Don Imus In New Race Flap

WHAT REALLY MATTERS

New Imus Race Row Camouflages Talk Radio's True Threat







Somewhere in the hottest and most miserable depths of Media Hell, it has been determined that this week should be spent covering Imus Nappy- Headed Hos II: The Crappy Sequel.

And even more sinister than the idea of thrusting the aging crustmeister back into the spotlight is how the issue calls attention away from a real ethnicity- related controversy: Barack Obama's use of the race card to silence critics.

How soon will this weapon be used to shut down his foes in talk radio? Given radio's already- liberal managerial environment, where McCain supporters are less common than snowball fights in July, one can easily see how a host who steps "over the line" will be in career- threatening hot water.

Already, talkers are taking note of Obama's strategy of labeling all of his opponents as racists. From Monday's Rush Limbaugh Show:

RUSH: Here's Senator Obama. This was Friday. Jacksonville, Florida, at a campaign event.

OBAMA: We know what kind of campaign they're going to run. They're going to try to make you afraid. They're going to try to make you afraid of me. (laughter) They're gonna.... They're going to say, "You know what, he's -- he's -- he's young, inexperienced, and, uh, uh, he's got a funny name. Did I mention he's black? (cheers and applause) (Obama laughs) He's got a feisty wife.

RUSH: Were you able to understand that? You weren't? Come on, Snerdley, we added some sound effects to make it sound like the messiah was speaking, but we thought you could still hear what he was saying. You didn't understand what he said? Well, okay, then I'll translate it. He said, "We know what kind of campaign they're going to run. They're going to try to make you afraid. They're going to try to make you afraid of me. They're going to try and say, 'You know what? He's young and inexperienced. He's gotta funny name. Did I mention he's black? He's got a feisty wife.'" This guy, ladies and gentlemen, is diabolical. Barack Obama will do and say anything. This is a disgrace, and people should be furious with this kind of thing. It is the Democrat Party that brought up race.

All of the racism, all of the sexism, all of these things that supposedly the Republicans are guilty of and that the country is guilty of, were on full display during the Democrat primaries. Barack Obama is out there virtually ignoring the fact that it was the Clintons and any number of other Democrats who were pointing out he's not black enough. It was Democrats and liberals who started the whole refrain, "Is he authentic?" meaning has he been down for the civil rights struggle. They are the ones! The Reverend Jackson reference by the Clintons, North Carolina. (doing Clinton impression) "Hey, of course they know he's gonna win here. Jesse Jackson won here. He's black!" You know Clinton was right. They played the race card on him -- and, of course, the sexism and so forth.

Meanwhile, while all this has been going on, John McCain has been doing everything he can to distance himself from anything that mentioned Obama's middle name; Obama's race or what have you. He's made it plain he doesn't want to go there, and yet here is the disgraceful Barack Obama coming out, doing and saying anything, making it up. In fact, what you might even be able to conclude from this is that it is Obama who is playing the race card himself, and he's trying to evoke sympathy. I don't know anybody who's talking about race when it comes to Obama on our side. Do you? Everybody on our side is scared to death to say anything about Obama! I don't know who's bringing this up. I don't know anybody who's talking about him being a Muslim. Who's doing that? But he's out there saying, "They're going to call me..." Who on our side is doing that? Do you know anybody? I don't know anybody saying that, anybody that matters.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: So Obama is out there accusing the Republicans of playing the race card. He did this in Florida on Friday. "They're going to try to make you afraid of me. They're going to try and say, 'You know what? He's young and inexperienced. He's gotta funny name. Did I mention he's black? He's got a feisty wife.'" By the way, the Atlanta Urinal-Constipation Saturday -- speaking of "feisty wife" -- it's a blog. "Michelle Obama has been the recipient of rougher treatment than her husband for a reason, the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference said Saturday. One [of the Obamas] has ancestors who were slaves and the other doesn't," and that's the reason, "said Charles Steele Jr., president and CEO of the decades-old, Atlanta-based civil rights group."

Let's ask the question now: which host will be first to face the wrath of Obama and his race card- happy supporters? How will they use white guilt to undermine talk radio?

Remember, they've got to find some way to weaken the medium's influence before November. Do you really believe they won't use every tool at their disposal, especially one with such a great track record of success?


As for Imus, does anyone really care what comes out of his mouth at this point? It's been many months since anything he's said or done has been deemed newsworthy. Must we revisit nappy- headed hos?

If it didn't succeed in permanently removing him from the airwaves the first time, why would it work now? Besides, he'll probably endorse Obama and see the whole thing blow over quickly.


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