How was Rush not fired for the "magic negro" song?

[Baikonour]

Imus went on the radio and said "nappy headed hoes." It was a stupid, unfunny and insensitive comment and he was fired while at the same time facing the MSM like a firing squad.

Meanwhile, Rush goes on the air and plays the now infamous "Barack the Magic Negro" song and nary a peep from the FCC or Premiere Radio Network.

Someone please explain this to me, because it boggles the mind.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. For the same reason he wasn't fired for all his other racist comments.

http://newsone.blackplanet.com/elections/top-10-racist-limbaugh-quotes/

A signficant portion of the country is racist. They want to listen to racism. And they'll buy the products advertised on racist radio. Thus, Rush doesn't get fired.

[Ocracoker16]

5. Exactly- this is not his first racist comment and it won't be the last

[Baikonour]

7. But something tells me that Imus' audience didn't care about the nappy headed hoes comment.

I'm not defending Imus, just wondering why the media and CBS quickly eradicated Imus, while they let Rush get away with hate speech on a daily basis.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. Enough of them cared to boycott his advertisers.

[dem629]

9. I was a casual listener and didn't care.

I'm not in favor of silencing speech of any kind. It's better to meet speech with more speech.

[norepubsin08]

16. Money

It all boils down to fucking money...Rush has a lot of sponsors and makes a huge amount of money for his employers.

[blueclown]

2. Because WFAN has standards... WABC and his other major affliaties don't

Look at the dreck that WABC has on their station everyday.

[ReliantJ]

3. They know what they get with him.

Maybe the FCC has him listed as a comedian rather than political commentator.

[vaberella]

4. Every day is a nice day for racism...there should be a song for that alone.

:sarcasm:

[BuyingThyme]

6. Racist talk-show hosts don't get fired for doing racist talk shows.

[Occam Bandage]

10. Because right-wing talk radio listeners like bigotry.

Their advertisers know that when they advertise with Rush, they're linking their product to ugly, angry bigotry, and they're fine with that, because ugly, angry bigots spend money like anyone else.

Imus, on the other hand, has a broader audience with broader advertisers: advertisers who did not enjoy being linked with ugly racism.

[Baikonour]

12. Do you know if there's a list of Rush's sponsors?

I'd love to see who advertise on his show.

[depakid]

11. Because there's no media accountability in America

Stations' licenses are summarily renewed without any review of their behavior (and whether it serves the public interest of its community).

[MattBaggins]

13. Was it just me or has anyone else noticed back during Katrina

Rush would intentionally mispronounce Mayor Ray Nagin's name switching th elast n for an r. I have not heard that he was called out on it but I swear I heard him slur it to say Ray Nayger.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

14. Because if anybody crosses him he'll send Bobba Fett after them and freeze them in carbonite.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

18. DUzy!

That's some series photoshoppin'! SERIESLY!!11!!

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

21. I found it on Google images. It's pretty good ain't it. nt

[Earth Bound Misfit]

29. Pure GOLD!! n/t

[Seeking Serenity]

15. DH explained it this way. I'll leave it up to the reader as to whether they buy it.

Imus' comment was more crude and personally attacking than Limbaugh's, and he was applying it to otherwise private citizens (the Rutgers women's basketball team), who had not purposefully injected themselves into public life.

Obama, naturally, had so injected himself. And, apparently, the concept of "Obama, the Magic Negro" didn't originate with Limbaugh. As I understand it, that phrase originated from a newspaper opinion piece in 2007.

I googled the phrase "Magic Negro," and came up with this hit (right after the wikipedia entry):

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-ehrenstein19mar19,0,5335087.story?coll=la-opinion-center

As DH explained it, it sounded plausible at the time. YMMV.

[cynatnite]

17. $$$$$....

That's why. He brings in a substantial amount of listeners. There is nothing he could say that would get him fired.

[Marr]

19. Remember when Howard Stern was abruptly fired the day after he started

criticizing Bush and the Iraq invasion? The man had incredibly high ratings, and they dropped him the instant he started questioning the big lie.

Limbaugh's immunity isn't about ratings or advertising dollars. He'll never be fired because he promotes corporate America's interests. He sells their big lie. If he had abysmal ratings, he'd still be syndicated everywhere. The Rush Limbaugh show is one long corporate commercial-- not just the actual ad spots, Limbaugh's segments as well.

[KharmaTrain]

20. Cause He Didn't Write It...

The real reason is Rushbo is a franchise for Premier Radio Network and Cheap Channel. He's a nameplate...one of the few...that brings in meager revenues. Firing him would cost these goons millions and that's all that matters. Not just the lost revenues, but that they signed this fat fuck to a contract and, to use the sports metaphor, would rather play him than bench him.

Not that Rushbo was in any trouble...his "bosses" are as intimidated by him as repugnicans. The explanation I heard was that the song was written by a "contributor" to his swillfest...that Rush neither wrote the words nor performed on the bits and thus his only "sin" was not previewing it before he aired it.

Also, there still is a thing in this country called free speech. While the "N" word is as taboo as any word in the modern lexicon, it's still very legal to use an say.

[spanone]

22. same reason he didn't go to jail....money talks

[maxrandb]

23. Because he's valuable to the Repub Party

and Corporate America, AS LONG AS HE STAYS ON THE SIDELINES AND THROWS BOMBS

Once he's exposed...not so much!

[Winterblues]

24. Nappy headed ho's is considerbly more offensive than calling someone a Negro.

Negro is still basically an accepted term, but you can't call college girls "Ho's" That is repulsive.

[leftofthedial]

25. he's a bigot working for bigots

they don't care about African Americans or what they think.

[npk]

26. Because what Rush did was a "Parody."

Imus wasn't parodying anything. Imus just blurted out a very crude and insensitive remark over the airwaves. What Rush did was take a story from the LA Times and turn it into a stupid, unfunny parody. Parodies often go unchallenged, even when they are offensive, because of the artistic quality and freedom that is associated with it.

[Seeking Serenity]

28. And, as I understand it, the target of the parody was Al Sharpton, not Barack Obama.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[progressivebydesign]

27. So Rush's "I da Ho" joke about black women was also overlooked? Yep???

He's a pig, but he control the republican party. He know looks like Truman Capote and Aunt Bea had a love child... ew.