Monday, April 09, 2007
The Unifying Theory of Imus
[Editor's note: This is a guest post by Paul Budline, a writer and documentary maker living here in Princeton. He is more than a little irritated at Don Imus.]
Many years ago, after some deliberation, I developed a theory of why so many media middleweights, and even some genuine heavyweights, regularly pay homage to Don Imus (usually kowtowing by calling him the "I-Man.") Most of them are proud liberals who would never utter anything that could be construed as racially insensitive. Yet they call in, knowing full well that as soon as they depart Imus and his flunkies will revert to their vile and infantile humor, straining for laughs at the expense of Catholics, blacks, women, Hispanics, etc. So what can explain the apparent hypocrisy? My hypothesis: like so many things in life, it all goes go back to high school.
Let's face it. Guys like Frank Rich, Jeff Greenfield, Howard Fineman, and Tom Friedman were never the cool kids. They were probably writing for the school paper, taking SAT prep courses, and getting stuffed into lockers in their spare time. These nerdy kids gazed longingly at the comely cheerleaders and heroic football players; and from a distance, they somewhat envied any small time hood who might be found in their no-doubt leafy 'hoods.
With Imus, they finally get the chance to hang out with a genuine bad boy - the kind of guy who was leaning on his '56 Chevy, a Pall Mall dangling from his scowling mouth. And oh, how they love to be in his presence, trying desperately to win his approval, hoping to be touched by his aura of cool.
There are exceptions. Tim Russert looks like he may have been a high school offensive lineman himself. Brian Williams, when not glancing admiringly in any available mirror, was probably going out with the head cheerleader. Their NBC colleague Chris Matthews, with whom I once briefly worked, is harder to figure out. No doubt he hopes appearing on "Imus in the Morning," despite its tiny audience, might draw a few viewers to his own ratings-deprived Hardball. But Matthews, who obviously enjoys cozying up to Imus, is also a bundle of insecurities. How many times can Chris tell us that he served in the Peace Corps; who would dub his wife "his Queen," unless there some deep compensation at work? And is anyone more proud of being ridiculed on SNL?
But back to Mr. Imus. Since his "nappy-headed ho's" slur, I've been able to reach some of his enablers on the phone. Andrea Mitchell seemed genuinely upset by Imus' despicable phrase, but added that going on his program is "part of my job"; David Gregory was as dismissive and arrogant as he is in a White House press conference; and Howard Fineman was considerate and thoughtful. I spoke with Fineman just moments before he went on Imus Monday morning and lauded him for I-Manning up with his pitiful apology. "I'm a good person," Imus told his listeners and viewers, "who said a bad thing."
But he should never forget something very, very important. His guests, those former HS nerds, aren't there to converse with a "good person." They want the bad boy or nothing.
[Additional Editor's note: Unfortunately, my own high school experience was pretty much like that imagined for Greenfield, Fineman, et. al., up to and including getting stuffed into a locker (OK, maybe that was junior high school). I believe I have since overcome my need for acceptance from cool people -- I think that anybody who reads this blog has figured that much out -- but I know enough about nerd insecurities to agree that Paul is on to something. I would add, though, two additional points. First, Imus has a huge audience, and all of these people and their employers benefit enormously from his publicity. Imus humps his guests' books and makes them even more famous, and -- here's the second point -- they lease back what Imus craves: their credibility. Imus is obviously bedeviled by his own insecurities, and fawning attention from the leading names in journalism is the perfect tonic.]
10 Comments:
By 
Cardinalpark, at
Mon Apr 09, 04:05:00 PM:
Imus is just the Howard Stern of politics. They want him to say outrageous and insulting things others won't say. Eventually they might even fire him for it. In which case, he will join Howard on satellite radio with Mel Karmazin picking up the tab.
Ratings. Eyeballs. Money.
Isn't it outrageous that Sopranos shows executions, occasional sex lots of bad language? How about Sacha Baron Cohen and Borat (and his HBO show too)?
Sad to say, outrage sells.
What he said was ridiculous and offensive. But Stern has said at least as bad. I don't think it requires huge shrink bills to figure out....
By Jeremiah, at
Mon Apr 09, 04:11:00 PM:
I can say it now - I used to be an Imus fan. The fact that I now listen rather grudgingly has nothing to do with political or racial correctness, but rather with the host's transformation from the kind of guy with the oomph to take on a sitting President at the correspondents' dinner (as Don famously did to Bill Clinton in the 90's) to the kind of guy who tiredly spouts the latest liberal rant and has more or less abandoned taking on anyone in the way for which we once loved him.
It's true, the cattle ranch and the increase in the death benefit for our military and the backing of legitimate and sincere social causes like autism research, sickle cell research and "green" household cleaners and disinfectants are noble undertakings and Don has done them well.
It's just not what I tune in to hear.
I liked that politically incorrect and edgy banter. The reason people watch tightrope walkers is because there is a constant danger that, while attempting the magnificent, they will fall to their deaths. Don Imus (and crew) at their best, challenged us all to desensitize ourselves to the politically correct and consider what our feelings really were about the African-American, Jewish-American, Asian-American, Muslim-American beside us. And I believe that his contribution will ultimately be shown to have helped focus people on their similarities rather than their differences.
Of course, this last incident is one in which the tightrope walker truly did wander too far from the straight and narrow. Don has unfortunately phrased himself badly by saying that there are some people who should not be made fun of. The truth is, that there are no people who should not be made fun of, but that the manner of making fun can make all the difference in whether that creates humor or a gasp of sympathy and illness-at-ease.
