John Cole is at his best in this commentary:

I swore to myself I was going to let this drop, but after hearing the statement “national dialogue about race” multiple times on Hardball and then again in the first few minutes of Countdown, I can’t restrain myself.

I know some of you are under the grand delusion that this is the greatest thing for civil rights and the African-American community since OJ was acquitted, but it really is no victory for anyone involved. For those of you who are too dim to figure this out, here is what happened:

A grumpy, surly, and flawed man, but not the total monster that some are now trying to make him out to be (he really didn’t shoot MLK, DU readers), who had a history of making borderline and overtly racist or sexist statements for dozens of years made another offensive statement that in past years would never have raised even an eyebrow. His only flaw this time was his target- a bunch of young women who really did not deserve to be smeared, and whom he has apologized repeatedly to and I believe honestly feels bad for insulting. Otherwise it was business as usual at Imus in the Morning.

The girls have been turned into victims, blowing the insult completely and totally out of proportion, and have been taught a hideous lesson- that being a victim is a good thing. My sisters, had they been called a ho by anyone, would have flipped them the bird and then gone back to work. Instead, we are regaled with tales that the girls have been scarred for life or their careers have been hampered. Lunacy, in other words.

Enter the professional race pimps. While unwilling and unable to apologize for their role in villainizing three young men for the past year as rapists and racists, Jackson and Sharpton ratcheted up the outrage machine, and applied enough economic pressure to get the man fired for his insults. And let’s pause for just a moment- which is worse? Which would you rather happen to your child- some jackass in poorly advvsed and disgusting banter casually calls your daughter a “nappy-headed ho,” or the entire mainstream media spends a year naming your son, villainizing him, calling him a rapist, and demanding that he be put in jail or worse. If you answer the former, Child Protective Services should come take your child away.

That doesn’t excuse Imus’s remarks, but what chafes me the most is the bullshit insincerity in this whole escapade. Everyone knew what they were getting with Imus- he delivered precisely what people paid for, and advertisers, pundits, authors, politicians were all fine with it. Hell, AL FUCKING SHARPTON was fine with it, because Imus is the one who, in large part, rehabilitated Al after he was found guilty for his far worse race-baiting and smearing in the Tawana Brawley episode. You all probably forget that- I don’t. Imus mainstreamed him, having him as a guest frequently.

Now that part about Sharpton, I did not know... The rest... Outstanding stuff.

I have to admit I have been conflicted over the whole thing. I felt he should have been fired the same day he said the shit, especially the jiggaboo thing. But having watched all the coverage and learning a bit more about Imus, I am not so sure.

As to Sharpton and Jackson... two attention "hos" who dont realize that they have no real relevance, other than what the mainstream media gives them in "appointing," them as "black leaders."

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