Radio Host Throws Racial Snowball, Crushes Governor
by Robert Russo
I never thought I'd be inclined to write about radio "shock jock" Don Imus, whose ethnic comments about the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team cost him his job yesterday after a week of humiliating atonement. In fact I try to avoid such "entertainment news" and gossip (which Aol News itself says was jumped on due to the slowness of the holiday weekend)*, that has no place beside serious issues. Until the news broke that on the same night Gov. Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey was critically injured in a collision while en route to moderate the Imus/Rutgers meeting.** In reality this tragic circumstance has nothing to do with the scandal, almost eclipsing it in significance, except for the simple reasoning that if there had been no scandal the governor would still be serving his term. It is this association that will sink Imus' career more than any words. The point is, in the public mind this is a perfect example of how the stifling of free speech is a road to ruin, a snowball effect which ends up hurting someone or something every time.
Personally when I first heard the story it didn't occur to me that Imus' remarks were racial slurs, more like an insult of the players' character akin to using the B-word. Nor do I think a sports team is wrong to defend their honor, it's just unsettling to see a critic brought down for his criticism, and not by any one person but the uncontrollable spin of entertainment media and the grapevine. After the word goes through the major networks it filters down to YouTube where people more representative of the masses can view it permanently, and an issue the network once hoped to salvage is no longer worth the trouble.
The risk of silencing critics is censorship. It's only natural that infringements on free speech lead to the detriment of our entire society, such as lawsuits where people are sued for speaking at civic hearings.*** If something is offensive, the way to fight it is with free speech. Our prayers are with Gov. Corzine at this critical time. Blogs connecting these two incidents are just beginning to appear, for coverage go to http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/13/corzine.crash.ap/index.html and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EofjRkNPZc.
*http://news.aol.com/entertainment/articles/_a/flying-solo-past-the-point-of-no-return/20070413073809990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
**http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/corzine-car-crash/20070412202709990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
***http://www.richmondliberty.org/mt/2007/01/slapp_lawsuits_paying_to_stop.php