A Big To-Do About Nothing

What a shocker.

Yesterday, ESPN football commentator Tom Jackson said that he was tired of trying to keep up with the comments that Dom Imus makes.

Well, Tom, that makes two of us.

I'm tired of it, too. Tired of the fact that I have to sit through another day of the news and sports world blowing up a story that, in reality, will never have merit in my book.

We live in an age now where you have to watch what you say. Not because you will say something offensive, but that your words will be manipulated to be deemed offensive. We walk on eggshells that exist only on the razor's edge.

Welcome people, to PC America.

No longer are people allowed to speak freely for fear of offending the person next to them. One problem—that person, the listener, never actually had the right to be free from being offended. Catch that, Tom?

See, the fact is, Imus wasn't offensive, even if he wasn't allowed to be. He made a comment, a comment that I would be willing to bet the majority of people agree with: African-Americans are profiled in certain ways, most of them negative and generally untrue.

“There you go. Now we know”

Those six words are what could possibly land Imus in trouble again...this is a joke right?

Any second now I’m going to wake up from this surreal reality. If you heard or read this and automatically though “racist comment,” I do feel sorry for you. There is simply nothing there but words.

So, for people to get up in arms about a non-directive sarcastic comment just doesn't add up to me. But then it hits you; the very people that think they have a right to not be offended always seem to be.

People are always self important, we all like to think we matter. The problem is, we don’t, and because of that, the groups that are upset by this need to realize that their opinion on the matter should have no bearing on what happens to Imus.

Imus is a radio jock, reaching millions on the airwaves with a daily dose of talk. I highly doubt that he is a racist. I think it’s a joke that he was forced out of his job for months, and may have to be again because of what he says on the radio.

Free speech in this country is dead.

It’s alright for people to come down on Imus, question his values and intentions, and make sure we all know what a horrid man he is for the “words of hate” he throws out. However, he is not allowed to speak freely because he is a personality and, my goodness, lets pray he doesn’t slip up and say something vague that people take punches at.

The solution?

It’s called changing the channel. You don’t like it? Flip that dial, turn the page, or walk away. Imus, or any other writer, jock, pundit, etc. needs you to pay attention to them to stay on the air. So, don’t listen if you don’t like the message.

Plenty of people do like the message, or they don’t interpret every phrase as racist. There are far more of these people than those willing to resign themselves to a world where words have a hyperbolic tendency to be misused.