Wow! I'm Glad He Got Their Permission,...

Now, do Jesse and Al have to sign off on the deal, too?

Rutgers Women's Basketball Team OK With Imus' Return to Radio

Don Imus can do whatever he likes, including return to the radio airwaves.

That’s the feeling of the Rutgers women’s basketball players, whom Imus branded with a racial comment last winter.

The team and their coach, C. Vivian Stringer, received a standing ovation Monday night at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City from Billie Jean’s Women’s Sports Foundation. They also were presented with the Wilma Rudolph Courage Award for getting through the Imus episode with grace and dignity.

But when I asked player Essence Carson, who speaks for the team, if she minded Imus’ return, the tall beauty responded with aplomb.

"We never asked for his resignation in the first place," she said. "He can do whatever he wants to."

Would she consider being a guest on Imus’ new show, set for Citadel Broadcasting’s WABC in New York? Carson, no fool, just shook her head. She had more important things to think about.

Later I asked Stringer the same questions, but the famed coach just sort of whisked the air with her hand. A man she identified as director of sports for Rutgers said, "It’s all in the past."

So that’s it: Imus can return without fear of reprisal from the Rutgers women. But maybe their lack of protest just shows how classy they are. They certainly all looked good last night as ESPN produced the three-hour show at the Waldorf. Now if only the sports net would broadcast the show on its network or on Lifetime.

Breaking News! Imus Donates Portion of CBS Settlement to Cornell University!

HT to Charlie on the Turnpike for the pic,......

When Did Rutgers Start Giving Degrees in Money Sniffing??

Rutgers Women's Basketball Player Files Lawsuit Against Don Imus

NEW YORK — A member of the Rutgers women's basketball team sued Don Imus and CBS on Tuesday, claiming the radio personality's sexist and racist comments about the team damaged her reputation.

Kia Vaughn filed the lawsuit alleging defamation of character in state Supreme Court in the Bronx the same day Imus settled with CBS Radio in a deal that pre-empts his threatened $120 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS.

Vaughn's lawsuit, believed to be the first by a player in the case, says Imus and his former co-host Bernard McGuirk, along with CBS Corp. and CBS Radio, are legally responsible for damage done to her character and reputation. There is no dollar amount listed in the suit.

Vaughn's attorney, Richard Ancowitz, said: "The full effect of the damage remains to be seen."

"This is about Kia Vaughn's good name," Ancowitz said. "She would do anything to return to her life as a student and respected basketball player — a more simple life before Imus opened his mouth on April 4."

Imus referred to the basketball players as "nappy-headed hos" on his nationally syndicated radio program in April, becoming the target of heated protests led by the Rev. Al Sharpton. He was fired shortly after.

A spokeswoman for CBS Radio declined to comment.

The TrekMedic muses,...

Hmmm,..remind me,..what do you call a woman that does unseemly and stupid things for money?? Oh, yeah,....

I almost forgot!

If Its Good for the Goose (an Imus Story)

HT to MaddMedic for this gem:

Faith Groups Call on Time Warner to Fire Bill Maher Over 'Gratuitous' Remarks
By
Kevin Jackson
Christian Post Reporter
Wed, May. 23 2007 08:57 AM ET

Bill Maher, host of the HBO political talk show "Real Time with Bill Maher," has caused a stir among some Christian circles after comments he made recently on his show.

In last Friday’s episode, which is also running throughout this week, the host made negative comments against the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, followed by an attack on Catholicism.

Some groups, such as the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, are putting pressure on Time Warner, the parent company of HBO, to now fire Maher, much like NBC did with the shock jock Don Imus over racist remarks.

"We are writing to the 14 members who sit on the board of directors of Time Warner,” expressed Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, “asking each of them whether Maher's gratuitous and highly offensive attack on Jesus Christ merits the same punishment afforded Imus for his racist remark.”

In Maher’s recent commentary on religion, the talk show host first began by making negative references to Falwell and to his strong Christian activism within American politics over his lifetime.

“Death isn’t always sad,” he said, smirking. “This week the Rev. Jerry Falwell died and millions of Americans asked ‘Why?’ ‘Why God? Why didn’t You take Pat Robertson with him?’

“Now,” he added later, “I know that you’re not supposed to speak ill of the dead but I think we can make an exception because speaking ill of the dead was kind of Jerry Falwell’s hobby.”

After slamming Falwell for his past remarks on homosexuality and feminism and for “launder[ing]” his personal hate “through the cover’s of God’s will," Maher went on to criticize religion as a whole, notably the Catholic faith.

