Republican Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., complimented Senator Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., on his 100th birthday by saying, "I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."
Lott apologized and explained that he intended to flatter an old man on his 100th birthday. He appeared on BET for an hour-long beat-down. Spike Lee, on national television, without evidence, called Lott a "card-carrying member of the Klan." No apology.
The hypocrisy does not end with this trio.
Presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., became the only candidate to publicly call for Imus' firing, "He didn't just cross the line. He fed into some of the worst stereotypes that my two young daughters are having to deal with today in America. The notions that as young African-American women -- who I hope will be athletes -- that that somehow makes them less beautiful or less important. It was a degrading comment. It's one that I'm not interested in supporting." Apparently the senator ignored his daughters' sensibilities when he allowed record mogul David Geffen to hold a fund-raiser. Geffen's company produces rappers like Snoop Dogg, who liberally uses the b-word and the h-word, brags about getting high and produced X-rated videos.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., also slammed Imus, yet she held a fund-raiser with rapper/producer Timbaland. In his own music, Timbaland uses the "b" and "h" words, as do other artists he produces.
As for CBS, the radio network that canned Imus, they, too, showed a selective outrage. One of the network's popular syndicated radio hosts -- who provides men advice on how to handle women -- routinely refers to women as "skanks" and "bitches."
A poll showed reaction to Imus' firing split down black-white racial lines, with most blacks agreeing with the firing and most whites disagreeing. Call this another example of hypersensitivity/payback on the part of blacks. For the Rutgers basketball team represents a group of accomplished women, which include a high school valedictorian, a pre-law student and a classical music prodigy.
How many of them even heard of Don Imus before his offensive remarks? Do any of these ladies have hip-hop/rap music with misogynist lyrics on their iPods? Here's a suggestion -- ignore the remark. After all, in the great department store of life, Imus operates in the toy section.