Carpundit

On Imus Again. (Everyone Else is Talking About It.)

Fox25 reported that Barack Obama is now calling for Imus's dismissal.  I can't find support for that online, so Fox25 might be wrong.  Obama should certainly know better.  Public officials should not call for anyone to be punished because of speech.  I would expect a Harvard Law man to have more respect for the Bill of Rights, so I sort of doubt Obama said that.  Deval Patrick got it right - "That's up to the station."

Both men certainly waited to see which way the wind was blowing before setting sail, though.  Nothing like strongly-held principles.  For my part, I've been angry about his Jew-bashing and misogyny for years.  I still listened.  One accepts it as comedy.  Or, one used to, apparently, before the mainstream media decided to get even with Don Imus.

By the way, the double standard on Imus is astounding.  Robert Johnson, BET founder, and as establishment a black man as you'll find in America, said yesterday -essentially- that  blacks can have a discussion about the language they use about each other, but whites cannot.  I find the hypocrisy galling.

Make no mistake: Imus is done.  He won't come back from this.  And it couldn't happen to a nicer guy; he's a prick who deserves everything he gets.  But it's still a loss.

It is dangerous to silence offensive speech.

Imus, part II

As I write this Tuesday morning, Don Imus is getting thrashed by Matt Lauer on his own show.  He's been suspended for two weeks starting next week, has apologized, and has submitted himself willingly to repeated chastisement by the virtueless fraud Al Sharpton.  I think that's sufficient.

Sharpton thinks it isn't.  Of course, Sharpton forgave Jesse Jackson for "Hymietown."

Imus is an ass.  Sharpton is a con.

I'll take Imus any day.

Speed's Pinks

I watched Pinks for the first time last night - Speed TV had back-to-back episodes.  For those unfamiliar, it's best described as a reality game show in which two contestants (backed by large teams) drag race purpose-built cars.  The winner gets the "pink slip" to the loser's car, hence the name.

Maybe there's something I don't understand about the whole scene, but there doesn't seem to be much racing.  As far as I can tell, it's mostly a show about cheating and arguing.  The contestants deceive each other and the host, make their cars look slower than they are, and yell a lot in a bid for better starting position.

Is the NHRA like that?  I kind of doubt it.  But then again, what do I know?

Oh, and does anyone know when I should plant the early tomatos?

Bullrun

I watched the premier of Bullrun off the TiVo.  It didn't suck as much as I thought it would.  I mean, it sucked, but I'm still watching.  I can't resist watching the cars.  Warning about the link: the only thing that sucks more than the tv show is the website; it's dreadful.

Spoilers after the jump.

Boston Herald Should Point the Finger in the Mirror

The Boston Herald headline is, in part, "Fox 25 anchor victim of raunchy mag’s fun".  So I clicked to see what the unknown mag had done to Bianca de la Garza.  Hustler (find your own link) has done nothing, it turns out, other than say she's a babe and print a photo of her, fully-clothed.

The newspaper is being socially-conservative in its usual hypocritical way.  Feign offense at something titillating and print the hell out of it to sell papers.  There's no way they could fail to realize that the headline would increase traffic on their site and on the magazine's, as well as sales of both.

The magazine isn't victimzing de la Garza.  If anything, the Herald is.

Nearly Inane Television Post

I watched the Rome season finale on HBO last night, and I'm surprisingly disappointed that the season is over.  I didn't like the show much at first, but it really grew on me.  It was one of a handful of shows I watch, the TV spending the rest of its time on Noggin for my kids.  Rome last night surprised the hell out of me for its character kill-offs, even though you knew one of them was coming.  Spoilers after the jump.

So You Play a Firefighter on TV?

I really like Rescue Me, and respect Denis Leary's work on it, even though the last two episodes were utterly depressing, but would someone please tell Callie Thorne that it's her character who is supposed to be a clueless twit?

HBO's Sopranos Could Be Banned

Congressman Bernie Sanders, an independent, lives in Vermont so he's used to being a voice in the wilderness; and on the issue of cable and satellite censorship, he's doing it well.  Rep. Sanders has proposed a bill to ban FCC censorship of cable and satellite TV.  Good for him.  The Moralists are getting out of control, and once they get your cable they'll be coming after your books.  (HT: Jarvis)

Dick Wolf Hits Tom DeLay Where It Hurts: In the Truth

I don't watch Law & Order, but I'd like to support and praise its producer, Dick Wolf, for standing up to Tom DeLay yesterday.  Apparently the show made a joke at DeLay's expense. DeLay didn't think it was funny, and he sent a letter of complaint to NBC.

DeLay: "This manipulation of my name and trivialization of the sensitive issue of judicial security represents a reckless disregard for the suffering initiated by recent tragedies and a great disservice to public discourse."

Wolf: "Up until today, it was my impression that all of our viewers understood that these shows are works of fiction as is stated in each episode...[b]ut I do congratulate Congressman DeLay for switching the spotlight from his own problems to an episode of a TV show."

I'm pleased to see Wolf standing up to him.  DeLay, recall, is a top man in the same Congress that has already censored broadcast TV and is now aiming for cable and satellite.  He is the same unethical, lying, demagogue who wants to oust judges who don't vote the way he wants, and who set himself up for the pissing contest with Law & Order by saying this at the time of the Schiavo embarrassment.

I've said it before: Tom DeLay is the most dangerous politician in America.