Thank you for the link and an article I would have overlooked.
We're more comfortable with our bigots being lowbrow and crude because then we can look down on them on feel unimplicated. Imus's bigotry doesn't allow that luxury, since he is by all accounts a bookish news junkie, so the default mechanism is to one-dimensionalize him, reduce him to nothing more than a desiccated praying mantis in a cowboy hat and a permanent hate-on. He was more complex than that, his misanthropic animosity more multidirected. As Tom Watson notes: Imus famously called Dick Cheney a war criminal, hit Halliburton for refusing to contribute to a new hospital for wounded veterans, and has been a long and consistent critic of this dreadful failed war. Indeed, no one was more emphatic in pounding home the issue of incompetence and misery in the veterans hospitals than Imus, and he continued hitting it, not sparing politicians he personally liked and supported (such as McCain) from his daily indictment even as everyone else was ready to "move on." In the last couple weeks of the show he was also putting together with retired colonel Jack Jacobs a possible itinerary for a trip to Iraq, a prospective journey his rattling bag of bones hardly needed. He also has been in the forefront of raising awareness over autism, and his wife Diedre was (is) evangelical on the subject of environmental pollution in schools, hospitals, and offices. Add to this the not inconsiderable time, effort, emotional pain, and money they invested in the cattle ranch for children with cancer. The Imuses did good works, and they didn't have to do them; they could have simply thrown a chunk of money at a worthy cause or two, deducted it from their taxes, and called it a day. I don't consider Imus's firing an justice, but I do think it was crass and unfair not to wait until after he had finished his fundraising radiothon and had the opportunity to meet with the Rutgers team; if the executives were going to act with such panicky haste, they might at least have spared us their Pontius Pilate pieties afterwards.
James Walcott is writer who knows the mind of his reader. In these passage he clearly explains why some people felt so wronged by Imus. His comments reflect a light on what other good party members may have said on his show. Now there is going to be a round of people claiming that they never really liked Imus they only appered there to …
We're more comfortable with our bigots being lowbrow and crude because then we can look down on them on feel unimplicated. Imus's bigotry doesn't allow that luxury, since he is by all accounts a bookish news junkie, so the default mechanism is to one-dimensionalize him, reduce him to nothing more than a desiccated praying mantis in a cowboy hat and a permanent hate-on. He was more complex than that, his misanthropic animosity more multidirected. As Tom Watson notes:
Imus famously called Dick Cheney a war criminal, hit Halliburton for refusing to contribute to a new hospital for wounded veterans, and has been a long and consistent critic of this dreadful failed war.
Indeed, no one was more emphatic in pounding home the issue of incompetence and misery in the veterans hospitals than Imus, and he continued hitting it, not sparing politicians he personally liked and supported (such as McCain) from his daily indictment even as everyone else was ready to "move on." In the last couple weeks of the show he was also putting together with retired colonel Jack Jacobs a possible itinerary for a trip to Iraq, a prospective journey his rattling bag of bones hardly needed. He also has been in the forefront of raising awareness over autism, and his wife Diedre was (is) evangelical on the subject of environmental pollution in schools, hospitals, and offices. Add to this the not inconsiderable time, effort, emotional pain, and money they invested in the cattle ranch for children with cancer. The Imuses did good works, and they didn't have to do them; they could have simply thrown a chunk of money at a worthy cause or two, deducted it from their taxes, and called it a day. I don't consider Imus's firing an justice, but I do think it was crass and unfair not to wait until after he had finished his fundraising radiothon and had the opportunity to meet with the Rutgers team; if the executives were going to act with such panicky haste, they might at least have spared us their Pontius Pilate pieties afterwards.
James Walcott is writer who knows the mind of his reader. In these passage he clearly explains why some people felt so wronged by Imus. His comments reflect a light on what other good party members may have said on his show. Now there is going to be a round of people claiming that they never really liked Imus they only appered there to …
I did the show almost solely to earn my media-elite merit badge.
They and all their NBC pals would regularly appear on the program, but they only spoke to the Dr. Jekyll Imus; Mr. Hyde only came out once they were off the air and while they kinda, sorta knew there was this low-brow schtick going on, they were removed from it and, gee, didn't realize how offensive it must have been to some people.
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