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The thing is, this is not the first time something like this has happened on his show. It happens semi-regularly, although this is the first time, I believe, that Imus has done it himself; usually it is his staff.


Bzzzt. He has a long history of racially charged rhetoric on his show, from calling PBS's Gwen Iffil a "cleaning lady" to calling a black NYT reporter a "quota hire." His producer/sidekick was the one who did the dirty work on the Hillary Clinton "corn rows and gold teeth" comments, but Imus certainly laughed along with him.

It's also important to note we're not just talking about racism here, we're talking about misogyny. These were women being degraded. Many were black, some were white, but they're all "hos" as far as Imus is concerned.

I will agree that this is not the worst thing ever uttered on talk radio; far from it. This specific episode was just the straw that broke the camel's back. Things like this are indeed said on many other radio shows, TV shows, etc, and those who use racism, misogyny, etc. to get ratings should be on notice. Free speech must be protected, but protecting free speech doesn't mean advertisers are required to provide a platform for this kind of destructive, divisive trash. Imus is certainly free to find a new home, and if he wants to, he will. And he's welcome to continue his unique brand of shock jockery and preach to anyone who will listen. Assuming he can find enough advertisers who don't mind endorsing this garbage, he'll be just fine. Actually, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Neil Boortz, and friends have far exceeded Imus' vitriol, so maybe their advertisers could help him out.
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- Tony C
my empeg stuff