NBA og kvennakörfubolti

Mér finnst nú merkilegara að nefna það ekki hann sé sonur Bill Waltons, MVP Trailblazers og liðsmaður Boston Celtics. Lakers vs Celtics. Rauðhærði hippinn! Mér finnst Britney samt ,,slumming it" Meina halló einn besti leikmaður sögunnar spilar með Lakers. Hann heitir ekki Luke Walton heldur Kobe Bryant(veit að hann er giftur og hefur meira smekk en það, samt). 

Af hverju minnir Britney mig á Carrot-top þegar ég sé þessa mynd af henni?

En þetta er nú ekki merkileg frétt heldur er það þessi:

 
There probably isn't a good time to expose yourself as a racist creep on national television. There are, however, especially bad times to do what Don Imus and his producer, Bernard McGuirk, did this week.

A few days after the death of legendary Grambling football coach and pioneer Eddie Robinson . . .

As Major League Baseball prepares to observe the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first cleated step across the color line . . .

Just before the 20th anniversary of Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis' televised self-destruction for making similarly ignorant comments . . .

Imus and McGuirk, on a New York radio show simulcast nationally on MSNBC, referred to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos" (Imus) and "hard-core hos" (McGuirk). McGuirk went on to compare Rutgers' national championship contest against Tennessee to the "Jigaboos vs. the Wannabes" from Spike Lee's film School Daze - although it was mistakenly referred to as Do the Right Thing on the air.

Guess all Spike Lee movies look alike to these guys.

Why does this racist and sexist radio patter warrant our attention? We'll count the ways, but first let's cover the non-reason.

This is not a case of gotcha in the pursuit of political correctness. That will be the reaction from the likes of Imus and his audience, not to mention others whose knees jerk in that direction when hate speech is called hate speech. The First Amendment protects every American's right to freedom of speech. It doesn't protect racists' high-paying media jobs.

This was the issue when Rush Limbaugh made his infamous ESPN comments about Donovan McNabb a few years ago. It wasn't Limbaugh's freedom to express himself that was at issue, it was an all-sports network's willingness to be associated with his race-baiting tactics. ESPN was not.

Speech is free. Neither Imus nor Limbaugh, however, speaks for free. The rest of us have the freedom to object when something hateful and ignorant is said in such a public forum.

Consider the targets of his vitriol.

The Rutgers women's basketball team - coached by C. Vivian Stringer, one of the classiest acts in all of sports - reached the Final Four, played earlier this week in Cleveland. The Scarlet Knights beat Louisiana State for the right to play powerhouse Tennessee in the final.

Months after Greg Schiano's football team established itself on the national scene, the women's basketball team brought more positive attention to Rutgers athletics. Within days, the team's members are slurred on national TV and their university president and the NCAA are issuing joint statements in their defense.

Imus brought this up specifically to sneer at the physical appearance of the Rutgers women, calling them "nappy-headed hos" in stark contrast to the "cute" Tennessee players. What kind of man feels the need to heap scorn on young women who play college basketball? Take the racism out and the remarks are merely unnecessary and cruel.

But you can't take the racism out. It's one thing for Spike Lee, a superb filmmaker, to explore issues of racial identity in an edgy satire. It's another for two out-of-touch white imbeciles to use Lee's terms, or the unfortunately ubiquitous, hip-hop-derived "hos" - both hopelessly out of context - to express their Neanderthal reaction to a women's basketball game.

This wouldn't be worth talking about if Imus were still content to dwell in the sad, dank cave with the rest of the nation's radio "shock jocks." He isn't. Imus has pretensions to serious journalism, and politicians routinely use his show to reach an audience they might not otherwise. The MSNBC.com Web page devoted to Imus' show has links to recent appearances by Senators Joe Lieberman and John McCain.

That's why it is important to pin the hate-speech tail on the donkeys here. No aspiring presidential candidate or Beltway insider who goes on Imus' show in the future should be able to pretend ignorance of this episode. If a U.S. Senator or political pundit wants to share the air with Imus, let it be clear what poison is in that air.

Same for MSNBC. The network's attempt to distance itself with a statement pointing out that Imus' show is produced by WFAN radio was a long way from sufficient. Like ESPN with Limbaugh, the network is getting what it pays for.

Imus' own apology, reproduced on his Web site, was especially revealing: "Want to take a moment to apologize for an insensitive and ill-conceived remark we made the other morning regarding the Rutgers women's basketball team," Imus said. "It was completely inappropriate, and we can understand why people were offended. Our characterization was thoughtless and stupid, and we are sorry."

It's the "I-Man" on payday, but it's "we" in the apology. That's "we" as in weak.

No doubt Imus is sorry he said it. You'd be sorry, too, if you revealed that much ugliness about yourself on national TV.

 

Britney á föstu með rúmlega tveggja metra körfuboltamanni

Athugasemdir

[Laufey Ólafsdóttir, 11.4.2007 kl. 16:45]

Eins og Britney geti eitthvað hneykslað mann frekar!

...og gott að sjá að enn eru til hreinræktaðir fávitar... fáviska, rasismi OG kvenhatur allt í einni setningu! Öflugur málflutningur þar á ferð  

[Marvin Lee Dupree, 11.4.2007 kl. 17:49]

Já, svona menn fá borgað fyrir að tjá sig svona. Magnað.

Jú, ef Britney giftist einhverjum hér á klakanum og skráir sig í Frjálslynda Flokkinn þá held ég að henni tækist það! Greyið ratar víst ekki hingað, mig rámar í það að hún hafi ekki vitað hvar Kanada væri. 

[Laufey Ólafsdóttir, 11.4.2007 kl. 22:32]

Ég hefði samt sjokkerast mest ef hún hefði byrjað með rúmlega þriggja metra háum körfuboltamanni, en það væri þá ekki hennar vegna.

Er Britney ekki annars Bush-gella? Frjálslyndi flokkurinn er því ekki svo fjarstæður þótt hún viti ekki hvar Kanada er. Áttavilt fólk lendir á undarlegustu stöðum!

[Marvin Lee Dupree, 11.4.2007 kl. 22:55]

Það yrði svo fyndin sjón.

Jú, er nokkuð viss um að ég hafi lesið það að hún væri Bushkona, enda ættuð frá Louisana. Annars held ég að hún sé bara að reyna herma eftir Madonnu, sem var sjálf eitthvað smá með Dennis ,,The Worm" Rodman.

Rétt í þessu, er ég að  reyna sjá Kastljósið frá því gær. Helvítis Windows Media Player vill ekki spila hljóðið með. Samt virkar þetta á vísir.is. Magnús Þór vill alltaf meina að hinir hafa staðið svo illa en hann verið málefnalegur og staðfastur.

[Laufey Ólafsdóttir, 11.4.2007 kl. 23:22]

minnir mann á marga á moggabloggi (Magnús Þór)

...og Britney getur reynt en hún verður ALDREI Madonna. Ég hefði annars viljað sjá afkvæmi Rodmans og Madonnu...  

[Marvin Lee Dupree, 11.4.2007 kl. 23:38]

Já!

Madonna og Rodman alveg málið. Samt Kobe Bryant og name a famous movie star.