Hypocrites And Eggshells

Thursday, Apr. 12, 2007 - 12:35 a.m.

I'm going to say this exactly one time, so pay attention.

I don't happen to like what Don Imus said. It's rude to comment on any woman's looks or sexual habits.

What Don Imus said was really stupid. He apologized.

He's done this to every ethnic group he's gotten his grubby little mitts around, for over three decades. It is the product he has been paid to produce for years and years and more years. He craps on them and then apologizes.

Ladies and gentleman, this man's behavior is NOT A SURPRISE.

And all of a sudden, after a complaint from the Reverend Al Sharpton, Don Imus's product is suddenly unpalatable?

"This time he's gone too far!"..? Oh please. He's said worse about white men.

But Al Sharpton never came to THEIR defense, nor did Sharpton utter a peep when Imus referred to Arabs as Ragheads.

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Yesterday, I made the decision to boycott the following companies:

Staples Inc.
Bigelow Tea Company
Procter & Gamble Co.
General Motors
Sprint Nextel
GlaxoSmithKline
American Express

These are all of the companies who bailed on Don Imus -- which by extrapolation means support of Al Sharpton. By choosing to dismiss Don Imus for his verbal overstep -- something he did apologize for -- MSNBC is now in lockstep with Al Sharpton.

Their decision to kiss the ass of a liar ends my support of that network in any way.

Liar? The Reverend Al Sharpton? Did I just say he was a liar?

Why, yes I did. It's been proven in court!

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Twenty years ago, Tawana Brawley, a 15-year-old African-American girl was found smeared with feces, lying in a garbage bag, her clothing torn and burned and with various slurs and epithets written on her body in charcoal. Brawley claimed that she had been assaulted and raped by six white men, some of them police officers, in the town of Wappingers Falls, New York.

Alton H. Maddox, and C. Vernon Mason joined Al Sharpton in very public support of Brawley. A grand jury was convened; after seven months of examining police and medical records, the jury determined that Brawley had lied about being assaulted by the police.

Sharpton, Maddox and Mason were later successfully sued for statements made in connection with the case. The three had falsely accused the case prosecutor, Steven Pagones, as being among those who abducted and raped Brawley. On July 29, 1998 the jury awarded Pagones $345,000 in damages. Sharpton was found liable for $65,000 of the total damages, Maddox for $95,000 and Mason for $185,000.

Even though Tawana Brawley eventually admitted that the accusations had been false, and that the rape report had been nothing more than an elaborate hoax -- Sharpton still refused to apologize to Pagones, and had one of his friends pay the damage amount.

Twenty years later, Sharpton has not apologized.

Sharpton HAS NOT APOLOGIZED for saying something stupid in public about somebody he doesn't know.

Read that line again. And again.

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I am also going to pay careful attention to the Good Ol Boy network who didn't used to mind sitting around the national crackerbarrel with Imus when it suited their needs.

Obama has already opened his jug-eared head and said he agreed with the punishment that has been meted out to Imus so far.

I've watched the show in the last two years, and seen who has been dipping their toe in the water, 2008 election-wise. I know who's been on. I know who has said what.

Almost every current announced presidential candidate has appeard on the Imus In The Morning show.

I wanna see which presidental candidate rats leave this particular burlap sack -- and whoever else speaks out and suddenly finds Imus's sense of humor not to their liking, after whoring themselves out on his show for interview after interview?

Not getting my vote.

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Can you tell I can't stand hypocrites?

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In other news, I did some searching, and found out why it's a bad idea to put eggshells in the garbage disposal.

That's it. I'm travelling today, so see ya again on Friday the 13th!

Thanks to Old Buddy Dave for again being a gracious host.

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Oh, almost forgot. Happy birthday shouti outies to Toren Smith, and to my friend since the age of seven, Leslie Hobbs.

