Does anyone care that Imus was fired in the middle of a telethon?

[Saturday]

This really makes me mad. He was in the middle of a 2 day telethon raising money for SIDS, the Imus Ranch and Tomorrow Children. Kids with cancer have suffered because CBS couldn't wait 1 day longer to fire him. They waited a whole week, would 1 more day have mattered? I find that despicable.

[Raven]

1. Don is responsible for Don's mouth.

The timing was his, the responsibility is his.

[Saturday]

7. He made the remarks a week ago. That was his timing.

He was fired a week later in the middle of a telethon. One day later wouldn't have mattered to the world but it mattered to these charities.

[YDogg]

2. I agree.

Sucks for the charities.

[IADEMO2004]

3. yes I do

[Justice]

4. Yeah, I bet the Rutgers women's team wish Imus had waited too

said those things as they were celebrating their success this year -- Imus sucked the life out of their success.

[Saturday]

10. So therefore the 3 charities need to have the life sucked

out of them too? And you bring me to another point, I doubt that these girls were celebrating their success. They lost the game. I think probably they were down rather than up because of that. So better to say he hit them when they were down IMO.

[MsUnderstood]

34. actually the girls were celebrating

They were the cinderella team of the year and they got second place in a national basketall competition.

Don't paint the girls as something less than victims by saying their accomplishments were meaningless.

Imus has terrible timing of comments. He says a lot of bad stuff. I guess this time someone was finally listening!

[Paperspirit]

12. please.

Al sharpton and Jesse Jackson sucked the life out of their success with all their feigned outrage and made it a media spectacle.
How many hip hop radio stations have they picketed and demand to be closed for broadcasting sexist and demeaning material? how many record stores? how many artists? how many record labels? how many recording studios? how many corporations that advertise or otherwise financially support all the above institutions?
how about the personal racist remarks BOTH these hate mongers have spouted in the past?

I think this whole thing was a railroad job.

~e.

[EST]

30. It pays to be well informed.

It was Imus who called Sharpton and Jackson, not the other way around. No doubt, they would have weighed in, as they are media darlings both as advocates and as targets. They are used for money and ratings.
  Once they are no longer useful, they will be discarded but as long as they remain controversial they are goldmines.

Rush Limbaugh peddles hate speech and gratuitous vitriol, claiming that he is entertainment; he's right.
Don Imus is the current whipping boy with all the soulless business interests shoving him to the front of the pack, where the bullets are flying, hoping that the well reasoned voices, pointing out that Imus is more a symptom of disease, rather than the disease, itself, will not be heard over the storm and battle.

He is still being used, with wingnuts claiming he's a liberal (he is not) and liberals pointing out tho fact that liberals don't do or say the sort of things he was most famous for and the fact that his audience is overwhelmingly "conservative."

Both Jackson and Sharpton have been very clear that the problem we face is deeply embedded in the xenophobia, the 'hate anybody who is different from you' poison that permeates what passes for informed critique in this country. Why choose as bashing targets the people who have big enough megaphones to be heard, diagnosing the disease, rather than going after the source?

Oh, I forgot: going after the disease means we have to confront the hypocrisy and vileness of our own guiding attitudes; it's more convenient and comfortable to strike at a convenient someone when we can depend on there being equally hateful unconscious humans around us who will provide instant agreement and demand so little of us.

[wisteria]

39. Sorry, but Sharpton was already out doing his schick on this matter

when Imus contacted him to appear on the show.
Sharpton knew about this about the same time Fox News ran with the story,

Jackson, being a little out of it now adays, was late getting into it all. He got interested when he saw Sharpton stealing all the limelight.

And, these two don't give a nickel about all that harms this country. If they did, they would be fighting to change many of the things that really create divisivness and inequality.But, that is hard work and it doesn't get them the kind of attention they want. Please do not confuse these two jokers with Martin Luther King. He was a true, God loving honest leader.

[wisteria]

38. I agree. n/t

[4bucksagallon]

5. No!

Bring back the fairness doctrine and get all the snakes off the air or at least make them tell the truth.

[Saturday]

11. I'm sorry you feel no sympathy for the charities.

[jonnyblitz]

20. that vile piece of shit hides behind those charities for cover.

those and the kids on his ranch. don't you bigot defenders have something better to do then whine about this asshole? jesus christ.

[mtnsnake]

28. Amen johnny

No one wants to see the children of the telethon affected adversely for Imus's bigoted remarks, but IMO Imus doesn't have a sincere bone in his body. Let someone else take over on behalf of the children, someone who's a better example than that rat. They'll probably raise ten times as much with that despicable bully out of the way.

[PresidentObama]

29. "Imus doesn't have a sincere bone in his body."

Do you realize Don Imus runs a ranch for kids with cancer? Do you realize he sells products to raise massive loads of money for this ranch to benefit these children? You can hate what Don Imus said, but you can't change what's he done. Don Imus is a good man, with a huge heart. And whether you thought his statement was racist or not, you can't change that fact!!

[papau]

6. No one can not be replaced - and he was replaced -and today the telethon continues n/t

n/t

[papau]

9. Which brings us to US CEO pay and replacing them with cheaper overseas managers n/t

n/t

[Saturday]

13. The telethon continues?

I didn't know that. Where did you get that info? Do you mean this actual telethon or telethons in general?

