Roger L. Simon: Now Rice: Animal Farm Meets Imus

I find Don Imus a wretched bore - always have, even before the latest dust-up. But the way this minuscule event has metastasized so that now the Secretary of State feels constrained to comment is extraordinary and not a little bit frightening in the "thought control" department. Also it is hugely demeaning to her office.

We live in an increasingly pathetic media culture where pretty soon, like the proverbial sheep, we will all have to think and talk the same way. Like those sheep, we might as well be saying bah-bah-bah. Or better yet: "Four legs good, two legs bad." Because that's where it's headed.

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Comments require registration through TypeKey. Abusive remarks may be deleted. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Roger Simon.

Following my responses to a remark about conservative "Social Authoritarians" in which I compared choice for women to the lack of choice afforded to men, I received a notice from a legitimate name and personal email account (I googled) at a Planned Parenthood address. It accused me of trying to send pornography to the personal (named) account of a woman staffer there.
Typekey does not display email addresses, but Roger has had differing posting systems since I started posting here. Regardless, they accessed my email address somewhere and, of course, Roger would not have provided it. I know that without asking.
The timing is certain though, knowing my posting history on the subject. It was sent in response to my comments here.
I posted for years with my email address on display and only stopped after spam became an issue. And yet this is the first time I have been harrassed for posting anywhere on any subject, although I have received angry but reasonably civil emails.
No BS about feeling intimidated, I don't. Just sure that I have touched a vulnerable spot in suggesting that men deserve a reasonable degree of choice also. That idea is apparantly beyond the pale to some "pro choicers". Even to the degree that they will falsely accuse others.

You are right about the nth degree of outrage on display, but I think the volume of outrage has turned the corner into a laughable caricature of political correctness. More important to me, as it gets louder and louder it provides a greater platform for those who correctly point out the absurdity of using liberal politic's worst offenders (Sharpton and the like) as the confessors. There are few of any political leaning who do not see the comedy. That's a good thing in the end.
Doesn't help Imus, but he did cross a line. It's been crossed a million times before without such a reaction, but still...

Well the whole thing has gotten pretty stupid. But that is the media. I don't care if it is Katrina or Anna Nicole or Michael Jackson or British sailors, the media can trivialize anything.

I think it's appropriate that America's celebrity Secretary of State Rice is reduced to commenting on such matters. At least she's not slagging off the Founding Fathers as racists as she's been known to do. I think she'd get on well with Reverend Al.

It just underscores how little Ms. R. actually does. How little she actually has to think about, except joining that cretin Sharpton on his bandwagon.

This whole sorry episode just goes to show how wrong-headed we are listening to "advocates" like Sharpton. Politicians are bad enough, but at least when you're a politician there's some marriage between what's said and public support.

Professional bullhorns like Sharpton are free to engage in their little "pro bono" projects independent of the sentiments of "real" people. There are no villagers marching in lockstep behind Al with pitchforks & torches in hand. None at all.

"I don't like Imus." "Imus is a bonehead." Al Sharpton aside, those are the most caustic statements I've heard against Don Imus anywhere. Haven't heard any non-invested folks express the wish he be fired. Nothing even close to that.

This was just his little pet peeve and now we all are living under a different set of freedoms; some of us without a Don Imus retirement plan. President Bush, all the bluster to the contrary, doesn't have that kind of power. They might as well rename the country to Sharptonville.

Here's food for thought. Muammar Qaddafi adores "Leeza" for being all she can be as a black gal of African descent . . . Contrast with the repellent casting of all women, especially our sisters of the black persuasion, as the lowest of the low by our homegrown scumbags. Can't these men ever get anything right?

Unfortunately, Roger is a victim of driveby Reuters. Ms. Rice never said what Reuters insinuated she said. Here is the transcript link
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2007/apr/83046.htm

If you follow jb's link Rice talked about several different issues. This is what she said about Imus:

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, one of the big concerns of the American people it would seem the last couple of days has been this whole huge controversy over radio host -- now fired radio host -- Don Imus. You are perhaps the most powerful African American woman in the history of our country. Do you believe that CBS made the proper decision in firing Don Imus for his hateful and unacceptable comment?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I'm not going to comment on what CBS should or shouldn't have done. I'm very glad that there was, in fact, a consequence. I think that this kind of coarse language doesn't belong anywhere in reasonable dialogue between reasonable people. And you do have to remember these are young women. These are the ages of people's young daughters. They're 18 and 19-year-old women. And what were they doing except, showing that they're really fine athletes, playing under extraordinary pressure in which for them was a dream season. And it gets ruined by this disgusting -- and I'll use the word "disgusting," -- comment which doesn't belong in any polite company and certainly doesn't belong on any radio station that I would listen to.

QUESTION: You've been subjected -- we were talking about this before -- to some racist abuse yourself from the left side of the political spectrum. Has anyone ever apologized to you for some of those cartoons or radio comments or anything of that nature?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, you know, I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. (Laughter.) And I really don't care because, you know, I'm a mature woman. I know myself. It doesn't bother me in the least. And I think not the bit of it because I actually feel kind of sorry for somebody who feels that that's the way that they're going to have an effect on me because they're not. But this is very different -- these are young college students. You know, I was a college professor and these are in some ways vulnerable people because they are -- they're young. And I just thought that it was an attack on women's sports, first of all, and secondly an attack on very accomplished young black women in a way that was really offensive.

Since when did a liberal like Imus become an icon for freedom of speech or something? Just because Imus felt the need to go on Sharpton's show and try to save himself by kissing up to that demagogue and got yelled at for his trouble, does not mean conservatives have to say "Well anyone Sharpton is mad at is my hero".

jb, you are correct in saying that I was the victim of a Reuters drive-by. OTOH, I'd just as soon Condoleeza had said what we all feel: Next subject.

If Dante were alive, his solution might be to lock Sarpton and Imus up together for eternity on some circle of Hell or other.

The people that could have nipped this in the bud were the Rutgers women themselves, but no, Rutgers saw an opportunity to scam some money with Sharpies help.

Just think how long this would have been a story if the women had come out and said...

"Why should we care what an addled, old, coke-head shock jock with lousy ratings says about anything? We know what we accomplished as do all the people that we care about. Now, do you want to talk basketball?"

That would have been an answer that dignified them and NOT played into the stereotype of poor victimized blacks and women unable to stand up for themselves.

Those girls set both women's lib and civil rights back 20 years. And I'm sure it wasn't there idea to have that sob story press conference. I think that was the Rutgers admin looking for payola.

April 13, 2007: Now Rice: Animal Farm Meets Imus

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