imus credit for apologizing "umpteenth" times to the young ladies not only on the air, but in person, for his "foot in the mouth" comment.
Now, let's target some more deserving people who need to be tied to the whipping post. I agree with Don Imus when he asked: "when is Al Sharpton going to apologize to the Duke Lacrosse players who were falsely accused of raping a stripper who performed at a party the young college men orchestrated?" But as usual many people think they are exempt from accountability.
People of all color and ethnicity can be racist, and it's ludicrous and irresponsible to think racism is only confined to one nationality. The definition of racism: discrimination against or antagonism toward other races. Note: since race is in plural form, this encompasses all ethnic groups, not just one race.
Next, just about everybody has called President Bush everything but a "Child of God." Wait a minute! ...he's been called that too, by anti-God groups, when they want to ridicule him for his faith.
Hippies in the late sixties started a revolution that has now reached high-level proportions of resisting and refusing to adhere to moral and lawful authority. And this trend has been handed down to their offspring, and escalated, as the years have progressed.
For years, decent people have been calling for restrictions of freedom of speech. But up until now, supposedly everything seedy and vulgar from pornography to modern day rap singers is protected under the guise of freedom of speech.
Consistently, liberal proponents insist that bad speech is protected, and yet they want to restrict the free speech of Christians and conservatives. Boy! ...talk about getting priorities mixed up (intentionally).
Just recently a "gag" order was lifted from the Jamestown, Virginia historical site. It seems a group of ill-advised, anti-Christian folks wanted the site to refrain from pointing out that America was indeed founded on Christianity, blatantly ignoring there are verifiable records to back up the claim.
While Imus has been a whipping post for the past week — hopefully, this will start the ball rolling to not only monitor objectionable material, but to increase accountability for the content of programming that has crossed the line. What Imus said about the female players on Rutgers basketball team was hurtful, deplorable, and should not be tolerated. But just targeting one out of thousands of name-calling, personal attackers — will not suffice to solve the ever growing problem.
Next in line: Internet Service Providers, Search Engines, etc. — should be raked over the coals for allowing people who lack respect for themselves, much less respect for others — to spew their hatred and personal nasty attacks on blog boards using anonymous nicknames. . .especially if they are getting paid to launch these attacks.
This type of activity would not be tolerated in the workplace or out here in the real world, and it should not be tolerated online. The notion that free speech gives people the right to say whatever they want to, without suffering any consequences, is just wrong. Not only from a moral standpoint, but period. If the same people approached the person they are trashing on blog boards face to face, and talked to them the way they do behind anonymous nicknames — they would be charged with verbal assault or worse — so it stands to reason: Internet providers, web site owners, and search engines need to be held responsible for allowing this type of written verbal abuse to continue.
I have to wonder what kind of people would wish a painful cancer death directed at congenial Press Secretary Tony Snow or anyone else using liberal blog boards to spew their personal hatred? Maybe it's time for a lot of serious soul-searching for many. If people can act in this manner, and look at themselves in the mirror without feeling guilty — they have a real problem.
Evidently, these uncaring people have not digested, that whatever they say and do, will come back around to them sevenfold. And whether the rebound is good or bad will be determined by the person's prior actions.
And that's just my opinion!
© Kaye Grogan
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
