From Imus To Iraq

The Skinny: Bidding Goodbye To A Busy News Week

(CBS)  The Skinny is Joel Roberts' take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.

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A busy news week draws to an end Friday with three stories competing for space on the front pages of the nation's major papers.

The suicide bomb blast inside Iraq's parliament building was the lead in The New York Times and Washington Post, and the top item in the Wall Street Journal's What's News section.

The Post called it the "worst-ever breach of security" in Baghdad's heavily fortified International Zone, and said it "profoundly shocked many leaders and caused some to question the effects of the heightened security efforts" recently put it into place by the Bush administration.

The Times said the attack, coming at a time "when Iraqis are increasingly questioning the government’s ability to protect them," raised the "the troubling possibility that it could not even fully protect itself."

The Post and the Times also featured page-one stories on the growing controversy over missing White House e-mails that may be related to the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

The Times said the issue was becoming "a fresh political problem for the White House," as congressional Democrats pushed their investigation into whether Bush political adviser Karl Rove and other White House aides used e-mail accounts maintained by the Republican National Committee to sidestep government record-keeping rules. The Post said Democrats are concerned that Rove and other top officials used the RNC accounts to avoid scrutiny from Congress.

Meanwhile, the apparent end of the Don Imus imbroglio, following CBS Corp.'s decision to fire the shock jock, made the front page of all the major dailies.

"A talk powerhouse is shut down," reads the headline in the Los Angeles Times. While USA Today suggests the incident has sparked a "national dialogue" over "vile stuff" on the airwaves.

The Wall Street Journal focuses on how the furor over Imus' bigoted remarks about Rutgers women's basketball team was fanned by the Internet. While there was initially little reaction to Imus' now infamous slur, the Journal says a liberal watchdog group helped spread his comments, and before long, "the Internet sent Mr. Imus to millions of PC screens, driving executives, advertisers and employees to distance themselves from his racist words. "


Hollywood Moves China On Darfur

What do Mia Farrow and Steven Spielberg have to do with the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the slaughter in Darfur?

Plenty, according to a New York Times report that details how the actress and the film director spurred China, which has long opposed U.N. sanctions against Sudan, to start pushing the government there to do something about the ongoing violence in the troubled region.

How'd they do it? The Times says the credit goes mostly to Farrow, a good will ambassador for UNICEF, who began a campaign to label the Beijing Games the "Genocide Olympics." She called on corporate sponsors, as well as Spielberg, who is an "artistic adviser" to China for the Olympics, to press China – which has significant business ties in Sudan – to change its position on Darfur.

Farrow even suggested, in an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal that Spielberg could "go down in history as the Leni Riefenstahl of the Beijing Games," a reference to the German director who made propaganda films for the Nazis.

Spielberg responded by sending a letter to China's president, asking him to use his influence to help bring an end to the suffering in Darfur. China subsequently sent a top diplomat to Sudan to press the government there to accept a United Nations peacekeeping force for Darfur.

China has not yet agreed to sanctions for Sudan, but the Times says the Hollywood campaign has more plans in store before the opening ceremonies for the Beijing Games next year.


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[randalds]

If they had said that they feel okay because they're strong, smart, resilient, optimistic, and have as equally powerful a voice, they could have redirected the focus onto black achievement and how it doesn't get as much airplay as the 'gangsta' lifestyle.

Posted by SamTheTVCat at 11:58 AM : Apr 15, 2007

Absolutely. This is the path that I WISH they had chosen, instead of following the lead of Al Sharpton (who I actually like a lot on most issues, just not this one) and their coach onto the "We're so hurt" path. By making themselves victims at such a minor insult (surely they've heard much worse) they've cheapened the cause they sought to bring out. They suffered a crass insult, not been "scarred" (as their coach said) by real racism. Racism scars are what the marchers in Alabama suffered when beaten, shot or bitten by police dogs while marching to free the oppression of the Apartheid American South. THOSE were REAL lifetime scars! Not being called nappyheaded ho's. Yes Imus should have been fired as he was, but if they're going to be this thin-skinned all of their lives they might as well give up now. This was a mountain out of an anthill and it cheapened the real cause of fighting racism in this country.

[samthetvcat]

LOL RandalDS! Seriously though, I think life is a series of tradeoffs and while it may feel powerful to these women to feel like they were able to take down this millionaire who rubs shoulders with national leaders, I think for their sakes it might have been more empowering to be told that no one person's words can ever bring them down.

Look at all the *** that gets tossed at Barack Obama with trying to liken him to some sort of terrorist because of his name - when it chooses to respond to it by saying 'whatever' and then redirects the conversation towards the issues (where he shines) peoples' focus follows. By making the choice to highlight their hurt, I think the Rutgers team thereby redirects the focus onto the 'powerful' Don Imus, the media, and free speech. If they had said that they feel okay because they're strong, smart, resilient, optimistic, and have as equally powerful a voice, they could have redirected the focus onto black achievement and how it doesn't get as much airplay as the 'gangsta' lifestyle. Are more blacks getting college degrees now than they did when Don Imus was their age? Do blacks still face this kind of Don Imus mentality once they enter the workforce? If some of these women came out of the inner city where many of their peers have not fared quite so well, what was the secret to their success?

