My late opinion on the Don Imus mess: Imus is a wimp!


Let me first make my stance completely clear. As a member of the proud, yet possibly coarse foundation of American society I wish to make an open declaration based on my First Amendment right of free speech: Don Imus has made himself a broadcast journalistic wimp of the highest order.

I DO NOT condone the words that Imus chose to spew in regard to a specific class of athlete, but I do support his right to open his mouth and forcefully insert his own foot. But somewhere along the line Imus must have missed the memo which clearly explained that it's one thing to denigrate a class of athletes with whom you do not associate and who are in no position to immediately refute you and it's a completely different thing to tell someone like Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) CEO Rex Tillerson to sit down and shut up. (Umm, yeah I blogged that).

I could end this rant right here and consider myself fulfilled in chastising Mr. Imus but I really haven't brought this full circle yet. It's not enough that I simply rake him over the coals for his poor choice of wording. For me, there's yet a larger issue.

For those of us who have the courage to place ourselves in front of an audience to examine the human condition and state our opinions thereof, there is an intangible responsibility to back up our words with at least the appearance of understanding and believing what we have stated.

Yes, there will be times when we are wrong and we will occasionally need to apologize for misstatements, but to completely vacate our own original thought in the face of pressure from those who may have been offended by it reeks of an impertinence which will ultimately destroy one's credibility.

Don Imus has done just that in failing to simply bear up under the pressure he created for himself and to take his lumps. Imus chose the route of a turncoat in battle by simply attempting to preserve his own comfort in the face of his own stupidly chosen words by claiming that it was a joke, a mistake or that it didn't play out as he expected. Excuse me Don but you should have taken ownership of your verbiage and thereby preserved your integrity on your way out.

My recommendation to Mr. Don Imus is that he find a new line of work where he can safely flap his gums and then claim immunity because he must have been mistaken. Perhaps he could be an manager for World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: WWE). Those guys backtrack on their words all the time.

Hey Don, you've been taking up space which can be used by real commentators who will stand by what they said. Why don't you just sit down and stifle yourself before I come over there... and apply for your old job.

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