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13 of my readers commented on this entry

art - 2007-04-12 08:52:29
Bigelow tea has not bailed on imus!! im listening to wfan now, where imus is live and on the air, and just interviwed the president of bigelow tea for the radiothon. we all know that the so-called "reverend" sharpton is a racist bigot and blowhard. unfortunately, i cannot boycott sprint/nextel. my company uses them for cell phone service, and i am forced to use it too, if i want to continue to have a phone for work. you can still listen to imus on many radio stations on the internet, i suggest going to wfan.com and clicking on the listen live button!!!
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Smed - 2007-04-12 09:05:23
I think you need to reconsider your boycott. The Sharpton thing was NOT the catalyst for this. Not at all. When I first heard the comments last week (Wednesday or Thursday) I was shocked and appalled. I paid no attention to the Sharpton thing because it didn't make sense. But in reading other things written by intelligent folks (especially Michael Wilbon)I've come to the conclusion that Imus is an incorrigible moron who deserves to get 86'd, because OF his history of offense. When he told Clarence Page he'd stop, and then a week later he'd start again, that's just inexcusable. There is no need for his kind of race-baiting assholism on the airwaves, and the sponsors have every right not to be associated with him. The Sharpton thing is NOTHING, and in fact by doing this you are giving him more publicity. Most people see Sharpton for what he is, but those sponsors also realize that sponsoring Imus would be like sponsoring a Lester Maddox.
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Smed - 2007-04-12 09:14:22
Besides, your logic is "Because you are against X, you must be for Y" which is the one thing I find most annoying about the state of political discourse in this country. It's the nadir of reasoning. I am against Imus, but not for Sharpton. I don't support him. Check the sponsors of Sharpton's show - I doubt if any of these companies are sponsoring him there. So by labelling these companies, MSNBC, and what not with a broad brush it's not using critical reasoning or thinking. And as for politicians, I take what they do and what show they go on with a grain of salt. Their handlers a lot of time tell them to go on X show because it has this demo and reaches this audience. They all pander. I personally have an issue with Tony Snow being the spokesman for the government when he's guest hosted on Limbaugh's show, but as for politicians going on that doofuses show, so what?
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Bunny828 - 2007-04-12 10:23:47
You know who I think you should blame for firing of Mr Imus? The media. I think you give Sharpton far too much credit. I also think MSNBC cut the ties because they didn't want to loose money. If people don't watch their channel they loose money (right?). I think they decided the public was going to speak for itself and wasn't going to watch him. In fact, maybe his numbers had already dropped.
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Brin - 2007-04-12 13:45:38
Art -- noted and logged about Bigelow. Otherwise the boycott stands.
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Requiel - 2007-04-12 14:18:15
I hate politcs. I think all politians are corrupt. I can't stand any of them.
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Smed - 2007-04-12 14:41:54
Yeesh. I guess we are now all 'for us' or 'against us', just like people like Wildmon and Falwell want. I'm going with gray and to heck with it.
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Brin - 2007-04-12 17:36:49
Nice one, Smed. I'd be insulted if I were a Christian. :-)
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Dave - 2007-04-12 17:38:00
Is it just me, or does Smed get a little sactimonius at times? :)
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Acorn - 2007-04-13 00:03:25
Why shouldn't you put eggshells in the disposal?
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James Hudnall - 2007-04-13 02:21:38
Brin, I think it's a media driven matter. Sharpton is just an annoying part of that mess. As I point out on my blog entry, this kind of stuff is part of a larger campaign to control free speech. They are trying to make this into a conservative issue, even though Imus was a Democrat. But they are trying to pass him off as a conservative. http://jameshudnall.com/blog.php/site/comments/blacklash/ Since the Anna Nicole Smith thing has played out, they also need another manufactured story to drag out for weeks.
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Brin - 2007-04-13 14:06:00
Jim, yes, you're right, the media leeches fed the Sharpton troll, and the rest is history. Acorn, the reason is because they turn into a paste that is akin to gravel or sandpaper, and it ruins the blades.
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Acorn - 2007-04-13 19:04:30
Ah ha, I see. Thanks for the tip. Not that I do that - I don't even have a gargage disposal, but I may have on in the future, whereas I will use your advice , Heloise.
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