Like maybe there are more benefits to them taking the route they have, but I think there's something to be said for developing a thicker skin too.

[samthetvcat]

dblbar, my guess would be that the picketing was done in a public place which would make free speech protected by the First Amendment. Imus' comment was made in furtherance of a for-profit enterprise so 1A only applies through the FCC and they would only regulate the speech if it falls within their mandate of unprotected speech. Janet Jackson's boob flash fell within the realm of indecency so ABC got fined. Here CBS/NBC didn't get fined because Imus' speech is protected by 1A. Imus got fired by CBS because like any corporation they can fire any employee for just cause. I suppose Imus could ironically sue them for wrongful dismissal based on discrimination if CBS has employed black radio hosts who have used those same words and not been fired, but I'm not sure he'd prevail or if he did whether it'd do more harm than good to his image.

[dblbar]

okay, okay I can't stand it any longer....speaking of America and our soldiers...although I don't necessarily agree with Don Imus's remarks, I do have a question that Ive been pondering for several days now...I really would like to see if someone can help me understand this......it is perfectly okay for the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, KS to picket the funerals of our dead soldiers, calling them everything from ***, to murderers, thank God for IED's, yada, yada, yada....all standing behind the pretense and tax-free shelter of a "church", displaying deliberate acts of traitorism against their own country and getting away with it..(needless to say the psychological damage being done to the families of the dead soldiers)...then why can't someone say "nappy headed hos"......to me, the first reference is far more damaging and serious than the second. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson also stand behind the "church" in most of their bigotry and racism as well.....this would tell me that Mr. Imus forgot to file for his church status to enable him to voice his opinion, like everyone else is allowed to do.....is this not a fair and reasonable assessment?

[randalds]

Bill Maher had an excellent opening to his show this evening. A commercial for people who are still upset about Imus's comments. A bottle of "Getoveritol"! I couldn't agree more. Imus said a dam*n stupid thing and he got fired for it. Yet we have this idiot head coach at Rutgers who says she's going to have the school psychiatrist attend a team meeting to help the players deal with (Paraphrasing) "the deep and probably permanent scars" that Imus comments inflicted on them! OH FOR GAWD'S SAKE! Talk about needing some Getoveritol! This is a tiny issue, it is not the new Rosa Parks moment! GETOVERITOL!

This story never should have snuck it's way out of the entertainment section and into real news. I blame the media for whipping up a frenzy over a non-story and turning it into the biggest waste of time since the last Bush State of the Union speech! ALL media outlets who paid lip service to the Imus story should hang their collective heads in shame and get a smack on the nose with a rolled up paper.

[feelfree1]

It is comforting to know that the Western corporate media tools can no longer feel as safe in parroting the Bush regime line and unsubstantiated military propaganda, from the safety of the "green zone".

[freedom51-2009]

Enough about Imus! [It took us all week to find out what "those words" meant!] All this attention for Imus while American's soldiers are fighting a war and dying in Iraq. Eight American soldiers recently died, and their names weren't even mentioned!

So, CBS NEWS, HERE'S A STORY FOR YOU, AMERICA, AND OUR SOLDIERS! Something good.

Tomorrow, APRIL 14th, a fund raiser is being held in Defuniak Springs, Florida. HELP A SOLDIER CHARITY POKER RUN. An Army Green Beret [Tim] is being deployed to Iraq, is qualified and approved by the Army to wear a better quality body armor than "standard issue." But here's the catch - it cost $5,800 - and he has to pay for it out of his own pocket. Why does this soldier want this armor so much? About two weeks before Tim's March 5 marriage, the man who was suppose to be his best man, was due to come home from Iraq but was killed by an IED. They think the fallen soldier may have survived if he had worn this better body armor, as it protects more body parts and is better quality material.

CBS News - Please get your cameras, writing paper/pens, and get on your motorcycles. Meet Tim and family and Americans who have committed to be there and help this soldier! Where: At THE OUTPOST in Freeport, Florida, 9:00 a.m., first bike out at 10:30 a.m. Let America see and hear about something good! Tim sincerely wants to come home from Iraq to his wife and children - all in one piece. Thank you.

[slim1h2o]

Rehire Imus, you weak kneed nilleys.
Well thats better N H H's LOL

[mcvet]

FUND THE TROOPS NOW!
Posted by mbcsmith at 10:43 AM : Apr 13, 2007

WHAT are you babbling about? ROFLMAO The HOUSE passed Funding for the Military SO DID the Senate! Your FUEHRER VETOED it MORON!! Sieg Heil Y'all. ROFLMAO

ITEM: Mr Imus performed a terrible enactment of stupidity by using two words on national airwaves and via TV that has caused the critics to come out of their lofty crevices in the woodwork to slam the works on this giant in the talk show business. Politicians found an item too valid to pass by - never to look back on their own history of naughty events. Others have expressed their words of wisdom - thou shalt never speak in those tones [- and management at CBS and NBC - overreacted before trying to perform real management skills to discover if firing Mr Imus was the solution to the problem.