Perfection

Something has been bothering me about the Don Imus controversy. On the surface, it’s a case where a mistake was made, and after that, everyone involved eventually did the right thing.

- People communicated their feelings in appropriate ways.

- Imus eventually acknowledged his mistake and apologized.

- Sponsors withdrew support for financial reasons.

- Imus’ employers listened to their employees, viewers, and sponsors, and fired Imus.

The young women on the Rutgers basketball team showed dignity and poise in a difficult situation. It was evident that they had good coaches and advisors, and they displayed a world-class grace under pressure.

So what was missing? How do you improve on a situation where, after the initial mistake, everyone seemed to do exactly the right thing?

What most impressed the world about the Rutgers athletes is the maturity of their response, and in particular how they went from a position of perceived powerless to a position of complete power through sheer force of character. It was beautiful in its way. And yet, something was missing.

Imus delivered his apology sincerely, and in person. The athletes accepted it. Days passed. Something is missing.

No reasonable person can fault the Rutgers team for the way they felt in this situation, nor the way they handled it. And nothing could have prepared them for the sort of power they acquired overnight. Their coaches and advisors had never been in this situation either. And while the athletes achieved greatness, how could any of them know how near to perfection they were? Their point had been made. The message had been delivered. What was missing?

Forgiveness.

They could have asked Imus’ employers to rehire him, and in so doing, shown the world the difference between greatness and perfection.

Comments

[Siddarth]

To forgive is greater than greatness..I`ve been readin ur blog for sometime and this article probably is the least satirical of the lot.Guess it shows that sometimes satire is not the best way around.
i forgive you Scott for all the mental agony u have caused me(Of course your articles do!!).
I am great.

[Silvox]

For in/out of box mind, non-envious follow by forgiveness is the move for those who play by book in game theory. In a beyond box mind, one could stay nice as an exit strategy to conserve more resource for another game.
If situation permit only win-lose or lose-lose, always nice can also be effective as a bait to lure opposing side into losing which will ironically promoted the would have been losing side into winning.
It's not the box that kept people in, it's people have the box to kept them in for safe. Beyond box is not no box, which is total risk, it's risk reduction to re-enable a safe game instead.

[K-Witt]

Here's something interesting that happened today that reminded me of you, Scott (not related to the Imus thing in any way...)

I wasn't really watching American Idol tonight (Wed.), I was doing homework and my mom and sister were watching it...but the point of the show was to raise money for people in Africa and New Orleans. And on Wednesdays, the basic premise is always that someone gets voted off; that's why people tune in. Well, they did all the stuff to raise money, and when it came time to vote someone off, they didn't - everybody stayed.

Now, here's my point: Isn't that very analagous to your butler/diamond story from the other day? They went through with the premise of voting someone off so that people would watch the show, and then people gave money when they watched the show...but nobody actually got voted off, so the people didn't get what they tuned in for. Obviously, the money all went to a good cause...but if you don't have a problem with this, you don't have a problem with stealing the jewels of the dead billionare and selling them to help the poor, right?

[Boris]

Nuts, I hit the enter key by mistake. Those interplanetary Schmasketball fans were supposed to be chanting FIVE EIGHT ONE!! FIVE EIGHT ONE!!

[Cynthia Barnes]

Everybody does it, everybody did it, those are so cliche, such adolescent excuses for behavior.

For those who did live in the sixties or thereabouts, not calling woman a "ho" is just plain good manners, ditto with any other derogatory term. No one really enjoys being called nasty names, they just rationalize it if they think it's not going to go away.

[Free William]

Hey Scott,

you say "shown the world the difference between greatness and perfection",
Might I just ask, on behalf of the 'world', who the f--k is Imus?

[liz]

What was missing?
Imus getting publically shamed for being an asshole to core.

[Chris]

The perfect act of forgiveness:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/miracle-saves-teens-eye/2007/04/19/1176697005264.html

[Tim]

You don't actually have to forgive people. Society just pressures us to do so.

[Wise-acres]

When I lived in the suburbs outside of DC, I heard both the words "nappy" and "ho" used all the time. I dont think anyone got that upset over the words, maybe its because some people are still living in the 60's instead of the current era. Anyhow, did anyone watch the southpark episode "With appoligies to Jesse Jackson"? It deals with this very same thing, except it was the "N-word guy" in stead of "nappy-headed hoes".

[bcammack]

I marvel at the ignorant, hateful assholes your blog draws so readily.

Kudos to Will and Stomper for their recent posts of insight and reason.

Based on the situation in the media that can produce legitimized propaganda machines like Faux News and the mouth-breathers that still dogmatically insist that there's some sort of "liberal media" outside of Air America and The Nation, I find solace that in twenty or thirty years---hopefully before the march towards bread and circuses is complete---that I will be comfortably dead and not suffering the consequences of the deterioration of our society and civilization.

