Here’s a shocking story that seems guaranteed to not be covered by the mainstream media: Sen. John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) told NY1 News that Don Imus shouldn’t have been fired by CBS Radio as a result of his recent statements about the Rutgers women’s basketball team.
I kid you not.
Although the interview is not scheduled to be broadcast until Tuesday evening, a partial transcript was posted at the NY1 News website (emphasis added throughout):
Kerry: “I think that the…you know the punishment has to fit the crime so to speak. I think a long suspension, or a strong suspension met with his appropriate level, given that the team forgave him. To me it was in the hands of the young women. They made the judgment that they thought he was genuine and they felt they could forgive him. And I think it was appropriate to pay a price on the airwaves but I’m not sure that it was appropriate to say you’re off forever.”
I find myself in the uncomfortable position of agreeing with the junior senator, but it does indeed seem obvious that if the team felt his apology was enough, so should his employer.
Regardless, Kerry was asked if he would appear with Imus in the future if he gets a new show:
Kerry: “It would depend on what the context of the show was obviously. If he goes back to doing the same old same old I’d have trouble doing that, but if it’s a different show and he says it’s going to be different sure.”
Bravo, Senator. Frankly, it’s high time that Democrats that have been regular guests of Imus’s over the years come out and show support for a man who made a mistake, has apologized, and just wants to move on with his life and his career.
*****Update: Glenn Reynolds yesterday posted about Kerry hinting at a possible 2008 presidential run. Could his surprising position on Imus be part of some campaign makeover? Stay tuned.
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.
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Hard as I might try (and it
April 17, 2007 - 19:30 ET by lnthompHard as I might try (and it isn't very hard), I just can't bring myself to like anything about John Kerry, even this.
Lee T.
U.S. Navy (ret.) / Hillsboro, Oregon
The history of the race, and each individual's experience, are thick with evidence that a truth is not hard to kill and that a lie told well is immortal.-- Mark Twain
Imus
April 17, 2007 - 19:59 ET by iveseenitallI couldn't care less what Kerry thinks. But I am glad to see Imus go. He, like Rosie and Stern, uses his freedom of speech irresponsibly to spew filth, hatred, and ignorance. Unfortunately, Imus will be back. Don't shed any tears for him.
NEVER,NEVER trust a liberal
The only thing I know about I
April 18, 2007 - 00:21 ET by lnthompThe only thing I know about Imus is what I've read here on NB about him over the past few months. It's really hard to base any opinion of him on that, so I'll leave that to others.
Lee T.
U.S. Navy (ret.) / Hillsboro, Oregon
The history of the race, and each individual's experience, are thick with evidence that a truth is not hard to kill and that a lie told well is immortal.-- Mark Twain
It's Hillary's peeps (and Imu
April 17, 2007 - 19:36 ET by Scout FinchIt's Hillary's peeps (and Imus himself) that caused Imus to be fired. Imus may be a liberal idiot, but Hillary's peeps want NO dissent on radio and/or TV airwaves. They fired Imus as if to say "Well, we took out one of our own, how does that prove bias?".
The Dems are really after Rush. And Fox.
Imus has in the past called H
April 17, 2007 - 20:27 ET by Del DolemonteImus has in the past called Hillary "Satan", and she has gone on record as saying she would never go on his show. Wonder why?
John Kerry
April 17, 2007 - 19:50 ET by pbthinkerAh, this is going to air today? This is John Kerry, remember? Let's wait and see what he says tomorrow, after this hits the media (of course maybe it won't since it doesn't fit into their palate. I believe, if there is any criticism of him, he will clarify his remarks and they won't be quite as pretty.
Never argue with an idiot. They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
Kerry's apparently testing th
April 17, 2007 - 19:57 ET by GalvanicKerry's apparently testing the waters for another run, despite the fact that he said he wasn't interested not long ago. He and his wife have also released a book on global warming and/or the economy. Therefore, I think he's liable of doing or saying anything to get free publicity.
Oh come on... when it would b
April 17, 2007 - 19:57 ET by bigtimerOh come on... when it would be time to put up or shut-up for Kerry to appear on his show if he got one back on television that is...he would ...
