Sid Rosenberg, the missing link

If you watched "Imus in the Morning" first thing on Monday, you may have heard Don Imus tell his regular sportscaster, WFAN's Chris Carlin, that he, Carlin, was off the hook because he was not on the air last week. So who was reading the sports at the moment that a story about the Rutgers women's basketball team came up on I-Man's show?

Would you believe Sid Rosenberg? 

Yes, Sid Rosenberg, the most repugnant and repulsive (to use two words in play this week) of the various repugnant and repulsive personalities who have graced the Imus morning zoo over the years. What he was doing back there — when he was supposedly banned for life from "Imus in the Morning" — is perhaps a question the I-Man himself should be asking.  For it seems, whenever "Imus in the Morning" has stirred up the most trouble, the cocaine-abusing, slur-spouting, misogynistic sportscaster has been smack in the middle of it.

Rosenberg has gotten himself suspended in the past for various on-air "jokes," like when he said the Williams sisters were better suited for the cover of National Geographic than Playboy. He has also called the U.S. women's soccer team a bunch of "juiced-up dykes" and joked that "faggots play tennis." And he was the one who uttered the line, being batted around a lot in the current Imus-on-fire coverage, that Palestinians were "stinking animals." I can't prove he was the one who called Patrick Ewing "the missing link." But why do I have the feeling he did? Either that or he was away — perhaps serving a suspension or going through rehab — and his fill-in, trying to out-id Sid, blurted it out.

In 2005, Rosenberg ventured outside the generous safe zone of even Don Imus. After singer Kylie Minogue was treated for cancer, he said, "She won't look so pretty when she's got a bald head with one titty." (Courtesy of Wikipedia, the audio.) For his punishment, he was banned — yes, banned — from ever appearing on the "Imus in the Morning" program again.

Or so we thought. After being fired by WFAN and spending nine months in unemployment, he was hired by a Miami sports talk station. And that was how — with the assistance of the I-Man's producers, who decided either that a life sentence meant he could be paroled or (more likely) that the public had a short memory — Sid Rosenberg was back on the program he was banned from last week, helping unintentionally slip the noose around Don Imus' neck.

For his part, Rosenberg said, "The more I look at Rutgers, they look exactly like the Toronto Raptors." And the more I watch the I-Man, the more he looks like toast.

Comments

[Daniel Roman]

What is this idiot doing on that show again? I am from NYC and this guy is a loser, no talent hack who should have never been allowed on ANY radio station again.

Why is it that pathetic losers like this guy keep getting rewarded? I feel sick.

[Scott]

Sid Rosenberg is hilarious. The only people who do not like him and Imus are people without a sense of humor. Imus and his crew insult everyone, no matter what color. By the way, Rosenberg was absolutely right in his comparison.

[Sally Sharp Paulsen]

The only people who don't like this vile jerk are people who wouldn't like what he said about Kylie Minogue, to be said about their own family members. Anyone who likes this human used-diaper, either wouldn't care if he made his disgusting comments about their family, or else they think it's funny until someone either insults them personally, or insults someone close to them.

[Judith Turchen]

Get that vile jerk and his pig cronies off of the air. He is an insult to all human beings.

[Mark Jeffries]

Let me put it this way--if Kylie Minogue was a classic rock, blues or country singer and not a frothy pop singer with a strong gay following, do you think Imus would've let Rosenberg sat what he said about her? Of course not.

[Joan]

It's a slippery slope when you start excoriating people about their words and attitudes. Yes of course Imus is a jerk and the other guy is a jerk. There are TONS of jerks in the world. The problem is that if we tell Imus he can't say something about the basketball players, then can we tell Jon Stewart he can't say something about Bush? Or put Colbert in jail for his speech to the press corps? Or Al Sharpton for saying something about a white police officer?

Where is the line? If we say that any "racist" speech is off limits, what about writers like Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou? Mark Twain? There are those who think it would be appropriate to go back and rewrite Huckelberry Finn to make it politically correct!!!! It's madness!

Free speech can be ugly. Thousands have died so that a-holes like Imus, and Stern and others can say whatever they please. If there had not been such a media frenzy about the stupid remark almost no one would know about it in the first place. Boycott his advertisers, stop listening, and then get on with your life.

So, go on with your daily business and the next time you say "Bush Sucks" listen closely for the approaching jackboots.

