I really don’t care about Don Imus. I can honestly say I don’t ever remember listening to his show, which is saying a lot with all of the radio I listened to the eight years I drove a truck over the road. That being said; with the controversy going on right now, one almost has to comment on what he said and the resulting fallout.

I guess one could make the case that this is Imus’ schtick, it’s what he does. That’s certainly true. By all accounts this isn’t the first time he’s made inflammatory or racist comments though. This time, he decided to go way out of his way to attack a womens college basketball team. These women were not involved in any political debate, they had done nothing to earn Imus’ comments. That’s why I believe that Imus got what he had coming. The “market”  decided his fate, and he was fired.

Now, the one thing that bothers me about this whole bruhaha with Imus is the fact that race baiters like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are claiming the moral high ground in the issue. Remember, Sharpton was the chief instigator in the Tawana Brawley fraud. From wikipedia:

Tawana Brawley (born 1972) is a black woman who received national attention in the U.S. when she was 15 years old for her claim that she was raped by six white men, some of them police officers, in the village of Wappingers Falls, New York. The alleged incident soon became a media sensation, championed by Reverend Al Sharpton and by attorneys Alton H. Maddox and C. Vernon Mason. There were no indictments in an investigation conducted by a grand jury in October 1988, who cited a lack of evidence, concluding she had not been abducted, assaulted, raped or sodomized.

[snip…]

Public response to Brawley’s story was at first mostly sympathetic. Bill Cosby, among others, pledged support for her. Articles about Brawley captured headlines across the US. Public rallies were held denouncing the incident. However, racial tensions also climbed, and when up-and-coming civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton, with attorneys Alton H. Maddox and C. Vernon Mason, began handling Brawley’s publicity, the case quickly took on an explosive edge.

Under the wing of Sharpton, Maddox, and Mason, a full-fledged media sensation was born. The three claimed that the entire case was a coverup going all the way up to the state government. They named New York prosecutor Steven Pagones specifically, calling him a racist and a rapist, among other accusations.

On October 6, 1988, the Abrams Grand Jury released its extensive and thorough 170 page report concluding that Tawana Brawley had not been abducted, assaulted, raped and sodomized as had been claimed by Brawley and her advisors. The report further concluded that the “unsworn public allegations against Dutchess County Assistant District Attorney Steven Pagones” were false and had no basis in fact. To issue the report, the Grand Jury heard from 180 witnesses, saw 250 exhibits and recorded over 6,000 pages of testimony. [3]

In the decision, the grand jury noted many problems with Brawley’s story. Among these were the results of the rape kit, which did not indicate sexual assault. Also, despite her claim of having been held captive for days, Brawley was not suffering from exposure, was well nourished, and appeared to have brushed her teeth recently. There were no burns on her body, despite her clothing being charred. A shoe she was wearing was cut through, yet she had sustained no injuries to her foot. The racial epitaths written on her were upside-down, which lead to suspicion that Brawley herself wrote the words. Testimony from her schoolmates indicated that she had attended a local party during the time of her supposed abduction, and one witness claimed to have observed Brawley climbing into the garbage bag.

A total of 180 witnesses were called during the hearings. Brawley herself never testified.[4]

Brawley and her mother were issued subpoenas to testify in front of the grand jury, and refused to do so. This may have prompted Brawley and her family to move hastily to Virginia, taking with them a “defense fund” of $300,000 which had been contributed by well-wishers. There is still an outstanding warrant in New York against the two for ignoring the subpoena.

The case still hangs over Sharpton, particularly following his entry into mainstream politics (his race for the 2004 Democratic Presidential nominationinvolved his addressing the convention from its podium), not merely because he defended Brawley’s story but for the unfounded accusations he leveled, and, according to some of his critics, his “playing the race card“.

Maddox was later disbarred after being accused of billing and abandoning clients in an unrelated series of incidents.

In 1997, Brawley changed her name to Maryam Muhammad.

In 1998Pagones was awarded $345,000 (he sought $150 million) through a lawsuit for defamation of character that he had brought against Sharpton, Maddox, and Mason, in which the jury found Sharpton liable for making seven defamatory statements about Pagones, Maddox for two and Mason for one. The jury deadlocked on four of the 22 statements Pagones had sued over and eight statements were found non-defamatory. [5]

Pagones had also sued Brawley. She defaulted by not appearing at the trial, and the judge ordered her to pay him damages of $185,000. As of 2003, none of the award had been paid. ^[1]

Sharpton — to this day — has never apologized for ruining the reputation of these men. Sharpton has made several racist comments himself, including this one during the “Freddie’s fashion mart” controversy.

