On the Donosaur

So it's been roughly a week now, and I thought I'd weigh in on the whole Imus charade. Everyone has their opinion of the situation, weather for, against, or indifferent. I'm somewhat of an amalgamation of all three, as there seems to be many ways to digest the currents of Imus' words.

To begin, Imus is an idiot for uttering that statement. Yes, he's utterly despicable in the sense that he not only thought he could get away with the words, not to mention that he thought it was "funny". Come on man, in the year 2007 you still think this shit is funny and acceptable??

I've no opinion of the man himself nor the radio show, as I've never paid too much attention to either. Because of that, I have an easier time keeping my views objective and free from bias. I'd like to think that I could be objective no matter who was on his end of the atrocity, but I'm just not so sure...
Either way, Imus, you were wrong. Your apology may soften the blow a bit, but it will never erase the words you let "slip" from your brain and mouth. How many times do minorities in this world (especially African Americans) have to deal with these specific situations, never mind the myriad of other ways they are disrespected each day? When will people learn?

Imus claims to be (and does seem to be) a decent guy. His charity work and seemingly good spirited nature won't cover for him here though. An individual can be the nicest, most compassionate person alive and still do horrible things. He may have just slipped up, but he still must pay the price. We as a people need to be more diligent about our mental filtering and what we say and portray- to a point...

...I also hold the opinion that this country (in particular) has become overly sensitive about words and opinions. To start off, we are all far too concerned with what everyone else thinks of us and what they have to say. This explains that "keeping up with the Jones' attitude" we all walk around with. It explains the way in which we are always watching our words so that we don't "hurt" someone. We're always trying to be politically correct. It's become a burden of sorts. Not to take the Donosaur off the hook , because there's no way to do that, but I'm just saying that we need to be less sensitive about what people think and say. Freedom of speech can take us so far... but then common courtesy and compassion must play the defining role.
In any regard, views and utterances like Don's should never be heard on public airwaves or at the expense of innocent listeners.

Chris Rock can tell "black" jokes and get away with it. You bet. Yes, there's a double standard in our society and yes it's kind of crappy. But, we need to get over it and realize that's how it is. We need to overcome the feeling of entitlement to always put to words our streams of consciousness. Sometimes it's better to keep those things bottled inside... especially if they're targeted at someone or created out of malice. We need to be better about not always finding humor at the expense of someone else....

No one is perfect, not even Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson, or any of the women targeted by Imus' words. All of them harbor things they are not proud of, and I'm sure all of them have uttered words in the past that were not necessarily becoming of a tolerant person. I'm sure each has particular tendencies of dislike for a "group" or "population". We all have our moments of humiliation, failure, and those where we aren't proud of our actions. Heck, I do myself. But having stated that, it's still important to recognize when people have been wronged and how a community rises up to defend its brethren.

I also wish that things were not always looked at or perceived in a vacuum. How about that Duke lacrosse scandal? Were these two situations created equally? I doubt it. There didn't seem to be an uprising of disappointment and disgust when those men were treated with racism and disrespect. To be honest, that's where the community surrounding these men failed. Where are our defenders and our "Jessie Sharpton"? I'm in no way trying to equate these situations, because we all know that they are different. What I'm trying to say is that injustices happen every day, and the manner in which we deal with it is what separates the successful from the failures. Sound familiar Dr. King?


A favorite song of mine is called "Heroes" by John Gorka. The overriding principle of the song is about how dead heroes are better than alive heroes. Here's the opening lyric:
" They say that when it comes to choosing heroes
It's best to pick the ones who aren't around
If you choose among the living
You tend to have misgivings
When your hero lets you down
He might have a bad night in your town"

So, I say to all those who considere(d) Don Imus as your hero:
the bastard just let you down... big time.


Peace
AM Son

Nothing Much

As the oh so exciting title suggests, there's not too much new or exciting going on right now. My (our) crew came back to the golf course this week, which means golf season has officially begun. The course doesn't open for a few weeks, but since the guys are back and Matt and I are working full days again I consider golf "in season". Yes, even despite the Apr-ember type weather out there.
So the days are longer, I get less sleep, I fall asleep in my chair more often, I'm more sore and run down, I get dirtier, and I hear more dirty jokes.... than in recent months. Yes, the golf season has commenced... lol

Hopefully I'll still blog enough.

Peace
AM Son