[Mike]

When I heard Imus say it last week, I knew he went to far. I think the suspension is correct, but now MSNBC is dropping him altogether. The outrage is ridiculous. For once I completely agree with Jason Whitlock in his well-written column. And where is the outrage at Star columnist Rhonda Chris Lokeman, who used the term "nappy-headed woman" in her column about Shauntay Henderson? And of course Snoop Dog is outraged today and used the term "ho" several times in his response about Imus.

[Electric Fringe]

So, Mr. Roman, Mr. Jeffries --

In the interests of free speech and humor and all that, is it okay if I call you a couple of spoiled, dumb-**s, white male chauvinist pigs who probably can't g** i* u*?

Hm. I didn't think so.

Use your noggins, guys. A disgusting, offensive, sexist, racist slur is a disgusting, offensive, sexist, racist slur. You don't get sent to jail for saying that kind of stuff, in this country. But your neighbors don't have to pay you to go around saying it over the airwaves, either.

[Mike]

Electric Fringe-- If a racist slur is a racist slur, then please tell us why we have to put up with being called "gringo" or "cracker", both racists terms? and yes, they are racist.

[Sisyphus]

This current Rutgers insult matter aside, why has anyone ever listened to Imus? He's not smart, analytical, incisive, clever, well-informed beyond the day's headlines and has virtually none of the life experiences that confer wisdom on a person. He has minimal formal education and was Sectioned 8 out of the Marines. His humor is 7th grade boys' locker room and the stooges who sit around him are morons of the same stripe.

How do these guys attain the level of popularity that they enjoy?
It speaks volumes of the radiio-listening public.

[Eddieb]

The Nation commented on this by saying: "If MSNBC won't show Imus the door, we might have to give him a hearty push".

What about what we should do to MSNBC; rather than to Imus ? They pay the racist, misogynistic toad ! No air-time or dosh ($$$) and what is he or they ? - Nothing but a nasty little wet stain on the bed-sheets. Plus MSNBC would get a proper pay-back for their support of him. They should be boycotted. Publicly, totally, utterly. Might cause them to stop and think the next time they feel the urge to employ and support pond-scum like Imus. Ultimately even the biggest corporations don't advertise on channels that have no viewers. Stick it to them !!!

[Elmo]

"Why is it that pathetic losers like this guy keep getting rewarded? I feel sick."

Because radio is a career of losers!

[Mark Roberts]

I don't think Imus has much of an impact outside New York or Washington, anyway. Since our major media are based in those cities, they inflate their own favorites out of proportion. It's a self-referential circle of people who tend to breathe each others' fumes. It's the same bunch who formed the base of the White House stenography corps, eagerly awaiting the daily talking points from the Republican Party; the same press corps whose members began to challenge George W. Bush only after it was obvious to everyone else that he was politically weakened. What is surprising was how the attack on Gwen Ifill several years ago was allowed to go unchallenged at the time. Perhaps that was because, at the time, she wasn't yet a full-fledged member of the New York-Washington media elite. Maybe she still isn't, but I suspect she's now got some clout from the NewsHour and Washington Week. And she's got more reach out here in the unknown wastelands than Don Imus. Aside from MSNBC, his morning creepfest isn't so widely available. I've been told that he's not on Los Angeles radio at all. In the San Francisco Bay Area, he's on 1440 KVON, "The Voice of Napa", which is a perfectly fine station but would not claim to be the voice of much of the area south of the Carquinez Strait.

Why do these guys stay on the air? Radio programming is a cynical business. If it makes pots of money, it gets air time. Rush Limbaugh's act often is defended by radio programmers who claim that "it's only entertainment". That's a cynical defense. I'm surprised it hasn't been trotted out to defend Imus, too. Perhaps his mistake is having become beloved of a class of individuals who feel they have to give lip service to the complaints. Limbaugh's fans wouldn't care. If it makes money, radio programmers don't care unless the heat becomes too much to endure.

[Mark Jeffries]

Excuse me, EF, but in no way am I defending Imus at all and I definitely was not defending Rosenberg. What I was trying to say was that if Bonnie Raitt or Koko Taylor--or Martina McBride, to give a recent example of an artist plugged by Imus on the air--was the singer involved, Rosenberg wouldn't have made the crack he made about Kylie Minogue because these singers do the kind of music Imus prefers (as anyone who has listened to the show in its current incarnation over the years has known) over the frothy dance-pop that Minogue has done for her entire singing career. That's all.

