Since I decided to title my blog "Calling a Spade a Spade", I have only occasionally called the spade on my conservative brethren. That has not been by design, but because I generally have found less to correct in the words and actions of conservatives than I have with Republicans and liberals (Democrats included). But this whole Don Imus situation has put me in a position where I think it is time for me to call the spade on my side of the aisle.

First of all, we conservatives have launched into the biggest hysterical fit I have seen in ages over this. There has been all sorts of talk emanating from the right about how this is a constitutional issue, how Imus had his rights trampled on by the P.C. Police, and how wrong it was that he was fired by MSNBC and CBS Radio. That is the biggest crop of crap I have heard in a while! No one said that Don Imus did not have a right to say the mean spirited, racist, and misogynistic things that he said on his show; there was an uproar and a backlash that followed that was predictable and led to his dismissal. He has a right to say what he wants, but he does not have a right to continue to be employed as a radio talk show host. Simple as that, no constitutional issues here at all, so you can all just move along folks!

Secondly, there was the sudden rush to defend Imus's words as just a stupid joke gone awry. Maybe that was the case, but is that the type of joke that we want airing over the public airwaves? Conservatives were all fired up over the Janet Jackson/ Justin Timberlake halftime debacle, but suddenly we rush to defend a man that calls the Scarlet Knights "nappy headed ho's" and laughs while his producer calls them "jigaboo's" as some sort of First Amendment martyr. Do you know how hypocritical that makes us all look? We rush to defend him because we have leaped to the conclusion that if Imus falls, then the next targets will be Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, or Laura Ingraham. Unless Laura, Rush, or Sean have a history of inflammatory and insulting statements in the same vein as Don Imus, I don't think we have a lot to worry about on that front. But by making him some type of cause celebre, we have lowered them to his level. Nice work on that one guys!

Further, there is the unrelenting attack on Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton that has resulted form this episode. I swear before God that if we didn't have Jesse and Al we would have to make them up! As soon as Jessie and Al spoke up about this issue, the whole conversation changed from what Imus said to what Al and Jesse have said and done in the past....it really has nothing to do with what is happening today, but it gives us all another chance to go after the "race pimps" right? Lord knows that Al and Jesse have been some of the biggest jack-legs out there, and they are among the best in history at race baiting, but in this case they didn't do that at all. They reacted to what DON IMUS said; they didn't make it up, they didn't accuse him falsely, and they didn't misconstrue what he said to suit their purposes. They simply reacted in the way the usually do in these types of situations...only this time they many have been justified in calling for old Donnie's head. If you clicked on my link you may have seen why they were justified here, there has been a consistent pattern over the years from this guy that finally resulted in his getting the boot. To paraphrase Hugh Hewitt, just because the vultures are swarming does not mean they killed their meal!

Finally, there has been a rash of statements about the lyrics of rap music in relationship to this episode, which as I wrote about earlier, I think is apples and oranges. Whether you like or hate rap music, whether you appreciate the artistry of the music or not, it is an art form and has to be taken as such. The language is not acceptable and should be discouraged that is used in much of the music, but it is an art form of sorts.  That makes it fundamentally different from what Don Imus said on his radio show. Besides which, all of the ruminations about how nothing has been said or attempted to be done about this language in rap music are false. Does no one remember Tipper Gore and the heat she got for fighting to get explicit lyrics stickers put on CDs that contained "adult" language? Has everyone forgotten the struggle that C. Delores Tucker waged to get something done about Interscope records, and specifically Snoop Dogg's "Doggystyle" CD? Or the Reverend Calvin Butts and his steamrollering copies of many a rap CD in front of his New York church? And since Rev. Sharpton has become the focal point of criticism here, let's be honest about the situation; Al Sharpton has spoken out and written about his problems with rap music before, it just has never gotten that much attention. Don't believe me? Check here and here to see some of the things that Al has said on this issue that didn't seem to get much media coverage. Also, others in the black community have spoken out against the problems within rap music including Spike Lee, the women of Spellman College, and writer Lonnae O'Neal Parker. The debate has been raging, and hip hop has been taken to task...but no one has been watching! It is way easier for many, including conservatives, to assume that the debate is not being had, that leaders are not speaking out, and that the music has the tacit approval of the black community and it's leaders simply because there is not a great deal of media coverage.

So conservatives, we may need to take a step back and reflect on this issue a bit more. We are not covering ourselves in glory by sticking up for Don Imus, our talk show hosts are not in the same boat as Imus because they know how to show restraint and they have higher standards, and there has been a constant challenging of rap music lyrics by many in the black community...including your favorite target Al Sharpton.

If we are going to say that we are a bit better than the liberals in sticking to facts over opinions and feelings, we failed in that regard in this episode.

So don't get mad at me for saying so. I'm just calling the spade.