“We will not stand by and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business.”

and this one from a speech at Kean College in ‘94:

“White folks was in caves while we was building empires… We taught philosophy and astrology and mathematics before Socrates and them Greek homos ever got around to it.”

Then, of course, there’s Jackson’s famous “hymietown” remark.

Neither one of these “black leaders” has done much in the way of criticizing rap artists who routinely use the same language — and worse — as Imus did.

So, why the hypocrisy? I believe that getting involved in this scandal has allowed both of these men to further build their power base.

In the long run though, there’s a bigger reason. Left wing groups such as Media Matters, and left wing old media types like Keith Olbermann want to take down conservative new media. Olbermann, on a recent show regarding the Imus controversy tried his best to compare conservative talker Rush Limbaugh to Imus and called for his dismissal.

Keith Olbermann opened his Wednesday MSNBC show by displaying video of Rush Limbaugh on screen as he smeared conservative talk radio as “racist,” asking, “Why have none from the racist right been protested, boycotted or fired?” He then delighted Thursday night when guest Sam Seder, of the far-left Air America Radio, predicted “the next time Limbaugh slips up, which I think is inevitable, I think you’re going to see this sort of same type of reaction.” A pleased Olbermann exclaimed: “It’s the best thing I’ve heard in a couple of days. From your lips to God’s ears!” Olbermann had asked Seder: “How does Rush Limbaugh or Michael Savage get away with worse than what Don Imus said?”

With “SELECTIVE OUTRAGE: Imus Was Not Alone” on screen, Olbermann teased Wednesday’s Countdownby wondering: “Where’s the other outrage? Rush Limbaugh calls Barack Obama ‘Halfrican-American.’ Michael Savage says the Voting Rights Act means ‘a chad in every crack house.’ Neal Boortz says Cynthia McKinney looks like a ‘ghetto-slut.’ Why have none from the racist right been protested, boycotted or fired?” He soon cued up race-hustler Jesse Jackson: “Why are there not efforts to remove them from the air?”

Olbermann’s crusade to remove conservatives from the air matched the spin forwarded Tuesday night on CNN’s Paula Zahn Now, as recounted in Matthew Balan’s NewsBusters post. Zahn set up an April 10 taped piece: ”Conservative Rush Limbaugh, who has offended just about every minority group, drew special criticism for attacking actor Michael J. Fox.” After regurgitating that controversy, Zahn moved to the very same quote highlighted by Olbermann: “Limbaugh later apologized. But the criticism for that low blow hasn’t stopped him from lashing out at presidential hopeful, Barack Obama, calling him ‘Halfrican.’” Viewers then heard audio of Limbaugh: “Barack Obama has picked up another endorsement, Halfrican-American actress Halle Berry. As a Halfrican-American, I am honored to have Ms. Berry’s support, as well as the support of other Halfrican-Americans.” Zahn proceeded to highlight the same Boortz comment about McKinney as Olbermann would do 24 hours later.

Olbermann and Zahn are humor-challenged since Limbaugh’s “Halfrican-American”quip was obviously a play on “African-American,” since Obama had a white mother and an African father, not a charge that he’s only half American.

A brief transcript of the relevant portion of the exchange between Olbermann and Seder on the April 12 Countdown: 

 Keith Olbermann: “I’ll ask you the ten million dollar question: How does Rush Limbaugh or Michael Savage get away with worse than what Don Imus said?”

Sam Seder of Air America:“I’ll tell you something, well I think one there’s a certain expectation that they’re going to hear it more from Limbaugh although, you know, he, Dick Cheney was on his program several weeks ago. I listened in to Limbaugh today and he’s already warning his audience that they’re going to be coming for Limbaugh next. And I think, frankly, he’s got to be a little bit worried now because the bar has just been raised. I mean, corporations have said we’re not going to tolerate this any more and the next time Limbaugh slips up, which I think is inevitable, I think you’re going to see this sort of same type of reaction.”

Olbermann:“It’s the best thing I’ve heard in a couple of days.”

Seder, over Olbermann: “I hope so.”

Olbermann:“From your lips to God’s ears!”

See, the problem with Olbermann’s quotes is that they’re selective quotes taken out of context. Furthermore, has Olbermann listened to what’s left of Air America lately? Has he listened to himself lately? Talk about hate.

Look, what Imus said was horrible. He got what he deserved in my opinion. But for race baiters like Jackson and Sharpton and haters like Olbermann to try and claim the moral high ground is ridiculous.