There was a time when I would have been very sad and felt deprived to see Imus go. If he is going to continue his path toward Arthur Godfreyness, I honestly won't miss him that much. It was always that edgy, challenging and often unblinking look at our foibles that made him enjoyable and a change of pace from the morning zoo, Howard Stern, NPR and other formats against which he competes.
By Jeremiah, at
Mon Apr 09, 04:20:00 PM:
And one more thing: Each year on Martin Luther King Day, I tune in to Imus to hear the full and glorious text of King's "I Have A Dream" speech. It is the only place I know of where I can hear that magnificent piece of oratory in its entirety and relive this piece of history. Don Imus may be many things, but he is not and never has been a racist. At his best, he favored no one group above another. I recall fondly his retort to the office of the Pakistan ambassador to the United Nations when, shortly after 9/11 and in response to Don's implication that the Pakistani government was raking in cash in return for lip service to the coalition cause, a staffer at the embassy insisted on an apology. Don first said he had no intention of apologizing but later modified that to say he'd be over to apologize at 7:11...
A classic
By Purple Avenger, at
Mon Apr 09, 04:31:00 PM:
Classic?
Incoherent fool sounds more accurate to me.
By 
, at
Mon Apr 09, 06:42:00 PM:
Don't listen to Imus, never have. I see him on the TV screen at the gym every so often. I am simply unable to take seriously any guy almost 70 years old who tries so desperately and visibly to appear maybe one third his true age. He's only fooling himself - just like the middle-age women at the mall squeezed into Abercrombie outfits a couple of sizes too small. The obvious first thought is "Geez, what on earth do you think when you stand in front of a mirror?"
By RandomThoughts, at
Mon Apr 09, 09:50:00 PM:
Oh come on, thats what the media does. Imus didn't say anything worse than what you hear on any other talk radio program. What he actually said wasn't all that bad, and is the type of talk that goes on all the time.
If things like what Imus said gets him fired, the airwaves are going to get very quiet if those type of rules are actually enforced.
Jackson & Sharpton are involved with this more for their exposure than they are for actually being concerned with what was said.
By Assistant Village Idiot, at
Mon Apr 09, 10:40:00 PM:
Fascinating take. Today's post from my own site, in full:
Don Imus, who I seldom listen to anymore but have greatly liked in the past, has gotten himself in serious trouble with what have been called racist remarks. If you don't listen to the show, they seem so outrageous that you can hardly imagine how a person could say them, even for shock value. But for people familiar with the style, Imus and his cohosts frequently make fun of prejudice by giving voice to it. He is very likely to say things like this laughingly, "Congressman, I'm not sure if you really believe this or are just trying to pick up the warmongering cousin-marrying vote in your beautiful home state of Georgia." He is likely to give voice to what some bigot somewhere is thinking in mockery. You could take a comment out of just about any of his shows out of context and portray him as a bigot. He likes to play off the "let's outrage the PC crowd" humor.
For those who get this, the recent statements would have produced a wince and an "okay, that's too outrageous," but would never think for a moment that this was his actual opinion. The people attacking him either don't know this, or know but find it convenient for their own self-importance to jump on him anyway.
The irony of course is that this is the first I have heard of a women's basketball team at Rutgers. On reflection, of course they'd have one. I didn't know they were any good. And this is the most press that women's basketball has gotten in the last month, despite the fact that they've just had their championship. He's done Rutgers women's basketball their biggest favor in a decade.
By Habu, at
Tue Apr 10, 10:57:00 AM:
At the top, the tippy tippy top of growing list of topics,ideas, and things the public is no longer allowed to voice is anything about African Americans.
I have a Richard Pryor album froom the early 1970's that's entitled "That Niggers Crazy" ..it has his picture right beside the words.
White folks can't go there, ever. We use to all own slaves or had dark faced lawn jockeys guarding our driveways. We're evil and we can't jump.
Thank goodness we have had our first black President. At least that barrier was broken.
But we dare not go critical on MLK by bring up his connections with Gus Hall and the Communist Party of the USA, or his Married Reverendness sleeping with white women, commonly called adultery, or his plagerizing his Doctoral thesis...all of those are off limits. That and more...why?
We don't want our major cities in flames..Watts, Rodney King Riots, the Detroit WWII riots ...
So we allow the nerds to perpetuate the "good myths" and bury the bad news, ie black on black killings, incarceration rates, out of wedlock births (which in Dteroit in the black population a few years ago was 100%)....can't we just all get along.
By , at
Tue Apr 10, 11:15:00 AM:
Hey, waitaminute! How come all of Mr. Budline's Imus nerds are Jewish and all of the cool exceptions aren't? He's clearly a racist stereotype mongerer!! (sarcasm toggle off)
By , at
Tue Apr 10, 05:24:00 PM:
I'm impressed Paul was able to get these folks on the phone! Especially Gregory, who I can't imagine deigning to answer too many calls.
Listening to Imus used to be fun before his conversion into a liberal wannabe, as Jeremiah said so well. What's so amazing to watch is his self-abnegation before any and every racial icon. Why doesn't he turn the issue around, and ask Rev. Al when the good Rev, intends to take on hip-hop culture, from which all the terms Imus used come, just as aggressively as he's taking on Imus. I'm not defending Imus, by the way, whom I find revolting even when he's not criticizing womens basketball teams, I'm simply saying the reaction Imus has earned should extend far further than it has and the staggering hypocrisy of those who want to toss Imus off the Tarpean Rock without doing the same to Ludicris is amazing.
