THIS WEEK'S NEW YORK TIMES OP AD: AnIMUS in the Morning

 

Wednesday May 10, 2000

The TomPaine.com Staff

Full Disclosure: TomPaine.com advertised on Imus in the Morning on February 7. We paid $4,000 for three readings of our ad. Imus read the first one, a producer the other two. Imus was supposed to read all three, but chose not to when he discovered what the ad was about. (It chastised Senator Mitch McConnell for sabotaging campaign finance reform.) At the time we purchased the ad we were unfamiliar with Imus's egregious record as a purveyor of racist and homophobic parodies and commentaries.

Would the "God Squad" abandon power talker Don Imus?

It looked that way on April 28, when Father Tom Hartman and Rabbi Marc Gellman, regulars on "Imus in the Morning," made a quick exit from the show.

That day they witnessed a racist outburst by Imus producer and sidekick Bernard McGuirk.

"It was the most direct form of bigotry," Father Hartman said of McGuirk's 'parody' of basketball player Jayson Williams.

"It's against what I believe in and what my Church believes in .... If that is characteristic of the entire show, then we couldn't be on the show, but I don't believe it is."

Well, Father, the record shows otherwise…

Unfortunately, we cannot show you samples here - the Times won't allow it (meanwhile, the Times buys advertising on the Imus show). Visit TomPaine.com to see for yourself.

Jews, gays, working women, minorities, foreigners - all are targets of the degrading racial and sexual slurs that are regular sport for the Imus team. Bernard McGuirk is the man Mike Wallace once said, "glories in the role of resident bigot." Clarence Page, the respected columnist, told TomPaine.com last week that he's "very reluctant" to appear again on the show. And he thinks his friend Gwen Ifill deserves an apology from Imus.

Ifill, a highly regarded journalist, was disparaged by Imus based on the color of her skin. Like Page, she is black. Again, the Times won't let us quote the slur - trust us, it was bad.

Who's laughing?

Hopefully not any of the I-man's A-list regulars like Tom Brokaw, Tim Russert, Dan Rather, Cokie Roberts, Howard Fineman, and Jeff Greenfield.

As for Father Hartman… he was back on the show on Monday. Maybe the "God Squad" is there to stay.

This week at TomPaine.com - AnImus in the Morning… Who's Laughing? Featuring: Our ImusWatch catalogue of slurs... "A-list Media: Going Along and Getting On," by Philip Nobile... and an interview with Imus.

Published: May 25 2000