[Will]

I think the free speech angle that some replies have raised is interesting to ponder. I have a hard time fathoming what the term "free speech" means when applied in an environment that is obviously lopsided. Imus can mutter his remarks and I have no way to answer him. So power and access makes his speech more free than mine. Hows that free?

[whitetigersx]

Neopolitan,
Yes, to some people honky and cracker are offensive - the difference is that most white poeple don't actually take offense to it because it's just a word and we know that regardless of what the people saying feel or think it's still just a word. Word can hurt only if you let them, and if you let them then you've allowed the person uttering them to win.

[Vuck Fista]

1. Do we have the technology to seed that planet with life?

Depends on the planet largely. We can't "terraform" planets yet but we can melt icecaps to get the atmosphere going again.
Assuming the planet is the right distance from it's sun to support life, not already filled with a toxic atmosphere, and has the raw material necessary to support life namely water, then we could seed life there. It would cost billions of dollars to do it but so does Iraq and no one seems to mind.

2. How do we know the Gliese 581 Csians didn’t seed life on Earth?
If we're the ones seeding their planet with life then it's safe to assume they don't exist yet and as such didn't create us.
However, to play along, if the earth were seeded by some alien race then there would be some technology left behind from the seeding that we would be able to detect.
Assuming we're going with the creationist's view of a 6000 year old earth, then there would still be a lot of radiation being emitted from the power source they used to send their ship here.

Vuck

[me]

check out this blog on the hypocrisy of big media:
If Imus Had Called Mother Teresa a “Ho” He’d Still Have a Job
Posted by F.J. Sarto on April 20, 2007
http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/if_imus_has_called_mother_teresa_a_ho_hed_still_have_a_job/
In case you were planning a career as a nasty, mean-spirited shock-jock, who makes his living using his media pulpit to slam people who mostly can’t (or won’t) fight back, here’s a handy tip: Stick to attacking our culture’s designated pinatas. Working-class whites, Southerners, all white Protestants (but especially Evangelicals), stay-at-home moms, and Mormons are all safe targets. In most circles, Arabs and the French are fair game, too.

Feel especially free to trash Catholics, of course. The admirable Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights has highlighted the extent of the double standard applied to the defamation of Christians and of other groups in the U.S. League president Bill Donohue commented on the way Catholic bashers are treated as compared to Don Imus:
“Similarly, Joan Walsh on Salon.com said the chocolate Jesus was not ‘a big deal,’ and advised people not to go see it if they didn’t like it. She has now called on Imus to be fired. Even New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg said ‘don’t pay any attention’ to the chocolate Jesus, but he now finds it necessary to brand Imus’ comments ‘repugnant.’

[me]

check out this blog on the hypocrisy of big media:
If Imus Had Called Mother Teresa a “Ho” He’d Still Have a Job
Posted by F.J. Sarto on April 20, 2007
http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/if_imus_has_called_mother_teresa_a_ho_hed_still_have_a_job/
In case you were planning a career as a nasty, mean-spirited shock-jock, who makes his living using his media pulpit to slam people who mostly can’t (or won’t) fight back, here’s a handy tip: Stick to attacking our culture’s designated pinatas. Working-class whites, Southerners, all white Protestants (but especially Evangelicals), stay-at-home moms, and Mormons are all safe targets. In most circles, Arabs and the French are fair game, too.

Feel especially free to trash Catholics, of course. The admirable Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights has highlighted the extent of the double standard applied to the defamation of Christians and of other groups in the U.S. League president Bill Donohue commented on the way Catholic bashers are treated as compared to Don Imus:
“Similarly, Joan Walsh on Salon.com said the chocolate Jesus was not ‘a big deal,’ and advised people not to go see it if they didn’t like it. She has now called on Imus to be fired. Even New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg said ‘don’t pay any attention’ to the chocolate Jesus, but he now finds it necessary to brand Imus’ comments ‘repugnant.’

[jerry w]

What's missing? What's missing is the American basic right of "freedom of speech". To me, Don Imus is and always was an asshole. However, that being said, just being an asshole is not a valid reason to kick someone out of their job. If that was the case, the White House would be empty. The Pentagon as well.
To use that old standard of reasoning, Imus did not yell "FIRE" in a crowded theatre. And, just out of curiousity, why would the place have to be crowded to make it a crime anyway? Well, O.K., he did go over some imaginary line and piss off a lot of people, but again, a loss of sponsors should be the thing that takes him off the air, not some weasel in a suit like Les Moonves who has to cover his own corporate ass.
It seems the only ones open to joking about are the Elbonians for now, but I'm sure that the Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton of Elbonia will be getting an offensive ready soon.

http://boskolives.wordpress.com/

[Singleton]

I agree completely. I for one am sick and tired of this touchy-feely society we have created for our selves. What ever happened to 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me'? Forgive the guy and give him back his job.