FLIP-FLOP...
Once again!
With Kerry there is always an
April 17, 2007 - 20:17 ET by Gat New YorkWith Kerry there is always another shoe . . . maybe 5 other shoes. I have faith that Kerry will do a 180 on this.
OMG, I just found myself ag
April 17, 2007 - 20:08 ET by motherbeltOMG, I just found myself agreeing with John Kerry!! Excuse me while I look out the window and check for flying pigs!
Didn't Kerry serve in Vietnam
April 17, 2007 - 20:28 ET by Del DolemonteDidn't Kerry serve in Vietnam? And Cambodia? (both in the same night)
Imus plugged Kerry in a clo
April 17, 2007 - 20:45 ET by daveinbocaImus plugged Kerry in a close Senate race back in 1996 for Senator by the red-haired genius Repub whose name just jumped out of my brain. Kerry, whom I thought incapable of any decency, performs an act of loyalty by sticking up for Imus.
But even though he's better than Edwards, he still is in the sub-basement of political life----where are those military records he promised a couple of years ago?
William Weld
April 17, 2007 - 20:51 ET by Gat New YorkWilliam Weld
Yeah, the guy who looked like
April 17, 2007 - 21:57 ET by CaringwhiteguyYeah, the guy who looked like Hoover from Animal House.
I can see the positive in som
April 17, 2007 - 20:50 ET by mostlymoderateI can see the positive in someone that is otherwise worthless. Good for John Kerry. He is still the world's greatest douc#3, but good for him.
i guess it's now official tha
April 17, 2007 - 21:34 ET by pmohbucki guess it's now official that john kerry will NOT be running for president
. . . . it's official for t
April 17, 2007 - 21:57 ET by Gat New York. . . . it's official for this week.
nah ... siding with Imus is t
April 17, 2007 - 22:06 ET by pmohbucknah ... siding with Imus is the kiss of death for a politician ... Kerry's been (brain) dead for years
There was a time that politic
April 17, 2007 - 22:26 ET by Gat New YorkThere was a time that politicians did not know Imus. But in '92 Clinton did not look good for the Democrat nomination and needed to win New York. He made one appearance on Imus who got him to loosen up and be humerous. It turned around Clinton's fortunes. After that every other politician thought Imus could be a king maker. As you said, it turned out to be quite the opposite effect. In fact the pandering by politicians became really pathetic.
Gat,Ditto that.
April 17, 2007 - 22:32 ET by bigtimerGat,
Ditto that.
Before Kerry ran for presiden
April 17, 2007 - 22:03 ET by jdhawkBefore Kerry ran for president, I didn't know anything about him. Now that I do, only one word comes to mind - disgust.
While he is obviously sticking up for one his own in this case - a fellow liberal. Meanwhile, he has never apologised for his demeaning and false remarks about our fighting men and women who served in Vietnam. He has never apologised for attempting to orchestrate diplomacy with communist North Vietnam in France while we were still at war and he was still in the service of our country. He has never apologised for three purple hearts, whose documents he wrote himself, in as many months without a scratch to show for it.
Thank God that the American people did not make him president. I pity the misguided people of Massachusetts for continuing to elect him term after term. It is truly mistifying.
remember he's only the junior
April 17, 2007 - 22:12 ET byremember he's only the junior senator from taxachusetts
and both are about the most m
April 17, 2007 - 22:37 ET by Gat New Yorkand both are about the most morally corrupt in the Senate.
Sure are, the only difference
April 17, 2007 - 22:50 ET by bigtimerSure are, the only difference is Chappaquiddick Kennedy has been there longer.
He recruited Kerry btw... to protest the war and our treatment of the enemy during Vietnam, for the hearings and staging the throwing of medals, with the media including Tom Eliphant (sp) I think it was.... and to run as Senator .
There may be other more pre
April 18, 2007 - 00:08 ET by blogonatorThere may be other more pressing stories that keep the msm from covering this story other than liberal bias... like 33 dead students in Blacksburg. Imus probably wishes he'd made his remarks a week later. The msm orgy that consumed him would've skipped him to cover the VT shootings.
