Guess Who's Back!??!
The I-Man is returning, and The King of the Black Crusaders (Rebb'nAl) isn't planning on doing anything about it.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who urged the firing of Don Imus, wouldn’t object if the radio personality returned to the airwaves.Not really sure how to read this one. As I told you months ago, I knew it wouldn't be long before Imus resurfaced, but I figured it would be months from now, and likely in a much smaller market. However, it seems like dude will be going right back to Media Market #1, with a hefty raise and even better ratings.
“He has a right to make a living,” he said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
Sharpton said he hadn’t softened his views about Imus, who was dismissed from his syndicated program (simulcast on MSNBC) in April for calling the Rutgers University women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hos.” But he added that, under the right conditions, the radio star’s banishment could eventually end.
When you do the final tally, it's hard to figure out who won/lost here.
The Winners:
Sharpton - Definitely raised his profile and expanded his influence after that sham of a presidential campaign and his mostly ignored affair and subsequent divorce from his wife of many years. Not that Jesse Jackson was still even remotely relevant anyway, but Al has totally eclipsed him in the Poverty Pimp Game. Definitely a come up.
Imus - Will be considered a martyr of sleaze radio forevar. Will get a massive pay raise to return. Ratings will be through the roof. Basically, he just got a 6 month (paid off the clock) vacation. CBS ain't that stupid. Ratings (and green) are all that matter, certainly not the feelings of a few black girls.
Rutgers Coach Vivian Stringer - Profile as groundbreaking college coach only will grow as a result. Rutgers bball recruiting is through the roof. You can't help but think that this will somehow, in some wicked Robert Downey Junior way, be good for the program longterm. Everyone loves rooting for a (perceived) victim.
Jason Whitlock - The real life Uncle Ruckus used this as the ultimate come up. He's gone from little known ESPN talking head to the new-school Armstrong Williams. When The Media needs a Negro to talk greasy (literally and figuratively) about other Negroes in public, JW's on speed-dial. He was even briefly being considered as Imus' on air replacement.
The Losers:
Tennessee Women's Basketball - Does anyone actually remember that they WON the national championship? I guess since they win practically every other year, this is a wash, but still...
The Rutgers Women's Basketball Players - The only real victims in this whole thing. These ladies won't be able to shake this episode their entire lives, no matter how many no-lye relaxers they burn their scalps with. They are, truly, scarred for life.
(c)Rap Music - The subsequent backlash (which still makes zero sense to me) on Hip Hop music sure hasn't helped sales any. Last year, only TI, and the Black Eyed Peas (arggh) released platinum rap albums. This year's tally: ZERO. Until 50 Cent and Kanye West hit big with their releases this Fall, it may be a rap for rap. (ha ha)
Russell Simmons - Russell was finally exposed for the sheister that he truly is. Not that we couldn't see that this guy was a closet case in an arranged marriage all along, but his insistence on defending (c)rap music as "art" and the rappers as "poets" just did it for me. He got himself reamed on show after show from Oprah to Nancy Grace, while shilling his crappy book. If Al and Jesse are Poverty Pimps, then Russell (and Kevin Lyles) are Culture Pimps.
The American People - We somehow expected this to change the tide of the seedier elements of American culture. Shock jocks would be taken down. (c)Rap music would return to the golden ages. Robert Kelly would be mastering the art of soap holding. Sadly, 6 months later, none of these things (especially not the RKelly part) is even remotely close to reality.
We all lost.