Maybe you should read these things more carefully before you go off making half-cocked charges.

[Clyde]

The Imus show is dull and boring. That's the last word as far as I'm concerned

[Mike]

So, are all of you opposed to Imus going to be making the same push on Al Sharpton, now that all charges against the Duke lacrosse players have been dropped? Probably not.

Why does a guy Sharpton get skate away after the Twana Brawley incident, or Jesse Jackson after his remark about "Heimey Town" years ago? Why aren't there protests at the record companies that sell hip-hop or any other music that uses the word "ho", "bitch" or talks about killing cops?

You guys that want Imus off but say nothing about the other are nothing but hypocrites.

At the time I'm writing this, the fundraising program that was already scheduled for Imus to host is on the radio. They are ahead of schedule. Target is about $3 million.

[BernieO]

So who was on Imus this morning? David Gregory and MIKE BARNICLE!!!! Apparently racism is out at NBC, but journalists who make up stories are completely acceptable.

[CB]

Now if we could just get rid of all the rightie talking heads (Rush, Anne, Hannity, Savage, Beck, O'Reilly & Fox News folks)that spread hate and disgust on a daily basis the air waves would be much better. It's way past time that they too be held accountable for the hate and lies they spread.

[Bobby]

I noticed that the only comment not made was anything at all derogatory about Jews.

That would be instant career death.

Why is everything else OK?

[Aaron]

Not sure there should be any outrage directed at Rhonda Lokeman for using the words "nappy-headed" as a cosmetic description. By that standard, the next time "I Wish" by Stevie Wonder came on the radio I'd have to stop singing along to it. Or better yet, boycott the station.

[John Sommers]

Imus has a following because he is not afraid to call our VeeP a "war crimminal," yet he also voices his contempt for Hillary and says he will never have her on his program. He is an outspoken, audacious maverick, who because of his intemperate remarks has attracted a large and unique audience which enables him to bring far more candor to the political scene than our mainstream media with their rehearsed and stilted dialogue. He has done far more good, than harm, by giving us a much needed perspective of American politics, regardless of one's political bent---not to mention his effective crusading in behalf of America's distressed and downtrodden. His insulting remarks regarding the Rutgers' ladies will have little lasting effect on them, or their race---but his gagging by NBC will be a severe setback for our country, unless, (like the Texas Chicks,) he can use this adversity as a springboard to prove his critics were wrong by refusing him redemption.

[John Sommers]

Imus has a following because he is not afraid to call our VeeP a "war crimminal," yet he also voices his contempt for Hillary and says he will never have her on his program. He is an outspoken, audacious maverick, who because of his intemperate remarks has attracted a large and unique audience which enables him to bring far more candor to the political scene than our mainstream media with their rehearsed and stilted dialogue. He has done far more good, than harm, by giving us a much needed perspective of American politics, regardless of one's political bent---not to mention his effective crusading in behalf of America's distressed and downtrodden. His insulting remarks regarding the Rutgers' ladies will have little lasting effect on them, or their race---but his gagging by NBC will be a severe setback for our country, unless, (like the Texas Chicks,) he can use this adversity as a springboard to prove his critics were wrong by refusing him redemption.

[Scott]

Imus has made comments about Jews as well... not instant career death... google Imus and Jew for examples...

[Mark Jeffries]

Dixie Chicks, not "Texas Chicks."

And not to defend Jackson, but you have to realize that decades of Jewish merchants price gouging and taking advantage of black consumers in their communities would lead to a certain amount of anti-Semitism in African-Americans. And it's simply disgusting behavior from *both* sides of the fence--notice I said *both.* (The ironic thing is that the stores that price gouge blacks in their communities these days are owned by Arabs and East Indians, the ethnic groups that the right loves to claim that the left mollycoddles.)

As the singing puppets of "Avenue Q" so wisely point out, "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist"--and that applies to both Imus and Jackson and Sharpton.

[mr.ed]

He's a disgrace to the rest of us Rosenbergs. He and his pals are dinosaurs who think they're doing comedy. That stuff, like drunk acts ain't funny no more, schmuck.