Posted by James Wolcott
Yes, it is a bit much for Don Imus to have a sudden attack of Emily Post and start grouching about the political comments chestily flown at Coretta Scott King's funeral service in the presence of President Bush and his lovely wife Rita. Racial enlightment has never been a shining hallmark of the Imus show, from the verbal blackface of their Sambo caricatures of black celebrities to Sid Rosenberg's infamous dig at the Williams sisters to Imus's own use of the 'n' word, which he first denied, then admitted sheepishly, as if he had been caught making a naughty.* The white elitist media-fraternity racism of the show is matched only by its bullyboy hazing of women, particularly the unfortunate female broadcasters from Janice Dean to Contessa Brewer who have had to put up with the jeering innuendos of Imus's over-the-hill gang, of which he's the reigning Jack Elam.
But there's another reason Imus felt the white politicians and black preachers went over the line with Bush and Rita parked there, forced to listen. He has an affinity for bubble boy, because Imus is a bubble boy himself. In his studio, surrounded by his chortling crew, he acts unassailable, a cranky king refusing to bow and scrape to anyone, no matter how famous or powerful; complaining about minor annoyances like an old fart hunting for his lost liniment; threatening to go nuclear on some salesperson or WFAN exec who thwarts or offends him; bragging about his expensive vehicles or leased jets; telling people in advance not to talk to him or otherwise impose their petty presence in his field of vision. A lot of it is shtick, but a lot of it is not; he's a very coddled man who expects to be coddled, and crabs like a baby with diaper rash when he isn't.
Take him out of the bubble with no backup and he's just a upright piece of driftwood. When he goes on Russert or Larry King or Letterman, he's a curly muff of hair under a cowboy hat whose jaw is constantly chawing gum and who answers the softball question with a monotonous mumble heavily punctuated with monosyllabic "Well...'s" and "Ya knows...'s". In short, without Charles to play straight man and Bernie to be instigator, Imus has got nothing. He just shuffles the usual insults around (everyone he dislikes is some combination of fat/lying/weasel/pig), as the hosts hoot it up as if he were Mark Twain reincarnated. He has no real convictions, wavering back and forth on issues while spewing the conventional wisdom on politicians with special odium reserved for Bill Clinton, who has all the charisma working single that Imus lacks as he sucks dead air.
The most embarrassing thing is how supposed media hotshots cater to Imus in his bubble, damn near polish it for him. No one ever tells him even in a nice way that he doesn't know what the hell he's babbling about, instead they pretend to hear a more nuanced and intelligent question than the one he muttered. Or worse, they pretend to be one of the club and, like Tom Oliphant, talk about boosting Andrea Mitchell's book sales because she's a member of the club too.
http://www.jameswolcott.com/
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