Monocle Man On Imus & Hypocrits

WARNING: First off, anyone wearing a monocle today should be viewed with suspicion. This gentleman, who wishes to remain anonymous as is a blogger's wont, is not the kind of guy you'd invite to a party. If his 1,000 yard stare doesn't quickly put your shindig into an irreversible slide toward downersville, his jaded, dyspeptic personality soon will. So, dear reader, read his words with caution and a mojito, MVB's drink of choice, in hand.

• As a rule MVB shies away from most things not related to Miami and the Beaches but sometimes things outside our region have a way of touching us which makes it impossible as a blogger not to chime in. The Don Imus brouhaha is one of them. It also has a bearing on where we live. Imus announced he's tired of apologizing and I'm tired of watching everybody tripping over themselves trying to apologize for just about everything. If England is a nation of shopkeepers, we're becoming a nation of apologists. Well, at least some of us are.That said, Imus had to go. He was embarrassing. Not for apologizing but for what he said about the Rutger girls.
• Russell Simmons, founder of Def Jam and Robert and Sheila Johnson, founders of Black Entertainment Television (BET), made fortunes promoting negative black stereotypes and misogynistic rap videos. Shelia Johnson in a recent Imus related interview on CNN side-stepped answering questions about how they could have done it by saying it bothered her for years and, in fact, created a show to help teens choose their BET programs-- while still taking gobs of money for airing the denigrating rap videos. The Johnsons, now divorced, sold BET to Viacom in 2000. Debra A. Lee, a 20-year veteran at BET, is now in charge-- and has a lot of explaining to do too. Hopefully she won't give this lame excuse Simmons issued on Imus: "Hip-hop is a worldwide cultural phenomena that transcends race and doesn't engage in racial slurs. Don Imus' racially-motivated diatribe toward the Rutgers' women's basketball team was in no way connected to hip-hop culture." Right.