RIP Don Imus

Charles McCord left after working with Imus for 3 decades and by Imus’ own account the 2 never had any contact whatsoever thereafter.

According to news reports Warner Wolf sued Imus after he left.

Bernard McGirk and Sid on their own show have made many mocking statements about Imus.
 
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[quote="otis" post=369739]Charles McCord left after working with Imus for 3 decades and by Imus’ own account the 2 never had any contact whatsoever thereafter.

According to news reports Warner Wolf sued Imus after he left.

Bernard McGirk and Sid on their own show have made many mocking statements about Imus.[/quote]

SO WHAT!! That gives you and others the right to disparage him in death? What did he do to you?? You have lived so holy and righteous a life that you feel the need to mock another human being in death? In reality, I pity people like you who live such a shallow existence that you feel the need to act so unChristian-like. Or didn’t you learn anything real from your SJU experience?
 
If people -- especially St. John's alums, fans, and redmen posters -- weren't absolutely repulsed by Imus's disgusting behavior and total lack of respect he showed when dealing with Malik Sealy -- whom he no doubt saw as just another "dumb black jock" to belittle -- I just don't get it. Sorry, but regardless of his "charitable works" and a few funny bits, I don't cut slack for racists like him.
 
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A comedic genius turned into a bully with a microphone turned into an angry old man with a boring show.
And to say that the legacy of a controversial public figure doesn’t deserve scrutiny in death is just silly.
 
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[quote="Logen" post=369747][quote="otis" post=369739]Charles McCord left after working with Imus for 3 decades and by Imus’ own account the 2 never had any contact whatsoever thereafter.

According to news reports Warner Wolf sued Imus after he left.

Bernard McGirk and Sid on their own show have made many mocking statements about Imus.[/quote]

SO WHAT!! That gives you and others the right to disparage him in death? What did he do to you?? You have lived so holy and righteous a life that you feel the need to mock another human being in death? In reality, I pity people like you who live such a shallow existence that you feel the need to act so unChristian-like. Or didn’t you learn anything real from your SJU experience?[/quote]

Logen while I get your point, I think your attack on Otis is a tad bit extreme. He happens to be one of the more upstanding people that I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. As for Imus, I have no feelings one way or the other about Imus the person. I never found him funny but that’s the extent of my thoughts on him. But, if I had thought that he was a scumbag in life, I’d think the same of him when he was dead. And rest assured, I wouldn’t have any problems expressing those sentiments after he was gone. And if that makes me a bad Christian, so be it.
 
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Wow! Are our Catholic schools failing? How can so-called religious people defend such a hateful person. It seems, for some, being part of the cult of Jesus simply doesn't equate with having love for others and being a respectful human, giving even atheists the moral high ground in many cases. Every day I'm more happy I left the religion. It's like watching an old girlfriend gain weight.
 
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[quote="Its*Over*Johnny" post=369760]Wow! Are our Catholic schools failing? How can so-called religious people defend such a hateful person. It seems, for some, being part of the cult of Jesus simply doesn't equate with having love for others and being a respectful human, giving even atheists the moral high ground in many cases. Every day I'm more happy I left the religion. It's like watching an old girlfriend gain weight.[/quote]

I was reading these posts carefully and can understand but not agree how people of color could hang on to one highly regrettable comment after 40 years of live radio.

When you use this thread to comment on "the cult of Jesus" you disqualify yourself and in fact is more of a compass on your own disgusting religious bias than a stupid racially charged comment about the rutgers women.

I'm pretty sure though that you never were riled by Chris Rock's monolpgue about the difference between black people and N-----. Of course not, because to some, it's permissab lk e IF you are black. Robin Williams doing the same routine and his career would be over.

The Malik Sealy stuff is pure nonsense. What does barking like a dog have to do with color? Had Sealy been Italian or irish would that request have overtones of ethnic bias? I think not.

Imus' attempts at comedy were hit and miss. 4 hours a day on the air and that will happen. I never thought he was very funny, and i don't think Stern is either. I also never thought he was racist, even after making an incredibly racist and dumb attempt at humor. I think it was just a one liner in response to Charles McCord reading the news. That's not to say in any way that there is room for that on public airwaves. There isn't - just like calling Christians, the cult of Jesus. I don't believe his comments were heartfelt, but yours are, unless that's your style of humor.
 
Never liked Stern and stopped listening to Imus after he continued Clinton jokes even though Bush was President. To me the real question is about public vs. private personae. Who are you off stage?
 
Some people just don't understand people of faith. What a shame such secularists think they are smarter than everyone and are of better character then those of us that are believers. I was originally offended by the post, but I just feel sorry for him.
 
