Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

A few seconds later I realized why I had looked over at the man to my left that I recognized to be Don Imus.  For one thing he was not wearing his cowboy hat, a recognizable trait.  For another I was not listening to his lingo or hearing anything from him, just observing a typical looking man walking under a sunny Florida sky.

While I have been highly critical of many current television commentators and expressed my discontent on this site, Imus never surfaced on my radar screen.  The reason, by example, relates to an account of a press conference given by world heavyweight champion Sonny Liston after winning the title the night before over Floyd Patterson.

Colorful and controversial New York author Norman Mailer, who had come to cover the fight and would write about it in one of his more celebrated journalistic pieces, had launched into an effusive monologue.  Shouts began to be heard for him to sit down and stop talking.

The rugged, broad-shouldered champion responded to the impatient comments by exclaiming, "Let the bum speak."

When the rambling press conference ended, Mailer walked up to speak to Liston.  He asked, "Why did you call me a bum?"

"I called you a bum because you are a bum," Liston quickly replied.  "You're a bum, I'm a bum.  We're all bums."

I was reminded of Liston's comment years later when I heard Don Imus tell a caller in a half-snarl, "You're a jerk."  I considered Imus's comment show business tease rather than  insulting.  I embraced this position with greater confidence after I later heard Imus declare in the same half-snarl in an interview with Tim Russert, "I'm a jerk."  

Imus was not content to let the matter end with one self-derisive comment.  During the same interview with Russert, in conjunction with mentioning some of the prestigious guests who appeared as semi-regulars on his radio program, Imus repeated the I'm a jerk" refrain.  He seemed to enjoy calling himself a jerk.

Don Imus does not consider himself a political commentator.  He realizes he is an entertainer, one who has jumped aboard a trend that began when Ronald Reagan was president.  Declaring that what America needed was to "get the government off of people's backs," Reagan proceeded to engage in deregulation in a number of areas, including the broadcasting field.

Not only did Reagan eliminate the equal time doctrine; he also curtailed the former regulatory powers of the Federal Communications Commission.  This was how a measure of civility and evenhandedness was maintained.  

If a zealous commentator delivered broadsides against a particular political viewpoint, a spokesperson representing the position that had been castigated was able under the equal time doctrine to appear on that same program to respond.

After the equal time doctrine was eliminated the airwaves became inundated with vitriolic commentators and shock jocks.  With the money the political right had in its coffers it was only a question of time before a loquacious monster spouting doctrinaire hate emerged, with all shackles of decency removed.

That individual was Rush Limbaugh.  Women of the equal rights movement were called "femi-Nazis" rather than feminists.  Homophobia reigned supreme every time that Limbaugh dished sarcastic dirt toward self-proclaimed homosexual Congressman Barney Franks of Massachusetts.  After becoming incensed with an African American caller Limbaugh hung up, indignantly exclaiming, "Take that bone out of your nose!"

How Limbaugh's tribe has dramatically increased.  Michael Savage delivers regular racist, sexist, and homophobic radio diatribes.  Once, over strong objections from homosexual advocacy groups, Savage was given an evening talk show on MSNBC, which had recently fired Phil Donahue for allegedly "poor ratings" when the real reason was that he gave a voice to opponents of the Iraq War before that tragic conflict commenced.  

The good news was that Savage was fired after one program.  The tragic news was the thoroughly disgusting comment that spawned his dismissal, telling a gay male caller to "get aids and die."

This is the era of irreverence, the era of shock.  Imus joined the parade.  Until his most recent comment I never thought about Imus in a racial context.  

In the current instance I suspect that Imus, in accordance with the old saying, hung himself on his own petard.  He probably thought of his comment as hip and nothing more.  

If Imus were an authentic racist he would have borne his fangs earlier.  A Michael Savage leaves many tracks in the sand.  Has Imus left such revealing tracks during his well-publicized broadcasting career?  

The question I would like to pose is:  Did Imus in using the kind of slang he employed through words like "nappy" and "hos" realize how his comments would be interpreted?  When I heard the offensive words in question I had to look them up in a dictionary that, thankfully, provided definitions.  

I concede that I lack hip in that direction.  Could Imus have been as lacking in hip as I am?  Did he fail to realize the meaning of the terms he used and how they would be construed in African American society?

Imus has apologized and stated that he meant to cast no racial aspersions on anyone.  His response is different than the usual copout of Ann Coulter when she is taken to task for one of her outrageous comments of "just kidding."

The potential positive result arising from the recent Don Imus controversy is awareness that we need to meaningfully reflect on what television and radio have become in the realm of political and social commentary.  Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich shocked the media's upper echelons by mouthing what so many consider the outrageous word.

That word is re-regulation.  Yes, we need it in the broadcasting field.  We also need it in the business world.  

It is time to bury the Reagan legacy and see the "get the government off of people's backs" for what it truly is, the opening salvo toward a disgraceful degeneration into anarchy.