You got a point there blog wi
April 18, 2007 - 00:21 ET by bigtimerYou got a point there blog with the msm skipping over the Imus issue if this had happened when this tragedy did...
By the same token, that is why the Judiciary committee postponed their big Gonzales hearings that were supposed to take place today...no coverage for the self-important big mouthed critters, they are so phony and full of their self-importance.
We will see what Thursday brings eh?
And, if you really want to
April 18, 2007 - 00:36 ET by blogonatorAnd, if you really want to get hypothetical... would the governor of New Jersey have been in that serious accident (rushing to the Rutgers/Imus meeting) if the shootings at VT had happened last Monday instead?
State trooper or ex trooper n
April 18, 2007 - 00:40 ET by bigtimerState trooper or ex trooper not sure which... driving 91 miles an hour and no seat belt on the Gov.
Hitting that oncoming car d
April 18, 2007 - 00:47 ET by blogonatorHitting that oncoming car didn't help much either...
Maybe if the shooting had happen a week earlier, he would've stopped to take stock of his life and fragility of human life and decided to start wearing a seatbelt. Extreme hypothesizing of course.
Are you really sure about tha
April 18, 2007 - 00:51 ET by bigtimerAre you really sure about that blog?
Maybe the Don Imus issue wa
April 18, 2007 - 00:57 ET by blogonatorMaybe the Don Imus issue was so rediculous that it triggered the shooter in the VT shooting...
Nah blog...Me thinks it was G
April 18, 2007 - 01:08 ET by bigtimerNah blog...
Me thinks it was GW.
John Kerry & Noel Shepp
April 18, 2007 - 04:24 ET by sarcasmoJohn Kerry & Noel Sheppard have something else in common which is more-obvious to me than it might be to some of you. Neither one is a regular listener to the Howard Stern show, which -- whether people here or on the left like it or not -- is sometimes a NEWS show amid the crude jokes & the Sybian rides. Those of us who listen to the Stern Show have known for a long time that Anus used the n-word (not "nappy," either!) to black females, repeatedly & rudely; and that this was therefore more like the usual Anus-pattern than "a mistake" like the rest of the media desperately-tried to paint it when they finally caught-on to the story. Once the news media understood that Howard & Robin had been the only ones on the "Anus is a racist" story, and that they'd been on it like white on rice for a flappin' decade, this was a natural reaction for the various media figures, Democrats, and the various RINOs all trying to sell boring books that Anus would have on his boring show, because admitting Howard & Robin were once-again right and "scooped" them is very difficult. Some of us think it's time for some new blood (full time Walter Williams, anyone? I'd turn off Howard in a second for that!) in talk radio and TV, and we're glad to see that fossil go, if only because it proves Howard is the King.
JMR
Sarc
April 18, 2007 - 09:58 ET by Noel SheppardJ,
I'm not a regular listener of any radio program. Don't have the time. Normally, when I write about something on the radio, or even television typically, I've gotten a tip.
I own and manage three companies, write here, am working on a book, and raising two children. If I actually listened to the radio other than when in my car, I'd have to skip sleep.
That said, I used to listen to Howard in the '80s, and was a big fan. ns
That might have been when S
April 18, 2007 - 10:15 ET by sarcasmoThat might have been when Stern & Imus were working in the same building! Anyway, my running point in the Anus matter is that he not-only wasn't funny, it wasn't a one-time issue with him (much less his staff!!) either. Another little-noted point about his show is that it wasn't making that much money for either CBS or MSNBC, despite what they were paying him (too much). I'm still holding out a slim hope for a better replacement than they've currently tried, once this one fails. Williams deserves his own show, subbing for Limbaugh isn't enough airtime, IMO. MSNBC desperately needs to grab the share of Fox's audience a serious Walter Williams program would probably nab from the insipid "Fox & Friends" show, but they'd have to have the guts to try something "boring" to put a principled economist on the air.
JMR
ol'flounder
April 18, 2007 - 09:07 ET by foolnomore"my goodness",where are ya going ta get all the free air time now john'boy?.maybe drop in on the "odor'man's show" of how about "crap'thew's" slime-time, for some insightful word's of wisdom ??