Rosie Still Worried About Her Job? 'View' Co-Host Continues to Defend Imus' 'Free Speech'

Posted by Justin McCarthy on April 11, 2007 - 15:10.

The April 11 edition of "The View" again discussed Don Imus’s recent racist and sexist remarks about the Rutgers women’s basketball team. Rosie O’Donnell likewise continued her tirade about Imus’ alleged "free speech." In a statement too bizarre even for Joy Behar, Rosie said the next step is the "thought police" locking everyone up in Guantanamo Bay without a lawyer. Perhaps Rosie is feeling the heat after her own controversial remarks.

JAMIE-LYNN SIGLER: I think people who have a public voice just need to be conscious then of what they’re saying and the effect that it can have and understand that there’s going to be consequences if they say things like that.
O’DONNELL: Right, you just worry if the consequences, you know --
BEHAR: Because you could be next.
O’DONNELL: -impede upon- which is all right. If that happens, it happens. But the point of the story is, if it impedes on free speech in America, democracy is at stake. Because democracy is based on freedom of speech and freedom of the press. So we really have to worry about that in this country.
[Applause]
HASSELBECK: And we should be concerned and responsible without freedom too.
O’DONNELL: Right, but it’s not a freedom if you outlaw certain words or thoughts, because then the thought police come and then before you know it, everyone’s in Guantanamo Bay without representation.
HASSELBECK: That would be impossible to enforce.
BEHAR: What a jump!

Earlier in the segment, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and surprisingly, Joy Behar commented on the lack of moral authority Imus’ harshest critics, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton possess.

JOY BEHAR: There’s also something about casting the stone, when you-- everybody else is so innocent? You know
ELISABETH HASSELBECK: Yeah look at Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. I mean they, they’ve been quoted-
BEHAR: Jesse Jackson, don't you remember his "hymietown" remarks?
HASSELBECK: Yes
ROSIE O’DONNELL: Yeah
BEHAR: That, you know, he’s not innocent either on this topic. So, you know, let’s not be so hypocritical about all this.
HASSELBECK: And where does that stop? Where do you draw the line?
BEHAR: It was an obnoxious, racist remark, true, but it's all over the place.

sarcasmo Says:
April 11, 2007 - 15:24

Bigelow Tea & the rest of a variety of Anus sponsors who finally jumped-ship today ALSO have a first amendment right to not-spend money on the Anus radio/TV show. Which means Anus gets to either go find even stupider ad spenders or he must "retire" and go away. My money's on "retire." Anus is fired. Money talks.
JMR

bigtimer Says:
April 11, 2007 - 15:32

Hi sarc...I knew there was another big one I couldn't hear last night, when I heard this morning it was Bigelow Tea I 'bout died laughing sipping my coffee!

I have alse heard his dealing with his ranch are starting to get looked into in more depth, I know Spitzer, whom I do not care for anyway was looking into the matter but it wasn't in NY where he had jurisdiction so I think more fall-out is to come ...going to be interesting to me because for years I thought what an obvious rip-off...but that is up to the fools that want to join the club...I remember when they were buying horses and cows and Imus would give them a name and report to them like Andrea Mitchell what they named the particular animal and they were just really soooo interested, I am being sarcastic to a point here.

sarcasmo Says:
April 11, 2007 - 15:37

I suspect he'll get away with the ranch, which I suspect is in reality an Anus-tax-avoidance device instead of an actual charity. I'm just happy he's gonna be off the air, as that means CBS & MSNBC need to choose anyone-different. It'll be tough for them to do-worse, but I'm not putting forth any hiring suggestions publicly, for fear of jinxing 'em! :)
JMR

MightyMouth Says:
April 11, 2007 - 15:45

Ann Coulter needs a radio show.

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

bigtimer Says:
April 11, 2007 - 15:57

Coulter would be great, their ratings would triple, but they can't have that, after-all they have an agenda and she doesn't fit it!

Seriously if they were smart they would try to have something balanced at least to try to rival Fox and Friends...I remember when Imus was #1 and he put the show down daily!

Look at him now....

LOL!

MightyMouth Says:
April 11, 2007 - 16:06

True bt, Ann would probably drop the "F" word too much (and I don't mean the good one) for NBC. Laura Ingram, who already has a radio show, would be good competion for Fox.

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

bigtimer Says:
April 11, 2007 - 16:23

Hey MM,

I think Coulter would do just fine as long as they had somebody like bimbo Craig Crawford on and say a Pat Buchanan as the middle guy....lol!

Laura too, they could rotate or something with others like Fox does, they would have good ratings at least...but they have an agenda...all leftists all the time.

Fools!

MightyMouth Says:
April 11, 2007 - 16:34

Speaking of rotating "talent". The few times I have seen Imus, it seemed he was just as much a fixture as the chair he was in.

I could only stand to watch for a few minutes before starting to doze off. He seemed like an old guy in a cowboy hat, with a bad case of the "mumbles".

