CBS fired Don Imus eight days after his disgusting comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team. Eight days and tremendous public outcry, not to mention much-belated recognition of Imus' long history of racist and sexist commentary. Two other shock jocks were fired yesterday, three weeks after they made a racist prank phone call to a Chinese restaurant. And, as Steve M. says, CBS is "breathing an almost audible sigh of relief" that Opie & Anthony joked about raping women to death on their XM show, rather than CBS's FM version. That apparently allows CBS to distance itself from the remarks without having to fire them.
On the other hand, it took no time at all for CBS to fire Major Gen. John Batiste for appearing in VoteVets ads criticizing George W. Bush's management of the Iraq war. Gen. Batiste served in the military for thirty years before resigning in protest of Bush's failed policy. He's made no secret of that, and CBS certainly knew it when he was hired as a consultant.
So, let's review. A history of racist, sexist commentary that culminated with an unprovoked attack on a championship-level basketball team? Fired only after a national outcry and the loss of major advertisers. A racist prank call? Fired only after a three-week suspension and outcry from Asian-American groups. Yukking it up about how funny it would be to rape women to death? Oh well, they didn't do it on our network, so we're off the hook.
Criticizing the Dear Leader's war strategy on your own time? You're outta here!
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