"And it's easy to start a religion! Watch as I do it for you,” said the political host during the program. “I had a vision last night! A vision! The Blessed Virgin Mary came to me - I don't know how she got past the guards - and she told me it's high time to take the high ground from the Seventh Day Adventists and give it to the 24-hour party people. And what happens in the confessional stays in the confessional.”

He then went on to describe a scenario with two “gay priests” who were having relations in a car and making sexual innuendos to a police officer who walked upon the scene.

"Time Warner's Standards of Business Conduct, revised last month by the board of directors, includes the following principle: 'While our content may sometimes engender controversy, we want no one to question our character,'” added Donohue. “We know Maher lacks character. What the public needs to know is whether Time Warner's board has any."

Maher has been known to disagree with Christians, and has had much religious satire in the past. On the May 11 episode of the show, for instance, it featured a comic skit entitled the “Acu-Rath Weather Forecast,” where the host plays a Christian weatherman showing where God will judge the earth.

The show has also been known to have very liberal content, moving from two cable networks, ABC and Comedy Central, before finding its permanent home on HBO so that it could be free from censorship.

The show airs on Friday nights with two seasons of approximately twelve shows each.

I Guess Republican Women Are "Nappy-Headed Hos," Too?

Calling Al Sharpton! Calling Al Sharpton! Start your protest machine!

You can't say that!
Outrage as guest on 'Opie' show sez he'd rape Condi & Laura
BY DAVID HINCKLEY

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Bad-boy radio hosts Opie and Anthony yesterday topped even their infamous 2002 "Sex in St. Pat's" stunt, serving up a homeless man's profane declaration that he'd like to rape Condoleezza Rice, Laura Bush and Queen Elizabeth.

The graphic sequence on their XM Satellite Radio program showed that even in a medium with no restrictions on content, Opie and Anthony found a way to cross the line.

The actual comments were made by a guest the shock jocks call Homeless Charlie. As each woman's name came up, he said, "I'd love to f--- that b----."

They laughed as they imagined "the horror" in Rice's face and what it would be like to hold her down and punch her in the face.

The crude cracks came a month after CBS gave Don Imus the boot for calling members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed ho's."

As an audio clip spread across the Internet, XM quickly issued a condemnation. "We deplore the comments made on today's 'Opie & Anthony Show,'" said an XM spokesman.

Opie and Anthony themselves offered an apology yesterday evening:

"We take very seriously the responsibility that comes with our creative freedom and regret any offense that this segment has caused."

At the State Department, spokesman Sean McCormack shook his head in disgust but declined to comment on the insult to the secretary of state. A White House spokesman declined to "dignify that with a response."

CBS Radio, where Opie and Anthony are heard earlier each morning over WFNY (92.3 FM) on a different show with much stricter content guidelines, breathed an almost audible sigh of relief.

"Fortunately, we have standards that did not, and would not, ever let something like this make our air," it said.

XM said nothing yesterday about disciplinary action, but industry observers said the offensive remarks had the potential to derail a lot more than the deejays' jobs.

XM and Sirius Satellite are seeking the Federal Communications Commission's approval for a merger. Tom Taylor, editor of the trade magazine Inside Radio, noted this could place the issue of content on the table.

"XM and Sirius don't want any regulation," he said. "But it's come up in four congressional hearings - and at this point, the merger is such a close call any issue could become important."

Opie and Anthony had "Homeless Charlie" on their WFNY show earlier yesterday. While many of his comments were bleeped out, he talked about how he "punches old b----es in the head" to steal their money.

Anthony, whose full name is Anthony Cumia, called that comment "horrible and awful," but said it illustrated a point about radio today. "You can talk about beating up old ladies and nobody stops you, but make one insulting joke about an ethnic group and you're fired."

Opie (aka Gregg Hughes) and Anthony have complained lately about restrictions on their terrestrial radio content, a subject with which they are familiar.

They were taken off New York's WNEW by CBS in August 2002 for running a contest in which they said two listeners had sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral.

They were hired by XM in 2004 and in 2006 rehired by CBS for WFNY.

Michael Harrison, editor of the trade magazine Talkers, said they could now face the same pressure Imus came under, even though their bit aired on satellite.

"In both cases," said Harrison, "FCC regulations don't matter, because they weren't violated. Those involved are still subject to public reaction - a reaction that now is amplified by the Internet."

dhinckley@nydailynews.com


So,..was Bernie McGuirk wrong??

It Won't Stop With Imus,....(Next Target)

It appears Media Matters next target of opportunity is Bill O'Reilly.

Media Matters quotes a University of Indiana report on his on-screen persona. (Stats Here)

O'Reilly strikes back here:




The truth hurts, doesn't it, George Soros?