Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

Silencing Imus...and then...who else?

Yet another man is in trouble for not keeping his mouth shut.

“Oh dear tongue, I should cut you in pieces,” my mother used to say when she blurted out something unwittingly. Maybe the venom, if it is venom, should stay inside the mouths, but is that what we really want?

I am not going to defend Imus for what he said. Even if it is indefensible, it is one man’s opinion, but what Imus said might be said in jest a la Lenny Bruce.

Also, it isn't likely that those college girls will be scarred for life because Imus said what he said.

Possibly it was offensive; I can’t tell, since I didn't know what ho or nappy was. We weren't thought these things and I don't listen to those awful rap lyrics either. And who made the rule that greens can utter some words freely as “culture,” while purples cannot mention those?

I used to listen to Imus on the radio until a couple of decades ago in New York. The man did not have a racist cell in him, then. I stopped listening to "Imus in the Morning" when we moved away. Later, I saw him a few times on the morning TV briefly, but what I heard was bitter and nasty. So I stopped.

Lots of people say lots of nasty things on the airways. What Imus said could have been ugly and distasteful. The man has gained a nasty aura lately anyhow. While similar things have been spilling out of him for years as he cantankerously attacked people right and left, why do we assail Imus now for this one thing?

Whether Imus said whatever he said knowingly or not, I think the matter is overblown. There was no need to make this the event of the century like the way it was done to a police officer because of one politically incorrect word in the OJ Simpson trial, which resulted in an unjust court decision.

What really makes me question the motives is, when we have so many problems lurking over our heads, why so much importance had to be given to this.

Also, I worry about silencing people. What will be next? Shall we start jailing the news reporters as in third world countries? Or maybe we are already doing that.