The whole Imus thing

It has been awhile since I spent much time watching the news, at least on a so-called real news channel, not with John Stewart still on every night at 11. But I figured it had been way too long, like over 24 hours, since I had heard of any soldiers dying in Iraq or some stupid comments from the White House, so I tuned in. And while there were no dead bodies to show, there was what looked like a breathing cadaver plastered on every channel in the form of Don Imus, who apparently had said something that someone heard and then told someone who emailed some black female basketball player at Rutgers. That had to be what happened, since the odds of a 20 year old intelligent hard working African-american athlete at Rutgers even having a clue who Don Imus is are about the same as his wife marrying him for his looks. As I hear the details of this complete stupidity, I am forced to contemplate the most obvious question. Who the hell cares what Don Imus says? Are these girls really upset with what was said, or just pissed off at the 3, 285,058 members of the god-forsaken media that keep pounding them with questions every 3 seconds? There is no excuse for the idiotic comments in the first place, but it this really the first time it has happened? Imus has done this for years. Now we all care? The phrase that was used was “nappy-headed ho’s.” So as I see it, there are 2 groups that have any rights to be offended: first, the Rutgers women basketball team and their families; and second, actual nappy headed ho’s. And I am not really sure if the latter would speak up anyway. Instead of hearing from either of these groups, we get to hear the Reverends’ Sharpton and Jackson, both with those spotless records, yelling some insanity at every possible moment a camera is in front of them. I wonder, How much time did they spend talking with the young women before their respective public tirades? What gives them the right to demand the head of Imus, when these girls had not yet said a word? Did they realize that these comments, while incomprehensible, came from a man that has raised millions for children of every race imaginable? Not only did they ramble on like madmen, but looked even worse following the Rutgers press conference. Who needs the Rev’s as a voice of the African-american nation when you have C. Vivian Stringer and Essence Carson handling themselves with more grace and class than those two men have ever shown. In the face of an insane media outcry and a ridiculous amount of unwanted publicity, these 2 women stood out as examples of what all humans should be. Did all of this attention bother them? Of course. Would they rather have had the focus be on their remarkable tournament run, and their individual accomplishments as African American women? Absolutely. Did they wallow in self-pity because some idiot opened his mouth? Never. There was no question after that news conference that anything ever said about them could slow them down, no matter how popular the source. These women don’t need anyone to stand up for them, especially some media hungry self-appointed spokesmen. This is the most over-blown non-story in years, destroying the career of man that does far more good than harm, and putting amazing women in a completely unwarranted pressure filled mess. I don’t respect a black man for being black, I don’t respect a white man for being white. I respect those that work hard, have self-respect, and don’t let anything stand in the way of greatness. I respect the Rutgers womens basketball team.