“Sorry, Al, the First Amendment makes no such distinction. Don Imus or anyone else in public life has as much right to make a fool of him/herself on the public airways as anyone else - including Al Roker. If rappers may talk about “nappy haired hos” and use the “N-word” without restriction on the public airways, so may Don Imus.”
Not exactly. Don has to answer to employee General Moters and Viacom and not a record label that knows what it is getting when it produces the album. Don has the right to say what he wants but risks getting canned when advertisers pull the plug. There is also the FCC rules. Big difference.
You don’t think CBS and MSNBC knew what they were getting?
And as far as I know, the FCC isn’t involved in this.
It might be wothwhile to read my post in its entirety. You, apparently, didn't make to the last paragraph of my post which read in full: "The fact of the matter is that if Al doesn't like what Imus says, he doesn't have to listen to him. And, if enough people decide that they don't like what Don Imus says, the market forces will take over and his network will respond accordingly. This is the magic and wonder of capitalism that leftists never have and never will understand. Roker is obviously over his head and out of his league on this one."
I would also submit that, within the context of Roker's argument, that going on the public airwaves is a privilege and not a right and he can't say that on the public airwaves in spite of the fact that Roker acknowledges his First Amendment rights to say what he wants. FCC rules have little to do with First Amendment rights. The FCC has previously ruled that obscene language such as the "F-bomb" may not be broadcast over public airwaves unless (in an updated ruling) it's use is part of a news story.
While many people don't like what Imus said and/or the context in which he made his statement, there was nothing in his comment that has been defined or upheld as obscene. IOW, the FCC is a non-player in this debate. Roker is simply trying to toss a red herring into the debate with the whole privilege nonsense. Broadcasters aren't privileged people, they are employees whose job provides them access to a microphone and/or a camera and a high power transmitter.