“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” (Matthew 12:36)
I’m going to really have to “set this one up”, that is, once I tell you what it’s about, I’m going to have to give a huge disclaimer and explanation or many of you are going to jump to some very wrong conclusions about me. (Some will probably jump to those conclusions even WITH the big “set up” and disclaimer!)
I’ve been a big fan of the Don Imus radio show (and, well, I watched it when I could on MSNBC, also) for quite a number of years.
When Imus “had his great fall” in April of this year, many in the media portrayed him as a hateful, racist, vile evil and absolutely disgusting human being. Those were the FRIENDLY portrayals! The unfriendly ones portrayed him as slime and not even human. Thus, saying, I’m a Don Imus fan almost comes across like saying something like, “I’m a Charles Manson fan” or “I’m a Lee Harvey Oswald fan” or something. Those of you who never listened to Imus may be surprised to learn that one of his biggest fans, dearest friends, and most loyal supporters was Bishop G.E. Patterson of the Church of God in Christ. (The Church of God in Christ is very much like the Assemblies of God to which I belong- the difference being it’s about four times larger and it’s Membership is 98% African American.) Yes, the great Memphis black preacher was very close to Don and was a guest on the program a number of times. Patterson passed away about a year ago, so he wasn’t able to be an emotional and spiritual support to Don Imus this past Spring, and that’s too bad.
Now, I’m NOT defending the comments that were made about the Rutgers girls’ basketball team. I heard the comments and I winced and knew they were wrong and outrageous. I DID fit the demographic of an “Imus in the Morning” fan, however....white, male, between 40 and 65, college educated, white collar job. There were always GREAT interviews on “Imus in the Morning”. Regulars included Senator John McCain, commentator Pat Buchanan, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, columnist Mike Barnicle, and once in awhile, even Jay Severin and Michael Graham from 96.9 FMTalk in Boston. The joking and bantering between straight man Charles McCord (a born-again Christian and a Springfield, Missouri native), Lou the engineer, Bernard McGuirk the producer, and the various sports guys including Syd Rosenberg are what really made the show. You had to have a certain sense of humor to “get” the Imus show and I definitely got it. The funniest thing was Bernard’s impersonations of New York’s Cardinal Egan. At times it was so funny, I had to turn the radio off because I was just too distracted!
Imus also got me to like country music. I would not know who Montgomery Gentry, Patti Loveless, or the Flatlanders were without “Imus in the Morning”.
My guess is most guys who loved “Imus in the Morning” also love “The Three Stooges”. It’s very much the same humor. Well, IF you’re a Three Stooges fan, you know how disappointed you are when you turn on The Three Stooges expecting to see a “Curly” episode like “Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard” or something like that, only to have it be a “Shemp” episode? All Stooges fans know what I mean. Well, when I turned on the NEW “Imus in the Morning” this week, that’s what it was like. While Charles McCord is back, several of the old gang are not. There’s some female comedian from Texas...well, let’s just say, the old Imus would have said she was “awful”! Imus was trying to sound confident and trying to sound cool, but he just couldn’t pull that off. You could tell he’s rattled and nervous about what happened. Imus even gave glowing words of praise about Al Sharpton. The new “Imus in the Morning” is “Imus Lite”. It’s even worse than a “Shemp” episode. It’s a “Joe” episode! Joe Besser who was only in a handful of “Three Stooges” episodes in the late 1950s refused to take part in the slapstick...so it was really “The Two Stooges and Joe”...not worth watching. I will give the new Imus show a few more listens, but I gotta tell ya, I’m “wicked disappointed”...
P.S. I had hoped the new “Imus” T.V. affiliate would be “Fox News Channel”. Nope. “Imus” has gone from MSNBC to....are you ready? R.F.D. TV!
I’m going to really have to “set this one up”, that is, once I tell you what it’s about, I’m going to have to give a huge disclaimer and explanation or many of you are going to jump to some very wrong conclusions about me. (Some will probably jump to those conclusions even WITH the big “set up” and disclaimer!)
I’ve been a big fan of the Don Imus radio show (and, well, I watched it when I could on MSNBC, also) for quite a number of years.
When Imus “had his great fall” in April of this year, many in the media portrayed him as a hateful, racist, vile evil and absolutely disgusting human being. Those were the FRIENDLY portrayals! The unfriendly ones portrayed him as slime and not even human. Thus, saying, I’m a Don Imus fan almost comes across like saying something like, “I’m a Charles Manson fan” or “I’m a Lee Harvey Oswald fan” or something. Those of you who never listened to Imus may be surprised to learn that one of his biggest fans, dearest friends, and most loyal supporters was Bishop G.E. Patterson of the Church of God in Christ. (The Church of God in Christ is very much like the Assemblies of God to which I belong- the difference being it’s about four times larger and it’s Membership is 98% African American.) Yes, the great Memphis black preacher was very close to Don and was a guest on the program a number of times. Patterson passed away about a year ago, so he wasn’t able to be an emotional and spiritual support to Don Imus this past Spring, and that’s too bad.
Now, I’m NOT defending the comments that were made about the Rutgers girls’ basketball team. I heard the comments and I winced and knew they were wrong and outrageous. I DID fit the demographic of an “Imus in the Morning” fan, however....white, male, between 40 and 65, college educated, white collar job. There were always GREAT interviews on “Imus in the Morning”. Regulars included Senator John McCain, commentator Pat Buchanan, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, columnist Mike Barnicle, and once in awhile, even Jay Severin and Michael Graham from 96.9 FMTalk in Boston. The joking and bantering between straight man Charles McCord (a born-again Christian and a Springfield, Missouri native), Lou the engineer, Bernard McGuirk the producer, and the various sports guys including Syd Rosenberg are what really made the show. You had to have a certain sense of humor to “get” the Imus show and I definitely got it. The funniest thing was Bernard’s impersonations of New York’s Cardinal Egan. At times it was so funny, I had to turn the radio off because I was just too distracted!
Imus also got me to like country music. I would not know who Montgomery Gentry, Patti Loveless, or the Flatlanders were without “Imus in the Morning”.
My guess is most guys who loved “Imus in the Morning” also love “The Three Stooges”. It’s very much the same humor. Well, IF you’re a Three Stooges fan, you know how disappointed you are when you turn on The Three Stooges expecting to see a “Curly” episode like “Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard” or something like that, only to have it be a “Shemp” episode? All Stooges fans know what I mean. Well, when I turned on the NEW “Imus in the Morning” this week, that’s what it was like. While Charles McCord is back, several of the old gang are not. There’s some female comedian from Texas...well, let’s just say, the old Imus would have said she was “awful”! Imus was trying to sound confident and trying to sound cool, but he just couldn’t pull that off. You could tell he’s rattled and nervous about what happened. Imus even gave glowing words of praise about Al Sharpton. The new “Imus in the Morning” is “Imus Lite”. It’s even worse than a “Shemp” episode. It’s a “Joe” episode! Joe Besser who was only in a handful of “Three Stooges” episodes in the late 1950s refused to take part in the slapstick...so it was really “The Two Stooges and Joe”...not worth watching. I will give the new Imus show a few more listens, but I gotta tell ya, I’m “wicked disappointed”...
P.S. I had hoped the new “Imus” T.V. affiliate would be “Fox News Channel”. Nope. “Imus” has gone from MSNBC to....are you ready? R.F.D. TV!
1 comment:
so Imus toned it down... is it worth it?
I'll feel bad if he doesn't get listeners... the whole situation was just stupid... I bet he's not having fun either
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