Now that MSNBC has pulled the plug on talkshow host Don Imus for his overtly bigoted remarks, will Newsweek yank away Howard Fineman’s editorship for his overtly bigoted logic?
Five days after Imus opened his mouth and let the ugliness inside show for the umpteenth time, Newsweek editor Howard Fineman appeared on Imus’ show, like all the other willing abettors who came before, and with a tone of a lecturing grade school teacher offered pearls of wisdom to the besieged casual racist and smiling misogynist. Fineman had this interesting observation:
The environment, politically, has changed. And some of the stuff that you used to do, you probably can’t do anymore…. You just can’t. Because the times have changed. I mean, just looking specifically at the African-American situation. I mean, hello, Barack Obama’s got twice the number of contributors as anybody else in the race…. And the kind of — some of the kind of humor that you used to do you can’t do anymore.
Note that Fineman doesn’t say you can’t get away with as much racism any more because people are more sensitive, more easily offended, more likely to complain, and so on. No. Fineman says you can’t get away with as much racism as before because people aren’t as racist. Why else would he bring up Obama’s contributors? People don’t give money to Barney Frank because they’re offended by homophobia. The only possible relevance of the money given to Obama is that a lot of white people are now capable of being so energized by a black man, they’re actually willing to give him some of their hard earned cash. God damn it, that makes life tough for poor, hardworking folks who like to spew racist filth every time they open their mouths. Even if they’re actually rich and paid to gab.
In other words, Fineman — not me — but Fineman is acknowledging that Don Imus’ ability to get away with this kind of stuff before depended on the fact that the social climate used to be more racist. This wouldn’t have been quite so bad if Fineman hadn’t preceded this observation with a ramble about the work Imus did in the past, saying things that range from kind to apologetic:
I would like to continue to enable you to do a lot of the good things you do. Including, you know, talking about stuff happening in the world, which you do a very good job of on this show.
You know, the form of humor that you do here is risky, and sometimes it runs off the rails. Most of the people who listen to this show get the joke most of the time, and sometimes, you know, as David Carr said in The New York Times this morning, sometimes you go over the line so far you can’t even see the line. And that’s what happened in this case. And I think of all the stuff you’ve done and do do, and, you know, you make your mistakes — we all make our mistakes.
Okay, boys and girls — let’s put together Fineman’s syllogism. An asterisk (*) denotes a step Fineman declined to state explicitly:
- Barack Obama is getting contributions from more people than anyone else.
- Therefore, people aren’t as racist as they used to be.
- Therefore, you can’t get away with racist remarks as easily as you could before.
- This explains why you’re getting in really bad trouble for the kind of thing you used to do routinely before.
- * Therefore, what you used to do routinely was racist.
- I like what you did before, and regard the bigoted parts as a pushing of the envelope that sometimes got out of hand.
- * Therefore, I, Fineman, condone racism — as long as you know when to stop before you get into trouble.
Is this passive racism, which accepts and appreciates prejudice for making life easier on the good old boys’ circuit even when one says nothing prejudiced oneself, the mentality that has allowed so many celebrities, politicians, and pundits to be a part of Imus’ “club” over the years?
Here is the relevant part of the exchange in full:
FINEMAN: I would like to continue to enable you to do a lot of the good things you do. Including, you know, talking about stuff happening in the world, which you do a very good job of on this show.You know, the form of humor that you do here is risky, and sometimes it runs off the rails. Most of the people who listen to this show get the joke most of the time, and sometimes, you know, as David Carr said in The New York Times this morning, sometimes you go over the line so far you can’t even see the line. And that’s what happened in this case. And I think of all the stuff you’ve done and do do, and, you know, you make your mistakes — we all make our mistakes. We all make mistakes. This was a big one. And I thought that the way you handled it just now — and I’m not blowing smoke here — I believe it, you know, was very heartfelt. And I know you well enough to know that that’s the case and you’re going to do everything you can to set it right.
You know, I don’t know what’ll happen. I think — you know, it’s a different time, Imus. You know, it’s different than it was even a few years ago, politically. I mean, we may, you know — and the environment, politically, has changed. And some of the stuff that you used to do, you probably can’t do anymore.
IMUS: No, you can’t. I mean –
FINEMAN: You just can’t. Because the times have changed. I mean, just looking specifically at the African-American situation. I mean, hello, Barack Obama’s got twice the number of contributors as anybody else in the race.
IMUS: Amen.
FINEMAN: I mean, you know, things have changed. And the kind of — some of the kind of humor that you used to do you can’t do anymore. And that’s just the way it is.
You can read the entire exchange or play the video here.
