On the Imus Racist and Sexist Remarks and the People’s Outrage

You miss the mark in your comparison between the racist remarks of Don Imus and the poor choice of words by Newt Gingrich in the process of making a legitimate point.

I quote a comment left on Newt.org by an M. Wilburt, which I think sums up what Newt was saying. The problem is that folks like you don't take the time to really understand what he was saying, and then carelessly compare it to a blatantly racist comment.

The criticism was targeting his use of the word "ghetto". Newt's critics wanted those who live by soundbites alone to believe that Newt thinks that Spanish is a "ghetto" language.

What he meant was that a community of people who never acclimates to the their new home tends to only keep huddled among those who also choose to never acclimate. They become cut-off from the opportunities that the new country provides, and in America, those opportunities are endless.

Newt rarely chooses words poorly. But the word "ghetto" allowed his critics a chance to defame him....without ever needing to discuss the true point of his message. My guess is, if he had to do it over again, he would have phrased it differently.

It's a shame that we have come to a point where we must dumb down our discourse to avoid our critics' dissection of every sentence to find a word upon which to target an attack.

It was obvious when the 2 Democratic Party preachers, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, both hypocritical con artists promoting a reactionary party, suddenly decided to attack one garbage radio program while leaving all the other anti-women, racist bar room drivel and rap crap alone on the rest of the private profit radio and TV stations, that Don Imus had stepped on someone's toes and that someone must have some connection to the Democratic Party. Now we hear it was Hillary Clinton who WANTED TO BE INTERVIEWED by Don Imus, as other politicians usually were, and when Imus condemned her, the attack was launched. See http://dc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/138639/index.php
This weekly sleaze story has ended and no problems were solved, certainly not the problem of racism and male chauvinism on the radio and TV. Considering women are 51% of the population, we should start with the anti-women and/or racist bar room drivel and rap crap and private profit radio and TV and demand that end right now. The racist and sexist slurs are first and foremost offensive to the MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION, ALL WOMEN and that includes white women as well as all men who oppose sexism. The racist and sexist comments are also offensive to ALL WOMEN AND MEN WHO OPPOSE RACISM, and that includes white women and men. I suggest these groups condemning the bar room drivel and rap crap on the radio and TV do their best to appeal to the broadest possible audience so that we can finally get rid of the bar room drivel and rap crap. And I do expect that anyone who condemns the bar room drivel also condemns the rap crap, regardless of the color of the perpetrator. Until then, WHAT IS ANYBODY DOING LISTENING TO BAR ROOM DRIVEL AND RAP CRAP? I never heard of Don Imus before this. For 3 mornings, as soon as Democracy Now and the KPFA Morning Show started talking about this garbage, I turned them off and switched to my favorite music, which happens to be classical music. Democracy Now had covered this story the previous week and I figured that was enough. Instead, KPFA gave us this weekly sleaze story for an entire week, allowing me to enjoy lots of classical music. KPFA and Democracy Now are of course both proud Democratic Party promoters, so that is another reason why they got on this bandwagon of the sleaze story of the week, KNOWING FULL WELL THAT MOST RADIO AND TV HAS ANTI-WOMEN AND RACIST BAR ROOM DRIVEL AND RAP CRAP. I can hardly wait for the coming week's sleaze story so I can listen to more classical music before going to work as I do not have time for sleaze, bar room drivel or rap crap.