A very simple concept several pundits fail to grasp...

Conservative activist/pundit David Horowitz had this to say on Monday on his blog in a post titled "The Imus Lynching":

All over the country white comedians like Lisa Lampanelli, whose entire show is based on ethnic insults, must be cowering in fear of losing their jobs if they stumble over the wrong joke. There is clearly no bigger threat to free speech in this country than these racial vigilantes. The whole country is wondering to itself how it's ok for black comedians to rag on nappy headed hos while Imus must be hung for it. Chris Rock I am sure, is not amused by this circus and I for one can't wait to see how he deals with it in his next stand up.

And then Ann Coulter had this to say in a column published today:

Depending on which TV show you tune into, what Imus said was wrong because: 1) His show goes out on FCC-regulated airwaves; 2) he regularly interviews people like Sens. John Kerry, John McCain and Joe Biden; 3) he spoke at the White House Correspondents' Dinner a few years ago; or 4) he's not black.

Perhaps sensing that such constantly scrolling rules have a whiff of fascism about them, the scowling Miss Grundys of the world think they have hit on the perfect omnibus rule. They instruct us to "be nice." (There's a word for the grim Miss Grundys, but apparently I'm not allowed to use it. Sarah Silverman is. This will be all in the rule book.)

The requirement to always "be nice" would be the end of Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle, two of the funniest comedians in America. Let me rephrase that: It would be the end of all humor. Even Bob Hope cruelly implied that Democrats didn't support the troops when he joked to the troops in Vietnam: "The country is behind you 50 percent."

Basically: "Why should Don Imus be so heavily reprimanded as far as losing his job when saying something that stand-up comedians and gangsta rappers would get applauded for saying?! This is political correctness run amok!"

Does that sound like a reasonable argument?

Let's consider a few scenarios.

Say I'm walking down Broad Ripple Ave. It's a nice spring evening and my roommates and I are barhopping. I pull out an AK 47 and proceed to randomly mow down the random people all around us. When arrested for my heinous crime I say "Oh come on, the troops in Iraq or soldiers in a war can shoot people! Why can't I?"

Or another:

My friends and I are playing soccer in the park. As I'm dribbling the ball down the field I suddenly reach down, grab it, and sprint past the goalie into the goal. I then throw it to the ground and do a little dance. My friends protest and insist that my team does not deserve a point. "Oh come on!" I protest. "In football or rugby you can carry the ball."

(Yay for Reductio ad absurdum arguments!)

It's a very simple concept: just because one behavior is appropriate under one set of circumstances, it does not mean that it is appropriate under ALL circumstances. This is something that pre-schoolers and kindergarteners can grasp. And in my second example, there's another element: different games have different rules. When you agree to play a game, you agree to abide by its rules. And yes, Ann, Sarah Silverman can say many, many things that you, in your capacity as a pundit, cannot say. Pundits cannot make racist, sexist jokes. Comedians can. Is there anything particularly controversial about that idea? It makes sense, doesn't it?

Now I was a little taken aback when I actually heard that Imus got fired from both his show on MSNBC and his radio show (which is run by CBS.) That for some reason struck me as a bit much. I mean the man's apologized, he's been trying to make amends, etc. etc. Now it seems much more basic and simple and the fact that there is some controversy seems a bit dumb.

Let's have another hypothetical scenario - a more real life one. The majority of my co-workers are minorities. My company is very diverse, there are many different ethnic groups represented. If I made a joke like Imus's to one of my co-workers would there be any controversy if I was fired? Or, if I was on a phone call with a single customer and made such a joke? It would certainly reflect quite poorly on the company if they kept me, wouldn't it? And that would be just a single person hearing an offensive remark. Millions of people heard Imus's remark.

Again, where's the controversy in this argument?

And as far as the whole "political correctness" thing goes... I think wikipedia sums up my feelings on the issue quite well:

"Some commentators, usually on the political left, have argued that the term "political correctness" is a straw man invented by the New Right to discredit what they consider progressive social change, especially around issues of race and gender."

As far as Imus goes, I do feel somewhat sorry for him. I've never really been a fan or a regular listener/viewer and I certainly haven't agreed with everything that I've heard him say but I don't think he's an idiot/horrible person. In fact I tend to have more respect for him than many other media figures and pundits (example: the two I've quoted in this post.) It's always sad when decent people make mistakes and have to pay the price for them.