I do think all involved will come out ahead in the end. The I-Man will be back on the air and I am sure the book deals are in the works. Even that self-serving, racist, idiot Al Sharpton has benefited greatly from this event.

[GooseFat]

Guy paid to be offensive is surprised when target gets upset?
More like
Guy paid to be offensive is surprised when target gets him fired!

Some interesting interpretations of forgiveness in these posts – if his comments were ‘excusable’ then excuse him; if they were ‘inexcusable’ then there is the option to forgive. Preferably ‘forgive and learn’, not ‘forgive and forget’ and defiantly not ‘forgive and berate’.

Is Imus now a candidate to become corn oil?

[Will]

Imus is the victim of his own past and I think this is the culmination of MANY derogatory remarks he's made over the years. The media picked up on this one, certain ministers fanned the flames of public outrage and the network bowed to the pressure. Sounds kind of like justice to me.

I also think the Rutgers team can forgive Imus without requesting his reinstatement. For them to do what you suggest implies that they'd have to do this publicly and I can't help but wonder what effect you expect this to have. Can you elaborate?

[Stomper]

To all those who make the -- oh, so obvious -- point that lots of other people use those same terms without all the uproar: Duh. That doesn't mean it's okay.

That just means there are lots of other people besides Imus who should have been called out for their ugly word choices. But we (the public) did not complain about the others, so that means we somehow waived our right to complain about Imus? No, it does not.

Another obvious point: Sharpton and Jackson are grandstanding buffoons who milked this and amplified it for their own personal aggrandizement. Duh. Of course they did. It's what they do. So? That doesn't make the incident any less genuine.

Next (related) obvious point: People of color can refer to each other that way without repercussions, it's only us white guys who have to watch what we say. Wah, wah, wah. Want some cheese with that whine?

Here in the US, it was mostly the white guys who owned slaves, and claimed "niggers" were not human beings (except maybe for the attractive ones we wanted to have sex with -- or was that considered bestiality?). Yes, it has been 140 years since slavery officially ended, and roughly 45 years since the official end of the most obvious institutinalized segregation and Jim Crow laws (within my lifetime), but it's easy for ME to see why people of color might still be a wee bit sensitive.

Analogy alert: Hey, it's been a couple weeks since the funeral, why is Aunt Mabel so upset about my "dead Uncle Joe" jokes? She needs to get over it, on my schedule. So I can be an insensitive jerk without facing any consequences.

Comes down to this: each individual person of color gets to decide for himself or herself what amounts to appropriate "humor" about racial differences. That will obviously vary according to the listener's (a) mood, and (b) very subjective impressions about the speaker's true feelings behind the words.

Are the words spoken with affection and humor, or derision and disdain disguised as humor? I'm a white guy, so I don't get to decide.

Basic rule of humor: when you attempt a joke, be sure you know your audience. Particularly when you're a celebrity, you never really know who might be listening.

--Stomper

P.S. Scott, a question. You moderate the posts, but what exactly do you screen for? You've allowed posts using the F-word, so I'm curious about your criteria.

[bob]

Forgiving someone for an accidental or malicious hurt is not easy. It is much easier to be remain a victim than love those who persecute you.

[steve]

Bottom line, "what goes around comes around" he who forgives is forgiven.

[narf]

Witch-hunt has been used in so many responses, but it is oh so true... The liberal left has been an utter failure on talk radio, and this is just there way of beginning to attach that medium. The funniest part is he was more liberal then most of the "better" targets.

And the network firing him because of sponsors dropping?!? Insane as now as without him they as a network are toast anyway. Check out their numbers pre-incident, and you'll see basically he was all they had keeping them afloat.

And the way this all feel perfectly in line with the "Other side of the same coin" that was the Duke Lacrosse players couldn't have been orchestrated better. I hope those three players take every penny from Sharpton when it's over.

And talk about rats fleeing the ship! Do you know how many politicians and journalists have been “made” by working with him. Newsweek alone had their editor and three of their biggest writers as regulars on the show… They all dropped him like a hot potato and turned their back on him (Canceled that subscription).

In the end, I hope Imus learns from his mistake: Apologizing and not just saying "lighten-up or F--- Off, you hypocritical PC assholes...". If they fired him for that, at least he’d still have his integrity and not have let these jerks take away a little bit of all our freedoms. I will be there when he goes on Fox or satellite after taking a nice summer off, and will be an even bigger fan.

[Steve]

Someone explain to me the difference between Don Imus and, say, Sarah Silverman or Carlos Mencia?

The latter two remain on the air, as far as I know. They just aren't white men.