Yesterday I saw some very disturbing comments in dKos diaries, and some disturbing diaries as well. These were presented, primarily, on the subjects of Don Imus and the three Duke lacrosse players accused of rape.
Follow me below the jump, and I'll explain.
Don Imus
What disturbed me were the comments in support of Don Imus, claiming that his "free speech" rights were being violated. Additionally, some diarists were accused of racism for pointing out that Don Imus is a rich, white man. Ridiculous!
In fairness, I should offer my personal bias against shock jocks such as Don Imus and Howard Stern. Neither have any remarkable talent. They earn their considerable salaries simply by being willing to say things which are outrageous to a majority of the public. They then encourage those who remain to laugh at those people who are outraged. In the time before radio broadcasts, these people were known in carnivals as Geeks. Audience's would pay their money to see the Geek bite the head off of a live chicken. Most of the audience would be disgusted, and the rest were there to egg on the Geek and laugh at the audience's disgust. Great sport, huh? Not my cup of tea.
Regardless, folks, especially Kossacks, should be aware that racial slurs are not constitutionally protected free speech. The 1st Amendment protects political speech and ideas. Everything else is subject to societal standards. I saw a comparison between Don Imus and the Dixie Chicks. It's not the same thing. The Dixie Chicks criticized the President for his war mongering. Imus called a group of bight young women... Well, you know what he called them. See the difference?
Many on the conservative side have gone through great pains to criticize Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson, and Imus critics for saying openly that they felt he should be fired. I was one of those who felt that firing was the best remedy. But in the long run, it was not Imus' critics who fired him. He was fired by the network which hired him. That was a business decision - the network protecting itself from the harsh spotlight shined on it by the public. I feel the biggest disappointment was felt by those who enjoy egging on the Geek because, this time, management reacted by stopping the show and saving a chicken.
Interestingly, the largest lesson being learned seems to be by Imus himself. After meeting with the team and officials from Rutgers last night, Deidre Imus made a statement that the hate mail being sent to the Rutgers' girls must stop. That's right... Imus slanders bright and innocent young girls, the public complains, and the innocent young girls receive hate mail. Some say that the black community is to blame because of hip-hop and rap music which uses the same terms used by Imus. Baloney! What is it about these girls which makes you believe, makes you ENTITLED to believe, they are into hip-hop and/or rap culture? The majority are black? Am I a Mahler fan because I'm white? Excuse me for saying, but I know one hell of a lot of black folks who pretty much hate hip-hop and rap, because of the way they feel it degrades their children. I can't provide a study, but it wouldn't surprise to find that the vast majority of hip-hop and rap music is purchased by white kids.
The Duke Case
I saw one diarist bring up the fact that these three kids were rich, white kids, who were behaving badly by degrading women, and then found themselves in a situation that black people find themselves in every day. This diarist was excoriated in comments for being racist against rich, white people.
The latter assertion kind of misses the point. The most refreshing moment of this incident, for me, occurred when one of the Duke young men said that after going through all of this, even with his money and his favored color, he couldn't ever see how a poor person so accused would ever get through it. I thank him for making my point for me.
Suppose for two minutes that it was a white girl accusing poor, young black men. The Duke players hired the best legal representation money could buy. Since they have been accused, they have been very public in their defense, and the networks have given them whatever time they needed to present their case to the public. Much of this is through the diligence of their excellent lawyers. I'll make an assertion right now, of which I'm very confident. If these three kids were poor and black, we would have forgotten about them a long time ago, and they would be in jail right now, probably for the next twenty years. It seems to me that some of the public outrage over the Duke players can be fairly described this way: the prosecutor's biggest crime was attempting to make his reputation for re-election on the backs of rich, white kids, rather than poor, black ones. This type of thing happens on a daily basis in the black communities across the country. On the far fewer occasions, when it happens to rich, white people, it makes headlines for a year. Here's a basic rule of thumb for the MSM. If you hear about it a lot, it rarely happens. If you don't hear much about it at all, it's fairly common.
With all this said, I have no ill feelings toward the Duke players. The above mentioned is not their fault. However, it occurs to me that we shouldn't address the injustice in our criminal justice system because it hurts rich, white kids. We should do it because there is injustice, period.
I also have no ill feeling toward their accuser. According to the District Attorney, she will not be prosecuted for making false accusations. According to the DA, she appeared to believe each incarnation of her story. She has a long history of bipolar disorder. I've seen one or two around here dismiss bipolar disorder as though it were a mild form of depression. I'm not a psychologist, but I do know something of the disorder because of a very dear friend who suffers from it. At one point, I walked into a room to find her hiding and cowering in a dark corner. I asked her why, and she told me that it was because of the vultures perching in the room, waiting to eat her. She even attempted to point them out to me. There was nothing there.
There are emotional stories which appear in the news every day. The more emotional the story, the more likely the MSM is going to run and drive it forward. This is called capitalism. Create a product, and sell it. I would suggest that some take a slightly more cynical attitude toward what the MSM presents. Admit to yourself that your emotions are being played with to keep you coming back. Understand that "facts" may be manufactured rather than simply existing. And before you condemn anybody, either the public, a group, or an individual, make some attempt to fully understand who they are and why they are saying what they are saying.
Just wanted to get this off my chest. I'm at work, so I'll only be able to respond to comments as time permits.
Added Note: There has been some discussion, which seems outside of the point I was making, about what free speech is, and what it isn't. There is more than one level of free speech. Political speech is almost always protected unless it calls for violence or overthrow of the government. Everything else is balanced between the "legitimate interests" of the community and the rights of the individual. Pornography is not protected free speech. That can be regulated, and is. We cannot yell "fire" in a theatre, and we cannot practice slander or libel, etc.