Who'll Get The Last Ho Ho Ho?

[Laurence Horn]

At 9:06 AM -0400 8/8/07, Frank Abate wrote:
>Doug Harris's post re Don Imus is cc'd below.
>
>My point, given the "tag" Doug gives Imus, lumping him with Howard Stern:
>
>If you were a regular Imus listener (I was), and also caught any of Stern's
>shows, I think you'd agree that the two are VERY different.  Imus tries to
>be funny and is sometimes crude, even insulting.  Stern, OTOH, is into
>sexual provocation and titillation.  Stern can be funny but is always crude.
>
>"Imus in the Morning" featured comedy/parody that skewered everyone.  It
>also included news, musical guests, political commentary, author interviews,
>and some celebs.  It was an excellent show.
>
>Imus spoke foolish and insulting words on the air in April.  He should have
>known better.  At the time he apologized, both on his show and privately to
>the Rutgers team and their parents, in New Jersey.
>
>Imus handled himself decently at the time.  He was fired because the swirl
>of controversy seemed to call for it.  Something had to be done.
>
>I liked Imus's show and hope he does return.  I shun Stern's show.
>
>Frank Abate


What he said.  (Except that I was an *ir*regular listener, having
switched to Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN radio when they
started up.  Also he could have been more gracious about *when* he
apologized, so I was a little conflicted, but I agree with Frank that
the baby shouldn't necessarily have had to be thrown out with the
dirty bathwater.)

LH

>*****************************
>
>New York Magazine (http://nymag.com/news/features/35539/) presently has a
>feature suggesting that Don Imus may be approaching an on-air comeback of
>one sort or another.
>Perhaps in the spirit of his approach to mislabeling others, such a show
>should be tagged _Welcome Back Sodder_.
>The saddest part of the story is that a driving force behind the effort to
>'settle' with the Vice-King of Crude (a title shared with Howard S.) is
>Lester Moonves, who undoubtedly had to have explained to him why  what Don
>said was way worse than not nice. As if L.M. could care: ALL he cares about
>is the money snotty-mouth Don can generate for him.
>Is there _anything_ left that's not being driven solely by the $$ signs??
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org