Obama asks why rappers are let off free. (vain, devil)

[NoahideHiker]

I personally do not like it. I don't like the idea of "thought police" trying to dictate what speech is acceptable and what is not. Who is to say what is politically correct? Either we are for freedom of speech or we are against it. Do I like hate speech and racial slurs? No but this doesn't mean I only want it whispered about or swept under the rug.

If someone is a racist I want them to shout it from the mountain tops. The racist you know is better than the racist you can't see or hear. If a radio host says something racist, don't listen to him. His audience will turn him off and he will go the wayside. Drumming the guy out of the business is just stifling the free exchange of ideas. It's like the Dixie Chick /Bush thing. Just sad.

And then here comes Obama on his big white horse ready to claim the moral high ground because he's willing to speak out against people of his own race. Nice grab for the white vote while at the same time setting Hillary up because she took $800,000 from a rapper/producer (can't remember his name right now).

It's a sham...

[The Seeker]

If he could get that crap off the airwaves, I would be extremely impressed with him.

As much as I hate some rap music, I don't think that the government should regulate what's on the airwaves more than the FCC currently does. I hope this Imus situation encourages people to boycott radio stations and record labels that play gangsta rap and other garbage. It is extremely hypocritcal for Al Sharpton to criticize Imus and not attack the radio stations that support gangsta rap.

[PureX]

Originally Posted by Luke Wolf

My only concern is the whole issue of censorship. Rap and Hip Hop might just be the first to go if a politician got such laws passed. If it started thier, who's to say it won't go further? If Rap is gone, they will complain about something else.

Censorship begins with the audience. If someone is using their right to free speech to behave like an idiot, I think the audience should let them know. Boo, hiss, throw stuff at 'em. And if they're getting paid to talk like an idiot on the air, stop supporting their venue by turning it off.

Obama has a valid point, of course, and of course he is not recommending that rap music or racist speech be banned. Obama is doing what we all ought to be doing. He's asking a perfectly obvious and reasonable question of the people who have been supporting racist language from blacks, while condemning it from whites. Good for him, and especially so because he's NOT recommending a ban on racist speech. Free speech works best when we EXERCISE IT.

[Ardent Listener]

Originally Posted by Victor

Ditto....(a Liberatarian)

Originally Posted by PureX

Censorship begins with the audience. If someone is using their right to free speech to behave like an idiot, I think the audience should let them know. Boo, hiss, throw stuff at 'em. And if they're getting paid to talk like an idiot on the air, stop supporting their venue by turning it off.

Obama has a valid point, of course, and of course he is not recommending that rap music or racist speech be banned. Obama is doing what we all ought to be doing. He's asking a perfectly obvious and reasonable question of the people who have been supporting racist language from blacks, while condemning it from whites. Good for him, and especially so because he's NOT recommending a ban on racist speech. Free speech works best when we EXERCISE IT.

I agree with both quotes.

[Reverend Rick]

My freedom ends where your freedom begins. Let's keep the airwaves clean. If you want to exercise extreme language rights, do it on XM or cable. People have just as much right not to hear something as you do hearing it.

Let's give everyone their rights and not just some.

[gnomon]

I'm not impressed.

The Imus incident is nothing more than a cause celebre. Nothing more. I don't really see the big campaign to boycott Rosie at the moment. Oh well.

I've said this many times before and it needs to be restated. Minorities, especially blacks, are being jailed and imprisoned at a disproportionately higher rate than whites for the exact same criminal offenses. The drug enforcement authorities are using increasingly questionable tactics and the number of innocent people, mainly minorities, being violated or killed is increasing.

Jackson and Sharpton gave a little bit of lip time to the Atlanta incident which gets very little media attention. Now it's no longer news for most people. Hell, the majority of Americans hardly even know about it. I mean, who cares? Some old, hack radio shock jock (not Howard Stern) lets loose with a bad joke that most of us, and especially the Rutgers basketball team, would have never known about if it wasn't for a ridiculous media campaign and it turns into a matter of national and social concern. Nice to see Obama's jumped on the bandwagon. Maybe he'll hold hearings and Dee Snyder will show up in full regalia. Obama can follow in those brave, bold footsteps of Tipper. Besides, Cosby already addressed this issue quite well but he's too much of an ...Uncle Tom... for some people.

Meanwhile, Kathryn Johnston...she's just dead.

[PureX]

Originally Posted by gnomon

I'm not impressed.

The Imus incident is nothing more than a cause celebre. Nothing more. I don't really see the big campaign to boycott Rosie at the moment. Oh well.

I've said this many times before and it needs to be restated. Minorities, especially blacks, are being jailed and imprisoned at a disproportionately higher rate than whites for the exact same criminal offenses. The drug enforcement authorities are using increasingly questionable tactics and the number of innocent people, mainly minorities, being violated or killed is increasing.

Jackson and Sharpton gave a little bit of lip time to the Atlanta incident which gets very little media attention. Now it's no longer news for most people. Hell, the majority of Americans hardly even know about it. I mean, who cares? Some old, hack radio shock jock (not Howard Stern) lets loose with a bad joke that most of us, and especially the Rutgers basketball team, would have never known about if it wasn't for a ridiculous media campaign and it turns into a matter of national and social concern. Nice to see Obama's jumped on the bandwagon. Maybe he'll hold hearings and Dee Snyder will show up in full regalia. Obama can follow in those brave, bold footsteps of Tipper. Besides, Cosby already addressed this issue quite well but he's too much of an ...Uncle Tom... for some people.

Meanwhile, Kathryn Johnston...she's just dead.

I agree with this being pretty much a non-event that becomes an event because the media behave like those fish that move whatever way the fish next to them is moving because they're all afraid of being eaten. Imus played with controversy for a living, and eventually he got burned by it, so what? It was bound to happen. And it's no great loss, anyway. There are bigger and far more important issues we should be focussing on, if someone could just figure out how to get the fish to look in that direction.

I do object to characterizing Obama as "piling on". That was an unnecessary cheap shot that indicates your own prejudice more than Obama's character. After all, Obama is a black man running for high office, did you really think that no one would ask for his opinion on this Imus incident, and then publish it? I mean, obviously they're going to ask, and he's expected to give some sort of response. Which he did. That's not "piling on" in any way shape or form. And he gave an intelligent and reasoned response, to boot.

[bflydad]

Originally Posted by NoahideHiker

If someone is a racist I want them to shout it from the mountain tops. The racist you know is better than the racist you can't see or hear. If a radio host says something racist, don't listen to him. His audience will turn him off and he will go the wayside. Drumming the guy out of the business is just stifling the free exchange of ideas. It's like the Dixie Chick /Bush thing. Just sad.

I agree it's like the Dixie Chicks/ Bush thing but I think that's good. While I disagree with the Dixie Chicks getting burned, at least nobody tried to legislate their rights away. What (at least hopefully) happened is that a whole lot of listeners called up to the radio stations and said stop playing the Dixie Chicks and for a long while that is what happened. If Obama can get a lot of listeners to call up to the radio stations and tell them to stop playing demeaning/hate music (not the same thing as rap) then I say more power to him.

[Ðanisty]

Originally Posted by Majikthise

When his veiws on the strategic defense of the United States jibe with mine ,I'll be impressed.
Every generation in the 20th century has spoken out against the musical expression of the youth at the time. Jazz would warp the mind and make people act like animals.
Rock and roll was the tool of the devil rotting the minds of our youth. An appeal to the community to enlighten themselves is comendable but ultimately in vain. I'm not fooled.

I think the issue most people have here is the hypocrisy of the situation. Why should rappers be able t