You Don't Have To Be Black To be Offended, Just A Moron Or...

I mentioned earlier that my wife was long ago put off by Don Imus. I was too, but I continue to watch because the show is funny, he's good at what he does, he actually will criticize liberals on occasion, and he was his own man.

Emphasis on the "was."

I'm shocked not by his remarks about the Rutgers basketball hos, but rather by how quickly and completely Imus has buckled. He used to talk tough - "I don't need Ms. NBC, there's only twelve people watching, anyway."

OK, so when PUSH came to shove, Imus may have had an epiphany, but that's not good enough to the Rever-ends Jackson and Sharpton.

And that's the whole point. These two scumbags and others like them are the arbiters, and the fact is that no one should have been offended for more than a nanosecond at what Imus said, but they should be offended every time a Jackson or Sharpton shows his face.

Moreover, I'm hearing from every corner that what Imus said was racist and indefensible.

It was neither.

"Nappy-headed hos" may seem like it only applies to black women, but I know, having heard it firsthand, that Imus didn't mean it that way. In fact, it was what comics call a "throwaway."And as such, it bears no relation to remarks made in the past by the likes of Jesse Jackson, Mel Gibson, Michael Richards, and every rapper around.

Let me give you a personal example that illustrates the difference between a throwaway and meaning what you say. If you don't know, my lovely Catholic neighbor, Mike, planted a tree near my driveway that has now grown big, messy, and (left untended) dangerous because of it's thorny, dangling branches.

Asking Mike to keep it pruned proved fruitless, and offering to do it for him resulted in his treating me like an employee, and when I finally made it clear that I wanted the tree kept away from my property, it got ugly, culminating in: "Frankly, I have too many other things going on to worry that you're bothered by a 'plant."

Well, I had another go-round with Mike a few weeks ago in which he told me I was welcome to trim his tree back to my property line (15 feet) at my expense, and when I told him that I'd be seeing him in court, here's what he said:

Mike: "I heard you have health problems."

Me: "Yes, I have had some problems." (nothing serious, so don't get your hopes up)

Mike: "Well, I hope your blood pressure goes to three hundred."

See the difference? You think Imus really meant these Rutgers girls were as he described them? Now, do you think Mike meant what he said?

Where's Reverend Al when I need him? I mean, I'm still hurting, can't you tell? I only hope I get an understanding black judge.who'll understand this is no longer a small claims case and rules that Mike committed a hate crime.

And now we have the Rutgers team acting as victims and that's the real outrage. Not only would they never have heard the remarks, but even if they had, they would never have been "hurt" had the black "leadership," the media, and assorted jackasses in all colors made victimhood possible.

So there's the pathetic, groveling Imus begging for forgiveness instead of telling people what he usually does - "Just get over it!"

As a result, he's made it far more difficult for everybody who champions free expression. We'll never hear "nappy-headed hos" again, and we're all worse off because of it. Because whatever Imus was/is, he's one of the few who would and could resist political correctness.

Now the message has been sent - free expression is on the verge of having to move underground - or to outer space. And neither is safe long term, I think.

Not only will Imus be far more hesitant to criticize and make fun of people, but those who have drawn blood this time will be forever poised to seize upon the next thing Imus (or Sesame Street) says or does that they can manufacture into a broad based outrage.

"Get over it" should not just be a throwaway.