Fun_People Archive
29 Mar
Top 10 Reasons Don Imus Won't Be Invited Back

Date: Fri, 29 Mar 96 12:50:36 -0800
From: Peter Langston <psl>
To: Fun_People
Subject: Top 10 Reasons Don Imus Won't Be Invited Back

[Note: Don Imus gave a speech that created quite a furor, especially after  
someone at the White House (Press Secretary Mike McCurry) called C-SPAN and  
"suggested" they not rerun the tape of it (oops!) and thereby guaranteed  
publicity.  I've been wondering what the deal was with this speech, so I went  
looking for some info about it... -psl]
______________________________________________________________________________
Excerpted-from: Politics USA: The column: "The BUZZ"
By: Bob Balkin

	Of Press Dinners and Radio Talksters

Beltway types have got their shorts all in a bunch over a radio talkster, Don  
Imus, and his performance at last week's Radio & Television Correspondents'  
dinner.  The Buzz loved this episode, not because we're fans of Imus (we're  
not), but because of the rank hypocrisy that was unmasked.
	...
Now we have this laughable reaction from pundits trying to diagnose exactly
when a joke becomes "too personal" or goes "over" some imagined line. Give
us a break and grow the hell up. These are the same folks who are dying to
get on his show for exposure purposes while the same material (usually
worse) is on every day. If folks wanted an act that did not offend, Don Imus
should not have been invited to this dinner in the first place. Offending
is his business. As for the White House reaction (asking C-SPAN not to
re-air the show), what a half-assed move. If the monologue was so offensive,
they all should have walked off the podium. One Buzzpal asked us, "What do
you think Newt Gingrich would have done if he saw the Clintons leave the
room?"

______________________________________________________________________________

From: Politics USA: A sidebar (hyperlink, really) to the column:
	"Medium Cool - Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest: the Don Imus Story"
	By: Edwin Diamond & Gregg Geller
	<http://www.politicsusa.com/PoliticsUSA/news/medium.html.cgi>

  Top 10 Reasons Imus Won't Be Invited Back to the Correspondents' Dinner 


Notable quotes from shock jock Don Imus' speech at last week's annual Radio &  
TV Correspondents' Dinner. President Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham  
Clinton were guests
 

10. . . .When Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive games record, the  
President was at Camden Yards, doing play by play on the radio with John  
Miller. Bobby Bonilla hit a double and we all heard the President, in his  
obvious excitement, holler, "Go, Baby." And I remember commenting at the time,  
'I bet that's not the first time he's said that.' Remember the Astroturf in  
the pickup? . . . 


9. . . .Do you remember the infamous curbside shooting photograph from the  
Vietnam War? Well, I'm watching the CBS Evening News one night with Dan Rather  
and Connie Chung, and things are not going well. And I'm thinking, 'We're a  
couple of nights away from another hideous photograph.' I mean, everybody in  
this room knows Dan Rather is capable of anything, including pulling a gun out  
on the set of the CBS Evening News. . . .

8. . . .Nobody wants us out of Bosnia more than Tom (Brokaw) does, simply so  
he doesn't have to try to pronounce Slobodan Milosovic or report on fighting  
in the outskirts of Vlasenica and Kladanj. . .And we know Brian Williams is  
standing outside the White House thinking, 'I'm two Serb war criminals' names  
away from Tom's job.' . . .

7. . . .And then there's Peter Jennings who, we are told, more Americans get  
their news from than anyone else. And a man who freely admits that he cannot  
resist women. So, I'm thinking, 'There's Peter Jennings, sitting there each  
evening, elegant, erudite and refined, and I'm wondering, what's under his  
desk? I mean, besides an intern?' The first place that the telecommunications  
bill should have mandated that a V-chip be placed was in Mr. Jennings' shorts.  
. . . 


6. . . .Meet the Press, with the utterly charming, gregarious Tim Russert, has  
brought a new sense of adventure and enthusiasm to Sunday morning televsion.  
Mr. Russert's unique, probing interrogation of guests is widely seen as bold  
and refreshing. Sawing off Bob Kerrey's wooden leg was a special moment. . . . 


5. . . .Rush (Limbaugh) may not be, as Al Franken suggests, a big, fat idiot  
but I'm sick of him. The radio show, the television show, the stupid books,  
and now men's ties. Bold, vibrant, colorful and all designed to look great  
with a brown shirt. What a surprise that Rush is selling something that goes  
around a person's neck. . . . 


4. (From "A Boy Named Newt"):. . .But the ethics folks are snooping for  
cash/and his cheesy book was less than a smash/and all the polls report he's  
still held in disrepute/His sister's a thespian and appeared on Friends/and  
his poor old mom's still tryin' to make amends/ I tell you life ain't easy for  
a boy named Newt. . . . 


3. . . .Now I love Ronald Reagan as do most Americans, regardless of politics,  
but man, what a weird family. Nancy staring at him like a glass-eyed Moonie on  
mushrooms, checking with this nut-log out on the West Coast who's charting the  
course of the country on a Ouija board. I mean, what was that all about? And  
the kid, Ron, prancing around in his underwear on Saturday Night Live, and  
Patty's naked in Playboy and each of them had these Mommie Dearest book deals.  
And, of course, they all still hate Michael. . . . 


2. . . .And while President Clinton's cabinet is not technically a family,  
they are the single oddest looking group of people ever assembled. It's like  
the bar scene out of Star Wars. I mean, watching them file in for the State of  
Union reminded me of seeing all those clowns crawl out of the Volkswagen at  
the circus. . . . 


1. . . .Yes, some unanticipated good for other Democrats came out of the  
Republicans gaining control of Congress. Senator Kennedy was forced to focus  
and take a bride, leaving Chris Dodd the opportunity to get his bearings and  
realize, "Hey, I'm a United States Senator -- maybe I shouldn't be crawling  
around on the floor of this restaurant." In fact, as you know, Senator Dodd  
has recovered sufficiently to become the general chairman of the Democratic  
National Committee and will play a pivotal role in the President's re-election  
effort. In fact, he has a couple bumper sticker ideas: Clinton/Gore: Please  
Raise Your Right Hand. Or perhaps, Clinton/Gore, Four More or 5 to 10. . . . 


March 26, 1996 


--Copyright 1996 by PoliticsUSA--
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