I'm gonna quote Darrin on the subject of pulling funding. Because I think he has a very good point, and I don't want to plagarize.
"Where I’m going with this: Nobody is violating Imus’ 1st Amendment rights. The government hasn’t said one thing or stepped in. Be that as it may, I see a few bad omens out of the debacle. Because the sponsors pulled money from the networks the networks cut Imus off the air. He still has Free Speech but nowhere to speak freely. Consider the implications of a deregulated, monopolistic media system whereby if ABC doesn’t like you then you can’t get a forum on radio, television, print or on the big screen. Or where some loudmouth like Al Sharpton can manipulate that system to get ABC to shut you down. Effectively it is a bypass around the 1st Amendment; drain all of the power and importance out of the Bill of Rights but leave behind the empty shell of the law for appearances.
If Imus called someone at work a ‘nappy-headed ho’ then there is a problem. Hostile work environment, sexual harassment, discrimination, lawsuit risk, et al. Calling someone on the radio a ho, a public figure like an athlete, during a program based around the conceit of being offensive, is not a problem. Making a problem out of something that isn’t a problem contributes to the parasitism of the 1st Amendment."
"Where I’m going with this: Nobody is violating Imus’ 1st Amendment rights. The government hasn’t said one thing or stepped in. Be that as it may, I see a few bad omens out of the debacle. Because the sponsors pulled money from the networks the networks cut Imus off the air. He still has Free Speech but nowhere to speak freely. Consider the implications of a deregulated, monopolistic media system whereby if ABC doesn’t like you then you can’t get a forum on radio, television, print or on the big screen. Or where some loudmouth like Al Sharpton can manipulate that system to get ABC to shut you down. Effectively it is a bypass around the 1st Amendment; drain all of the power and importance out of the Bill of Rights but leave behind the empty shell of the law for appearances.
If Imus called someone at work a ‘nappy-headed ho’ then there is a problem. Hostile work environment, sexual harassment, discrimination, lawsuit risk, et al. Calling someone on the radio a ho, a public figure like an athlete, during a program based around the conceit of being offensive, is not a problem. Making a problem out of something that isn’t a problem contributes to the parasitism of the 1st Amendment."
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