February 11, 2009 5:04 PM
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Little Sympathy For Don Imus
(CBS)
The Skinny is Joel Roberts' take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.
There's little sympathy for Don Imus in the pages of the nation's major newspapers Tuesday as the shock jock tries to save his career after those shockingly insulting remarks about the Rutgers University women's basketball team.
The Washington Post, for one, is not impressed by Imus' daylong attempt at apologizing for his comments on Monday, pointing out that he "fell out of Mea Culpa Mode and became extremely offended" during an appearance on Al Sharpton's radio show when a guest recalled how Imus had done radio spots for used-car dealers early in his career.
"Yes, in Imus World, that's a no-brainer outrageous affront. Calling young African American women "nappy-headed" prostitutes took him a couple of days to figure out," the Post said.
And USA Today is having a hard time accepting Imus' explanation that he's a "good person who said a bad thing," saying it doubts Imus "would cut much slack to a politician who offered such a lame excuse for such a racist and reprehensible remark."
All the papers agree the controversy is far from over. The New York Times said "his job still appeared to be in jeopardy," despite the apologies and the announcements by CBS radio and MSNBC, his main employers, that they will suspend him for two weeks.
As Sharpton said of the suspensions, according to the Wall Street Journal, "It's a baby step in the right direction but it's clearly not far enough."
Beyond The Big Three
The so-called "Big Three" (Obama, Clinton and Edwards) have gotten the bulk of the media coverage so far, but the Los Angeles Times takes a look Tuesday at one of the other Democratic presidential contenders – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
Richardson brings an impressive resume to the race: he's a former congressman, U.N. ambassador and energy secretary. He's also earned a reputation as "a freelance negotiator in international hotspots." (He was in North Korea Monday to press the government to allow international inspection of its nuclear program.) And he'd be the first Latino president in U.S. history.
But his campaign hasn't caught fire yet and he lags far behind Clinton, Obama and Edwards in the polls.
Still, Richardson's advisers tell the Times they're not worried. They say it's too early for longshots like Richardson to catch on, and they expect the governor's "unvarnished, outsized personality to charm primary voters."
And even Richardson's opponents in New Mexico acknowledge that he's a formidable political figure.
"People shouldn't count him out," said Rep. Dan Foley, the Republican whip in New Mexico's House of Representatives. "He is a larger-than-life character."
America's "Mind-Boggling" Obesity Problem
America's obesity problem is getting worse, according to a study cited in USA Today.
The study found that the number of people who are morbidly obese, or more than 100 pounds over a healthy weight, has increased dramatically since 2000. About 3 percent of adults, or 6.8 million people, fell into this category in 2005, up from 4.2 million in 2000.
The study's author, Rand Corp. economist Roland Sturm, said those figures were "mind-boggling."
And since most people under report their weight, Sturm says the problem is likely even worse.
Harvard University nutrition expert George Blackburn called the situation a catastrophe.
"It is an emergency," Blackburn said, "because the disability, the discrimination and the health care costs for this population are enormous."
A NOTE TO READERS: The Skinny is now available via e-mail. Click here and follow the directions to register to receive it in your inbox each weekday morning.
There's little sympathy for Don Imus in the pages of the nation's major newspapers Tuesday as the shock jock tries to save his career after those shockingly insulting remarks about the Rutgers University women's basketball team.
The Washington Post, for one, is not impressed by Imus' daylong attempt at apologizing for his comments on Monday, pointing out that he "fell out of Mea Culpa Mode and became extremely offended" during an appearance on Al Sharpton's radio show when a guest recalled how Imus had done radio spots for used-car dealers early in his career.
"Yes, in Imus World, that's a no-brainer outrageous affront. Calling young African American women "nappy-headed" prostitutes took him a couple of days to figure out," the Post said.
And USA Today is having a hard time accepting Imus' explanation that he's a "good person who said a bad thing," saying it doubts Imus "would cut much slack to a politician who offered such a lame excuse for such a racist and reprehensible remark."
All the papers agree the controversy is far from over. The New York Times said "his job still appeared to be in jeopardy," despite the apologies and the announcements by CBS radio and MSNBC, his main employers, that they will suspend him for two weeks.
As Sharpton said of the suspensions, according to the Wall Street Journal, "It's a baby step in the right direction but it's clearly not far enough."
Beyond The Big Three
The so-called "Big Three" (Obama, Clinton and Edwards) have gotten the bulk of the media coverage so far, but the Los Angeles Times takes a look Tuesday at one of the other Democratic presidential contenders – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
Richardson brings an impressive resume to the race: he's a former congressman, U.N. ambassador and energy secretary. He's also earned a reputation as "a freelance negotiator in international hotspots." (He was in North Korea Monday to press the government to allow international inspection of its nuclear program.) And he'd be the first Latino president in U.S. history.
But his campaign hasn't caught fire yet and he lags far behind Clinton, Obama and Edwards in the polls.
Still, Richardson's advisers tell the Times they're not worried. They say it's too early for longshots like Richardson to catch on, and they expect the governor's "unvarnished, outsized personality to charm primary voters."
And even Richardson's opponents in New Mexico acknowledge that he's a formidable political figure.
"People shouldn't count him out," said Rep. Dan Foley, the Republican whip in New Mexico's House of Representatives. "He is a larger-than-life character."
America's "Mind-Boggling" Obesity Problem
America's obesity problem is getting worse, according to a study cited in USA Today.
The study found that the number of people who are morbidly obese, or more than 100 pounds over a healthy weight, has increased dramatically since 2000. About 3 percent of adults, or 6.8 million people, fell into this category in 2005, up from 4.2 million in 2000.
The study's author, Rand Corp. economist Roland Sturm, said those figures were "mind-boggling."
And since most people under report their weight, Sturm says the problem is likely even worse.
Harvard University nutrition expert George Blackburn called the situation a catastrophe.
"It is an emergency," Blackburn said, "because the disability, the discrimination and the health care costs for this population are enormous."
A NOTE TO READERS: The Skinny is now available via e-mail. Click here and follow the directions to register to receive it in your inbox each weekday morning.
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