Anyway, you can't kill what is already dead
I guess I should comment on the whole Don Imus calling the Lady Scarlet Knights of Rutgers "nappy headed hos" brouhaha. Yeah, it was a particularly nasty thing Imus said and, yeah, he needed to apologize and, yeah, Imus is probably undead and, yeah, there is something really goofy about Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson trying to preside as judge, jury and executioner during the kangaroo trial of another professional talker when the reverends both have their own histories (and were permitted to live) of sloppiness when it comes to insensitive and incendiary "racial" language -- in Sharpton's case his words have resulted in not just hurt feelings, but also things such as ruined lives and dead bodies.
But, I ask, does anyone really care? OK fine, I bet Tim Russert cares. And it is probably Imus's association with all those kiss-up media figures and politicians which is driving this story. But is anyone else hot and bothered or in a huff . . ? To answer this question I left my usual comfort zone and ventured out to do a little reporting.
Which took me all the way across the Internet and to the web page of TMZ.com. TMZ, for the uninitiated, is an AOL/Warner Brothers-owned celebrity gossip and news website which came into prominence by breaking the transcript of the drunken, not Jew-loving remarks Mel Gibson made to a Malibu police officer.
Staying true to their roots, TMZ is the go-to spot when a celebrity type says something he or she shouldn't have. For example, the Michael Richard's story was a big deal on TMZ. How big? Well the first post on Richard's comedy club meltdown ended up garnering over 7000 comments.
So, how's the Imus story playing on TMZ? So far the three posts TMZ has dedicated to Imus have barely collected more than 100 comments between them.
Which brings us perilously close to a situation where a story about a "racist" celebrity is getting more links on Drudge than comments on TMZ. Such incongruity in the blogosphere undermines the credibility of us all.
But, I ask, does anyone really care? OK fine, I bet Tim Russert cares. And it is probably Imus's association with all those kiss-up media figures and politicians which is driving this story. But is anyone else hot and bothered or in a huff . . ? To answer this question I left my usual comfort zone and ventured out to do a little reporting.
Which took me all the way across the Internet and to the web page of TMZ.com. TMZ, for the uninitiated, is an AOL/Warner Brothers-owned celebrity gossip and news website which came into prominence by breaking the transcript of the drunken, not Jew-loving remarks Mel Gibson made to a Malibu police officer.
Staying true to their roots, TMZ is the go-to spot when a celebrity type says something he or she shouldn't have. For example, the Michael Richard's story was a big deal on TMZ. How big? Well the first post on Richard's comedy club meltdown ended up garnering over 7000 comments.
So, how's the Imus story playing on TMZ? So far the three posts TMZ has dedicated to Imus have barely collected more than 100 comments between them.
Which brings us perilously close to a situation where a story about a "racist" celebrity is getting more links on Drudge than comments on TMZ. Such incongruity in the blogosphere undermines the credibility of us all.
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