ACD Official Statement On Don Imus Lynching

J.J. Jackson* | April 14, 2007

I am making this “official” statement because apparently, judging by my inbox, a great many people need my position on the firing of Don Imus spelled out even more clearly than I already have.

Don Imus is a shock jock. He has made a living saying things and pushing buttons. He has made a living trying, although rarely succeeding, in being funny.

It is important to remember that Don Imus has been on the air for decades doing his shtick. He has said many “offensive” things and attacked people unfairly over that time and never been held to real account by his employer who was more that willing to keep the host on the air. That is their right. Just as it is their right to fire him now.

Do I think that such a sudden reversal triggered by rabid attacks by self-proclaimed black leaders like Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton and left wing websites like Media Matters is a little more than hypocritical? I sure do. Based on what Don Imus had said in the past, this latest incident is hardly shocking or worthy of the response it generated (i.e. his firing) which is different than responses in the past.

However, like I said, it is the right of his employer to take such action. We do still live in a free society after all and the companies that previously employed him are allowed to determine what opinions they will and will not permit their companies to be associated with.

This is not, however, an issue of “free speech” being infringed. The first Amendment only prohibits Congress (and the states via the 14th Amendment) from infringing on the free speech of citizens. CBS and MSNBC are not the federal government and are under no such restrictions.

Personally my belief is that Don Imus should not have been fired for what he said no matter how disgusting I might find it. He might have been fired for low ratings and an inability to generate revenues for his employers but again, based on the fact that they have profited off his mouth in the past and his saying of far worse things, not for this.

Of course if I were the owners of MSNBC and CBS I would have never hired him to begin with.

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One Response to “ACD Official Statement On Don Imus Lynching”

Citizen J on April 17th, 2007 2:33 pm

Republicans Thank Al, Al, and Jesse
for
Shutting Down a Powerful Democratic Media Outlet

Republicans all over the country are coming to the support and thanking Al Sharpton, Al Roker, and Jesse Jackson, for removing Don Imus from both the TV and radio airways.
These three patriots were able to do in one week what the Republican party had not been able to do in 7 years. For years whenever we would attack a democratic candidate, such as John Kerry with the Swift Boats ads or Harold Ford with the “Call Me” ad, there they were the next morning on the Imus show rebutting our undocumented facts with impunity. When we wanted to downplay a news item, such as the Dana Priest and Ann Hull article about the minor problems in Building 18 at Walter Reed Army Hospital, there was Don Imus repeatedly keeping the story alive until the whole country new about it. Or when medical evidence effected one of our major campaign contributors, such as the pharmaceutical companies over the relationship between thimerosal and autism, Imus had the nerve to take on a Republican congressman from Texas.

Make no mistake, this was a very powerful media outlet almost exclusive to the Democratic Party. In the past eight years, the only Republicans to appear on his show, with any regularity, was ex-Senator Rick somebody from Pennsylvania and Senator John McCain and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. However, the laundry list of Democrats include Senator John Kerry, Senator Chris Dodd, Senator Joe Lieberman, Senator Joe Biden, Senator Chuck Schumer, Governor Bill Richardson, and Senator John Edwards just to name few.

To understand the importance of the Imus in the Morning, you must understand the time slot that it occupied. Most people that work, which is the same demographic that vote, gets up at around 5:30am, takes a shower, turn on the TV and have breakfast, then leave for work around 7am. Between 6am and 7am is the same time period when the high profile guests would appear on the Imus show. We are told that Imus had a TV audience of about 600,000 and a radio audience of about 2.2 million, in the age group between 35 and 55, a mean income between $75K and $120K and a mid to upper level manager. When you factor in word of mouth and office talk over the coffee machine, Imus’s true audience was most likely around 10 million. This is why companies like American Express and General Motors were willing to pay top dollar to advertise on MSNBC and the Imus in the Morning Show and why Imus was such a threat to the Republican candidates in the 2008 elections.

With Imus gone, and MSNBC unable to replace him, what can you expect from Republicans in the coming year? First, we will be expecting Al and Jesse to keep beating the dead horse Imus to death for at least another week. This will occupy the mindless news outlets and allow our good friend US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to go before Congress, explain why we fired all those attorneys and anyone else we what to, then go back to work stripping away even more of your civil rights. Starting immediately, we will be blocking all legislation, blaming the democrats via our fair and balanced network and once again showing the American public the ineffectiveness of a democratically controlled Congress. In the coming months you can expect Barack Obama’s campaign to implode, thanks to the RNC and the Clinton war machines. President Bush’s Guest Worker Program, or as we call it the 14 million New Republicans Plan, will be enacted. The phases; Candidate Thompson, President Elect Thompson, and President Thompson will become part of the American lexicon. Finally, the war in Iraq has cost a lot more than we had expected. Since it is impossible for us to raise taxes, the new Republican lead congress will keep its promise and eliminate all social programs.

In closing, thank you again, Al, Al, and Jesse, for all the hard work removing Imus from the air. We will be needing your help down the road with Rosie, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, and Sean Penn. We are hoping that in their case rather than having them fired, you can have them arrested and sent to a foreign country to be interrogated and jailed.

See you at the Inauguration!!!!

Citizen J