[tanyev]

15. His wife is filling in for him to finish out the week.

[Alamom]

16. CBS announced that the radiothon would continue ...link

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MTEwMzk1JnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5Mg==

Friday, April 13, 2007

By WILLIAM LAMB and LINDY WASHBURN
STAFF WRITERS



The announcement came hours after Imus raised $727,000 for charity, including the Tomorrows Children's Fund and the CJ Foundation for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, both based at Hackensack University Medical Center. The annual radiothon, staged by WFAN (660 AM), has raised $40 million since 1990 and will continue today without Imus.

>

CBS announced that the radiothon would continue today with Imus' wife, Deirdre, and his longtime newsman, Charles McCord, as hosts.

>
FYI
Losing Imus will be a financial hit to CBS Radio, which also suffered from Howard Stern's departure last year for satellite radio. The Imus program earns about $15 million annually for CBS, which owns WFAN and manages Westwood One, the company that syndicates the show.

[displacedtexan]

22. I heard on MSNBC this morning that CBS will only lose about $2 million

by firing Imus. Imus brought in about $20 million, but it cost
$18 million in Imus' salary and perks.

CBS must've decided that its brand reputation was worth
a short-term $2 million Imus loss.

[hlthe2b]

8. It certainly compounded a horrible situation, that's for sure...

[soothsayer]

14. this whole thing is so stupid and overblown. boggles the mind.

[displacedtexan]

17. Imus used a kids' charity event yesterday to say, "The bastards went after me."

Have a problem with that?

LINK

I do.

[donheld]

18. I don't care if he was fired in the middle of a telethon,

I don't care if he was singing with is socks on,
I don't care if he was fired cuz his name was Don,
I'm just oh so glad to know that he is gone.

[ChazII]

21. Clever poem

I do feel bad for the children though. I hope it was not for something like neurofibromatosis or other disorders that get peanuts in funding. Those groups need all the money they can get. However, the NF and others do not need to associated with the likes of Imus.

[Rose Siding]

19. Yeah, I think it's great because it probably increased the event's take

Reports said there were many more donors compared to previous events.

[Ninja Jordan]

23. People care more about their own feigned outrage than helping kids.

Could their outrage have waited for TWO MORE DAYS?

[MaineDem]

24. The telethon continues without him. n/t

[Ninja Jordan]

25. Without the exposure it would have had.

But he's off the air, so you're happy now.

[MaineDem]

26. It's not up to me to be happy or not

I was simply pointing out a fact.

:shrug:

[salin]

49. actually I would venture to guess that the telephone has had more

exposure due to the timing than it would have without this controversy and firing.

[Lerkfish]

27. but what he said was okeydokey? not "despicable"?

[ecstatic]

31. It's "despicable" to waste bandwidth to whine about a wealthy bigot getting fired

He wouldn't lose sleep over your getting fired.

The telethon will go on and probably do way better than ever before, now that more people are aware of it.

[oldgrowth]

32. Will he be on XM with in a month????

[papau]

47. Maybe no XM - it looks like Fox wants him as a "house liberal" - but he's 66 - time to relax n/t

n/t

[peacetalksforall]

33. What's missing - the telethon can happen. There are plenty

of people who will support the causes. The only thing missing is his opportunities to push for contributors on national tv/radio in the last three days before the telethon begins.

What went on behind the scenes was at very high level and the corporations involved including sponsors probably heard from all levels.

It probably would not have taken place as fast as it did if he had not had a radio/tv lifetime of abusing his promises to clean up.

[AtomicKitten]

35. nope -- it was already scheduled and is a good cause

doesn't mitigate his bad behavior

[BoneDaddy]

36. Yes

I think it was stupid.

The patent answer from his employers should have read:
Don Imus will be fired come Monday morning, but in an effort not to interfere with his telethon to help children with Leukemia, we will not punish the victims for his mistake. Thank you and please support the telethon.

Nuff said.

[wisteria]

37. Yes,it bothers me. They could have waited until the end of the show

and made the firing affective Friday after the telethon. I would of thought the good Rev.Sharpton and Rev.Jackson would have requested this out of christian compassion.
This just provides a glimpse into what they really care about CBS and the Reverends', CBS was concerned about the continuing controversy and the loss of revenue and the Reverends, well they were interested in a clean decisive win because that would further energize their followers and raise even more money.

[Eurobabe]

40. No.

He made a stupid comment and has no one but himself to blame for the consequences. Tough darts.

[donsu]

41. no

nt

[rucky]

42. Yep. When it comes to raising money for a good cause...

the end justifies the means.

flame-on.

[bluedog]

43. question.think he'll close the ranch now?

I mean .....how does he get to promote it?........Will the kids still want to come..will the parents let them?

[rucky]

44. It's definately more effective to promote it as a good deed...

as opposed to a distraction from a bad deed. He should've thought about the ranch before he opened his enormous mouth, and now it is in jeopardy. But scandalized public figures should always have a chance at mea culpa. If we can make lemonade out of shit, it's better than just flushing it down the toilet.

I'm reminded of Jesse Jackson after he made his infamous "Himeytown" comment, and has since made alliances with the Jewish community through his Rainbow Coalition.

[Kickin_Donkey]

45. Nope

[KingofNewOrleans]

46. Probably helped the charities

Seems like the telethon is pulling in record amounts, probably freeper types, who would never donate to these charities under normal circumstances, are donating in "support" of Imus. Some unintended good comes out of this,

[Judi Lynn]

48. Of course not. n/t

[salin]

50. Those whose outrage is about the firing is about the charities - are free to donate

to those charities.