Can we talk about Imus like adults?

I see the point F_H, but did they indicate it was permanent? I didn't get that impression from the story I read on it.

I think he probably should be gone. Sadly, I think this ends up blowing over as soon as someone else says or does something stupid.

 

"Ho" alone is a vile word. It's a whore, someone who exchanges sex for money. I cringe when I hear 5 year old girls calling each other hos, and do my best to explain why they're debasing themselves.
If you saw the pained looks on the faces of the Rutgers players today, or listened to Stringer's words, you'd know that "ho" indeed is a very offensive word. The more we talk about it, maybe the more people -- entertainers, athletes, little girls who don't better -- will understand.

 

Ho is offensive. Period. No ifs, ands or buts. Sorry gents. You pull that on me in a bar, and you'll get a beer in the face, least for starters.

And bigelow tea has pulled their ads as well.

 

You beat me to it, Idaho. Skimming Imus Thread Pt. I, I found myself wondering what would happen if everyone on the planet went 24 hours acting and speaking and emoting the way they do on message boards.

I think I'd hide under my bed. I think I'd also find a record number of harassment suits filed that involve the term "I'd hit that."

I do, also, applaud the ad buyers. I think one of the problems here is the rapidity of the modern day news cycle. As much as this is a hot topic now, I'm guessing it will cool considerably in the weeks to come. Incidents like this don't "stick" like they used to, because we're always off to find the next controversy, real or engineered.

This is why we lose our minds when Billy Packer says "fag", forgetting his past comments about women or his reference to Allen Iverson as a "tough monkey." Things come and go so fast, you can't establish a context.

I'm pretty confident that if people - like these ad buyers, like other groups demanding Imus' head - keep this issue at the forefront, Imus will get some sort of comeuppance. Watching a public figure go down, and go down hard and swiftly with extreme prejudice, is going to be about the only way to help stem this sort of garbage. Unfortunately, no one ever seems to "go down" because these incidents enter and leave the public consciousness so fast these days.

 

I just think it's interesting how good some people, here and in this country, have gotten at quickly shifting the debate when an argument clearly is going to be difficult to win. Don Imus, who barely matters anyway, says something stupid and ignorant, and instead of simply nodding in agreement that it was stupid and ignorant, we have posters trying to shift the blame, like some sort of verbal shell game, saying that unless we can wipe out all stupidity and ignorance from the black community, like by tomorrow, it's basically ok for Imus to say whatever he wants. Bizarre.

As for the hos vs. ho's debate, unless we're talking about "a ho's clothes" or a "ho's prose" I don't see how any copy editor in their right mind would throw the apostrophe in there.

 

Two excellent columns:

Gwen Knapp's
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/10/SPGMDP5OAQ1.DTLis

and by Johnette Howard:
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/ny-sphow0411,0,7085920.column?coll=ny-top-headlines

Both followed different roads to get to the same place.

 

I have a question about this:

If this had been said on satellite radio by Stern or one of the others instead of terrestrial radio and on TV simulcast, would it have had as big an impact? I'd think it would, but with the "anything goes" environment that those guys are now accustomed to on Sirius/XM, I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't.

Am I wrong on this, and if so, by how much?

 

I disagree. It's short for whore. Would you call your mother, your sister, your significant other a whore?

 

For what it's worth, the TV coverage I have seen on CBS and (I think) MSNBC has actually bleeped out "hos," but left "nappy-headed" intact. The graphic has been "nappy-headed ***s." Thought that was sort of odd. I'm guessing they would have left "whore" in without bleeping it.

On a side note, I think Imus will face trouble on two fronts now. The advertisers will hurt, but there will now be increased pressure for his usual stable of Washington guests to finally draw the line and refuse to go on the show.

 

I guess living through a high school in the inner city and then hearing it in college a decent amount has desensitized me to the word. All of what Imus said was uncalled for. If the word "nappy headed" was replaced for another type of hair, would this get as much press?

 

While many in the press have reported the decisions by NBC News and CBS Radio to suspend Don Imus for two weeks following his racist "nappy-headed hos" comment from last week, few have addressed the convenient timing of Imus' return to broadcasting later this month. Imus' suspension from MSNBC and CBS Radio is set to begin next Monday, April 16, and end two weeks later on Monday, April 30. He'll be back on the radio and MSNBC just in time for the spring ratings sweeps in May.
"It is unfortunate that MSNBC and CBS Radio have failed to accept any responsibility for airing Don Imus' bigoted remarks over the years," said Karl Frisch, spokesman for Media Matters for America. "Equally troubling is the possibility that his return to broadcasting is scheduled just in time for the spring ratings sweeps. It would be inappropriate for MSNBC to benefit financially from the publicity likely to surround Imus' return."