Heck, NBC could probably get me to take his place and get better ratings! I think I have a few gags left in me. :-)

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

bigtimer Says:
April 11, 2007 - 16:41

MM...

By the way you post nobody and I mean nobody would be falling asleep...

Laughter is the best medicine!

You'd do great...go for it!

MightyMouth Says:
April 11, 2007 - 16:45

*bowing head, kicking pebbles*

Awww, geee, tanks bt!

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

bigtimer Says:
April 11, 2007 - 16:50

MM...

You are WELCOME!

Okay...Quit now, I am laughing out loud so hard I am scaring the deer out of the yard, away from my tulips that are just starting to come up!

Thanks!

I mean that, they are lucky I didn't get out the gun!

They are thanking you too....

MightyMouth Says:
April 11, 2007 - 16:54

otay.

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

sarcasmo Says:
April 11, 2007 - 16:05

Oh, what the hell? I'll screw his chances up entirely & say it. Walter Williams, with Cathy Young as a sidekick instead of that Bernard asskisser. Now THAT political combo would make me turn-off Howard Stern & somehow deal with the immense commercial-load of MSNBC in the morning.
JMR -- who senses the cloak, when it comes to MSNBC if not NB...

bigtimer Says:
April 11, 2007 - 15:54

I don't know about that sarc, I heard an interesting segment on Fox this morning from a guy on the internet that said even though he is using charity status for all of this, his money he takes in to what he supposedly pays out when it comes to taking in about 100 kids a year for a couple weeks at a time is very questionable....

We shall see...you can be sure they are digging...this is the blogs now, I tried to remember the exact site and the correct name, I was busy and couldn't copy it down at the time, tried to find it on the internet with no luck, but you can bet people are really searching now....I just can't help but laugh....can't help it!

I am going to look in a couple other places later too...may come up with it....lol!

sarcasmo Says:
April 11, 2007 - 16:09

You may be right, BT. I'm not very good at avoiding any taxes, I can tell you that for sure this time of year, so I'm certainly no authority on this subject!
JMR

Roger the Shrubber Says:
April 11, 2007 - 15:58

Man, I had never even heard of Bigelow Tea before today. Here, it is the #2 tea company in the US, having 10% of the market, almost $70 million in sales in 2006. Interesting.

Here is a link to some numbers. The print window opens after this page loads, so be forewarned, and cancel out!

bigtimer Says:
April 11, 2007 - 16:17

Yeah Rog,

Imus has been sponsoring the Bigelow Tea company for years now, he used to have them on a lot at least once or twice a year, they would donate to his charities BIG Time!

I don't know if you have ever heard of Constant Comet I think it is, but it is delicious and has been around since I have been a little girl, man I wished they had some around here in my area, just thinking about the aroma and smell, let alone the taste of it makes me want a cup!

Just thought I would throw that in!

bigtimer Says:
April 11, 2007 - 15:26

What Behar joined in with Hasselbeck?

....somethings happening here...

LOL!

TruthMonger Says:
April 11, 2007 - 17:09

...what's happening? How about Rosie-who-never-lets-anyone-else-talk-O'Donnell is suddenly concerned about free speech? Not hardly...

ratso ferrari Says:
April 11, 2007 - 15:31

Jamie-Lynn you can say whatever you want because your daddy is Tony Soprano! Oh fugettaboutit.

Riled One Says:
April 11, 2007 - 15:33

Money = Speech

I'm Tellin' ya

Imus, Sharpton and Jackson are all three gone. When the Slanted view is emboldened to say the same things we are saying, we can read the words together

Mene, Tekel, Upharsin

MightyMouth Says:
April 11, 2007 - 15:39

One out of three aint bad Riled. :-)

There will plenty of "racebaiting" for Jackson and Sharpton in the future. IMO.

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

Galvanic Says:
April 11, 2007 - 16:20

All the hub-bub surrounding Imus and his racial comment, is just what Sharpton and Jackson thrive on, and it comes at an opportune time for them.

The corporate sponsors pulling out of Imus's show are avoiding the blood splatter from the Sharpton/Jackson public stoning, and those two are flexing their muscle in front of the Democratic candidates to demonstrate that they are still relevent and influential. It has very little to do about Imus himself at this point; he's just the roadkill. The national discussion will move on to racism in America, and the usual cast of characters will harangue the public about racism in America being worse now than it was in the Fifties, and Pelosi and Reid will pass some sort of Congressional resolution, and maybe then . . . maybe .. we can all return to normal.

Riled One Says:
April 11, 2007 - 15:47

NBC CBS and General Electric will not soon forget. If there is an opportunity to marginalize the Retro Reverands, it will be siezed upon

MightyMouth Says:
April 11, 2007 - 15:50

One can only hope, I for one, have seen enough of these swindlers.