[quote="Knight" post=369771]Some people just don't understand people of faith. What a shame such secularists think they are smarter than everyone and are of better character then those of us that are believers. I was originally offended by the post, but I just feel sorry for him.[/quote]

Interesting how this is morphing into a discussion about religion...
My thoughts on Imus:
1) I listened to his show 30 years ago because I preferred it to the more "juvenile, locker room" schtick that was Stern's show. I gave it up when his abrasive personality ruined the parts of the show I enjoyed.
2) 99.999% of us have no idea what he was like off the air, so it's possible his on air persona was different than his off air persona.
3) His on air persona was that of an a$$hole.
4) Most comments I've seen from people that worked with or knew him have said there wasn't much daylight between his on air and off air personas but that he did some nice things for people he liked and certain charities.
5) He's dead. I won't miss him, but some people will. Let them deal with his passing in their own way and respect that process even if you don't respect him. We can get into a fight over all this if they decide to put his picture on the $20bill, but until then...why bother?

As for the religious debate that's come up, my thoughts:
1) People of faith need to keep in mind that being a person of faith doesn't guarantee good character. Until it does, let's not denigrate or feel sorry for people that don't share religious beliefs. Most of them don't share those beliefs because they can't take the seemingly constant stream of hypocrisy that comes from today's religious institutions (in general).
2) If someone is a true non-believer then ALL religions are going to appear to be cult like.
3) 20 years ago, less than 10% of Americans identified as non-religious. Today it's over 25% on the whole, and over 40% in the Millennial generation. That trend isn't reversing any time soon, in fact it's only likely to accelerate with the next generation so religious folks will need to be more accepting of those who aren't. In 20 years (or less) they are going to be the majority of adult Americans.
4) It's possible to be a "non-believer" and be spiritual. I think most folks labeled as "non-believers" fall into that category, and I believe they are rejecting the hypocrisy they see in today's organized religions (ie. Violent fundamentalism, Protecting pedophile priests over the children they raped, Preachers turing faith into big business, etc, etc).
5) I respect people who are willing to admit they don't believe. It's not easy to be in the minority and hold to your beliefs. But I agree with Monte, there's a way to have this discussion in a more friendly manner.
 
[quote="Beast of the East" post=369762] ... The Malik Sealy stuff is pure nonsense. What does barking like a dog have to do with color? Had Sealy been Italian or irish would that request have overtones of ethnic bias? I think not. ... [/quote]
Beast, when it's part of a consistent pattern of racist humor (which included calling the Rutgers women's team "nappy-haired hos"), it has everything to do with color.
 
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[quote="SJUFAN2" post=369779][quote="Knight" post=369771]Some people just don't understand people of faith. What a shame such secularists think they are smarter than everyone and are of better character then those of us that are believers. I was originally offended by the post, but I just feel sorry for him.[/quote]

Interesting how this is morphing into a discussion about religion...
My thoughts on Imus:
1) I listened to his show 30 years ago because I preferred it to the more "juvenile, locker room" schtick that was Stern's show. I gave it up when his abrasive personality ruined the parts of the show I enjoyed.
2) 99.999% of us have no idea what he was like off the air, so it's possible his on air persona was different than his off air persona.
3) His on air persona was that of an a$$hole.
4) Most comments I've seen from people that worked with or knew him have said there wasn't much daylight between his on air and off air personas but that he did some nice things for people he liked and certain charities.
5) He's dead. I won't miss him, but some people will. Let them deal with his passing in their own way and respect that process even if you don't respect him. We can get into a fight over all this if they decide to put his picture on the $20bill, but until then...why bother?

As for the religious debate that's come up, my thoughts:
1) People of faith need to keep in mind that being a person of faith doesn't guarantee good character. Until it does, let's not denigrate or feel sorry for people that don't share religious beliefs. Most of them don't share those beliefs because they can't take the seemingly constant stream of hypocrisy that comes from today's religious institutions (in general).
2) If someone is a true non-believer then ALL religions are going to appear to be cult like.
3) 20 years ago, less than 10% of Americans identified as non-religious. Today it's over 25% on the whole, and over 40% in the Millennial generation. That trend isn't reversing any time soon, in fact it's only likely to accelerate with the next generation so religious folks will need to be more accepting of those who aren't. In 20 years (or less) they are going to be the majority of adult Americans.
4) It's possible to be a "non-believer" and be spiritual. I think most folks labeled as "non-believers" fall into that category, and I believe they are rejecting the hypocrisy they see in today's organized religions (ie. Violent fundamentalism, Protecting pedophile priests over the children they raped, Preachers turing faith into big business, etc, etc).
5) I respect people who are willing to admit they don't believe. It's not easy to be in the minority and hold to your beliefs. But I agree with Monte, there's a way to have this discussion in a more friendly manner.[/quote]

I know that a lot people equate religiousness with goodness. Me, OTOH, doesn’t care whether someone is devotedly religious, an atheist or something in between. I only care that someone is a good person.
 
