Imus Gets the Axe

Last week, Don Imus referred to the Rutgers University women's basketball team, which had lost the national championship game the day before, as "nappy-headed hos." Yesterday in the continuing saga, MSNBC announced that it has canceled Imus' show.

MSNBC simulcasts the "Imus In The Morning" show, while the show originates from CBS Radio. CBS has chosen to give Imus a two week suspension.

NBC has apologized again to the Rutgers team, citing the pain this has caused. The company executives that made the decision said that the sentiment among NBC employees had been a large part of the reason for the firing.

One of those examples was Al Roker, the weatherman for the Today Show. He wrote a scathing commentary on the Today Show website calling for Imus to be fired.

Steve Capus, the president of MSNBC said that the program loss would have only minimal impact on MSNBC's budget and that advertising money was not a determining factor. "What price do you put on your reputation?" said Capus. "And the reputation of the news division means more to me than advertising dollars. Because if you lose your reputation, you lose everything."

Meanwhile the list of advertisers that refuse to sponsor the show in the future has grown from just Procter and Gamble, and Staples Easy button, to include General Motors, American Express, Sprint, Nextel, GlaxoSmithKline, TD Ameritrade, and Ditech.com, the GMAC loan company.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who has been leading the charge for Imus' ouster, is pleased with the progress so far, and he stated, "This has never been about Don Imus. I have no idea whether he is a good man or not. This is about the use of public airwaves for bigoted, racist speech."

Senator Barack Obama has also joined in the call for MSNBC and CBS to fire Imus. When interviewed by ABC News, Obama said, "He fed into some of the worst stereotypes that my two young daughters are having to deal with today in America.

The womens team from Rutgers held a news conference expressing their dismay at his statements. Imus is scheduled to meet with the Rutgers team today. On the college campus yesterday there was a rally of students chanting anti-Imus slogans and waving protest signs. And a call has gone out to the college to boycott companies that advertise on Imus' show, while a New Jersey State Senator has said that she will introduce a bill or statement in the legislature for New Jersey to stop buying products from companies that advertise on the Imus show.

Imus regularly insults women, Jews, Catholics, politicians of all ideologies. Often labeling people as a "lying weasel." This time, he picked the wrong target, going after young, black female athletes.

Why do so many high-powered people appear on Imus' show? That's easy! Over the years, Imus invested mightily in the media and political elite, and the investment paid off.
No one is willing to give up the air time or book plugs, no matter what Imus says on the air.

He forgives them their transgressions, be it plagiarism or drunken moments caught on tape, and they forgive him his. This time it is akin to Goliath going after Cinderella.

The pro-Imus argument goes like this: He donates millions to charity and runs a camp for young cancer patients; some of the cancer patients are black. Therefore, he is a self-described "good person " and cannot be racist.

Well, a man can beat his wife and still give away money to women's causes. It makes him a generous wife-beater. The same logic applies to Imus!