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

linkerone Says:
April 11, 2007 - 15:46

The NBC Nightly News has now succeeded in accomplishing true Tabloid TV Status.. I have seen recently, product placement, advertising reported as news, more advertising reported as news.... And now almost a full 10 minutes about the ho's on the hardwood! Give me a break, nothing deserves that kind on press! Back to PBS

Mean Gene Dr. Love Says:
April 11, 2007 - 16:16

First of all, this whole Imus thing has been blown way out of proportion. It was wrong for him to be brash and disrespectful in a public forum. But rap and R&B artists regularly use the same type (and worse) language and they have a much larger audience. Imus ran awry for saying those things in the wrong forum.

Censorship. Ha!

As an employee or representative of a company or organization, there are certain things you cannot say and then still expect to keep your position with the company or organization or to not expect some sort of reprimand.

Why is it so hard for ROD to understand that freedom of speech is the freedom to express political beliefs or criticisms without government reprisal? Companies, organizations, and even private individuals can set speech limits within their own jurisdictions. For example: If someone says the F-word in my home, they will be escorted off of my property (if they don't leave when asked to). Is that stifling their 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech? No, it isn't. They can say the F-word as much as they feel like saying it, they just aren't going to say it in my home.

Should Imus be able to say what he wants to? As a representative of a broadcasting station, he needs to keep in mind that the station's interests and ultimately his bottom line depends on him not crossing certain lines. ROD would be wise to keep that in mind also.

"I'd rather be bald than to pretend that I'm not!" --Mean Gene Dr. Love on comb-overs.

NoMoreClintons Says:
April 11, 2007 - 17:00

Imus ran awry for saying those things in the wrong forum.

Not the wrong forum . . . but because he is the wrong color - WHITE.

Mudhen Says:
April 11, 2007 - 16:27

What free speech? The first amendment doesn't apply to employee-employer relationships in cases like this.

Imus works for GE. GE can tell Imus what he can or cannot say any day and its perfectly legal. What exactly does she think corporate EEO policies are? They tell GE's employee's what they cannot say or do, which is just what Imus violated. I think he should be treated just like any other person who violated their corporate EEO policy. In a big company like GE these issues come up regularly, so it wouldn't be the first time they've ever disciplined anyone for making improper remarks. If some senior-level manager was turned in for making a similar comment, how would GE handle it? Treat Imus the same way and it would be fair.

If I was a Disney/ABC employee I'd turn Rosie in for some of the comments she's made as a apparant violation of their EEO policy. It would be interesting to see how it would be handled.

c5then Says:
April 11, 2007 - 16:38

Imus says things like this all the time. This one maybe more onerous than some others, but it's not out of character.

The Free speech that Rosie is so worried about , now, is between the government and it's citizens, not between employer and employee. It also doesn't protect a person from the consequenses of their free speach.

Why is it that liberals always seem to get free speech and free consequenses confused when it's another liberal that is in the soup. In the case of conservatives, they just think that all conservative thoughts should be banned.

Mean Gene Dr. Love Says:
April 11, 2007 - 16:44

The problem is that Rosie doesn't seem to be able to tell the difference between relationships of employer and employee and of the government and citizens. It's all the same to her, which is disturbing display of ignorance or stupidity.

"I'd rather be bald than to pretend that I'm not!" --Mean Gene Dr. Love on comb-overs.

Clear thinker Says:
April 11, 2007 - 17:15

Dr. Love...

Rosie has no clue about the real world.

I once had an employee wear a t-shirt to work that stated "F*** Censorship". When he was asked to turn the shirt inside out or go home and change, he stated that he was going to sue us for violating his free speech rights. I then had my head of HR give him the phone number to our corporate attorney. He actually called our attorney and it took the attorney about 2 minutes to explain that democracy pretty much stops after he clocked in. Never heard from him again.

The liberal MSM has become an enemy of the USA.

bigtimer Says:
April 11, 2007 - 17:19

Ct...

LOL!

Nipped that right in the rear fast!

Good riddance!

Poof!

Clear thinker Says:
April 11, 2007 - 17:22

bt...

Yeah but... I'm betting he still swears we were in the wrong.

The liberal MSM has become an enemy of the USA.

SnowWhite Says:
April 11, 2007 - 16:51

Wonder what Rosie O. would say if Imus had called the team members a bunch of 'dykes'? Maybe she'd find out SHE'S the Nazi. Would love to see Rosie O. and Ann Coulter duking it out. We know Rosie has the biggest mouth, but does she have the biggest testies? I picture Rosie slinking away from it ,whimpering, with her tail (I bet she has one) between her legs. That would be so much fun to see!

Riled One Says:
April 11, 2007 - 17:12

What? Rosie's a dyke?

Guess that explains why her wife looks like a Little Dutch Boy.

bigtimer Says:
April 11, 2007 - 17:17

Little Dutch Boy...

Perfect!

LMAO!

Clear thinker Says:
April 11, 2007 - 17:09

Rosie...

Shut up and eat!

The liberal MSM has become an enemy of the USA.

Rosie Still Worried About Her Job? 'View' Co-Host Continues to Defend Imus' 'Free Speech'

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