[quote="Monte" post=369786]I know that a lot people equate religiousness with goodness. Me, OTOH, doesn’t care whether someone is devotedly religious, an atheist or something in between. I only care that someone is a good person.[/quote]

I totally agree Monte. A person's quality isn't defined by whether they worship or whom they worship. Its defined by their actions.
 
[quote="redken" post=369782][quote="Beast of the East" post=369762] ... The Malik Sealy stuff is pure nonsense. What does barking like a dog have to do with color? Had Sealy been Italian or irish would that request have overtones of ethnic bias? I think not. ... [/quote]
Beast, when it's part of a consistent pattern of racist humor (which included calling the Rutgers women's team "nappy-haired hos"), it has everything to do with color.[/quote]

I wasn't a continual listener so am unaware that this was a continual pattern. I see this as largely an isolated quip - the rutgers comment - which was outrageously offensive. I don't equate the Sealy incident to race.

The Rutgers comment is indefensible, even if it was as benign as a stupid thing to utter, which it may or may not have been.

IMO when you call too many people racist for isolated incidents you dilute the impact of the word so to lose its impact as abhorrent behaviors.
 
[quote="SJUFAN2" post=369795][quote="Monte" post=369786]I know that a lot people equate religiousness with goodness. I, OTOH, don’t care whether someone is devotedly religious, an atheist or something in between. I only care that someone is a good person.[/quote]

I totally agree Monte. A person's quality isn't defined by whether they worship or whom they worship. Its defined by their actions.[/quote]
 
Ah, a thread about politics AND religion.
This will end well.
 
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He had no talent. He called people names. That was it.. Getting drunk or being stoned were his media headlines. Then he becomes a self-proclaimed political expert. As for name calling, I think Charles McCord lent nothing to the show because he had the personality of lunch meat.
 
[quote="Beast of the East" post=369800][quote="redken" post=369782][quote="Beast of the East" post=369762] ... The Malik Sealy stuff is pure nonsense. What does barking like a dog have to do with color? Had Sealy been Italian or irish would that request have overtones of ethnic bias? I think not. ... [/quote]
Beast, when it's part of a consistent pattern of racist humor (which included calling the Rutgers women's team "nappy-haired hos"), it has everything to do with color.[/quote]

I wasn't a continual listener so am unaware that this was a continual pattern. I see this as largely an isolated quip - the rutgers comment - which was outrageously offensive. I don't equate the Sealy incident to race.

The Rutgers comment is indefensible, even if it was as benign as a stupid thing to utter, which it may or may not have been.

IMO when you call too many people racist for isolated incidents you dilute the impact of the word so to lose its impact as abhorrent behaviors.[/quote]
Beast, I'm not one to regularly use "racist" and I agree that the word can seriously be diluted by overuse, but there was a steady run of it on Imus's show. For example, without any rhyme or reason, his sidekick Bernard would regularly "call in" pretending to be an elderly black woman who had an offensively stereotyped black-sounding voice and who mangled the language. Somehow that was supposed to be funny. To his credit, Imus put a stop to this ongoing gag when the black journalist Bob Herbert called him out on it on the air. As for Malik, there was absolutely nothing funny about repeatedly asking a black athlete to bark for him and piling it on when he wouldn't. It was ugly, and no one can convince me that Imus would've pulled that crap if Malik were white -- and I'm convinced you'd feel the same way if you had heard it. (For the record, the only reason I listened to Imus's morning show was because my bedroom radio was always set at 660 for the Mets and sports shows; and because I always ran late in the morning, I never bothered to change the station.) But enough of Imus; like him or loathe him, he's no longer with us. Let's look forward to beating Butler tomorrow might.
 
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I don't have a 'disgusting religious bias' at all. After completing many science and religion courses, I was just drawn to science since it deals with repeatable observations/facts while religion's facts come mainly from superstitions communicated from spirits, etc. So I made my choice and I'm a proud member of the 'cult of gravity', which I don't intend as a knock on the many believers who 'walk the walk'.

And yes, I like to sprinkle some humor in these posts. Otherwise, what fun is it?
Go Johnnies!
 
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