Dinner with Don Imus

Dinner with Don Imus

Don Imus

Back in the mid 90’s when my research firm Benchmark was doing a substantial amount of work with radio stations across the country; I had the occasion to have dinner with Don Imus and several others in New Orleans at a National Association of Broadcasters conference.

The Imus at the dinner table was not substantially different from the Imus one could hear on the air then, or now: wickedly funny, outrageous, completely politically incorrect (he managed to offend half of the people in the room), and with a substantial mean streak. As I suspected then that it eventually would, it was the mean streak that did Imus in. He was dumped last night by MSNBC and today by CBS Radio. His comments on the women of the Rutgers basketball team were so totally unnecessary and mean spirited that they transcended any mea culpas he either made or was instructed to make. The bad boy [sic] of radio had stuck his foot into the fire one last time, and got burned.

Not surprisingly, the radio industry is rallying around one of their own. That’s to be expected. Kind of a “there but for the grace of God go I” circling of the wagons. But from my seat as a consultant to the industry and a talk show host myself, the CBS brass made the only move available to them in these politically correct times. Imus has teetered on the edge of impropriety for years and gotten away with it time and again. But he bared his fangs for real last week: and the ugly side of the “I” man was exposed for all to see. And there was not getting past that, even for long-time fans Sumner Redstone and Les Moonves of CBS.

That being said, about how long do you think it will be before some other ratings-starved broadcaster will give Imus a new bully pulpit? My bet would be not long at all. After all, this is the free-enterprise zone of America. And if you’re looking for some kind of permanent healing or meaningful racial dialogue to come out of this: well, it’s just not going to happen. As long as young rappers can throw the “n” word around with impunity, call women “ho’s”, and generally act disgracefully, the myriad black commentators (Whoopi Goldberg included) who were so unanimous in the condemnation of Imus, had better clean up their own houses, lest they get sent to “Himeytown” (re: the reverend Jackson).

Did Imus deserve to fired: perhaps, but not, in my opinion, solely as an apologia to black America. He acted like an aging version of the acid-mouthed idiot he’s always been. His comments should have been offensive to everyone in his audience. Yet if we strictly use his remarks as a standard for termination, then there are about another 200-300 radio and TV, cable and Internet commentators, both black and white, whose jobs are about to become substantially less secure. (Is Ann Colter reading this?)

Personally, I would have liked to see the marketplace solve this problem. In broadcating, ratings are everything. If Imus insulted or offended enough of his listeners to the point where the used the most powerful tool in media, the off button, then his fate would have been sealed anyway. No orchestrated grass-roots campaigns against advertisers would have been necessary. Yes, Imus has his first-amendment rights. And the audience has the right to go away; which they may well have done. It would have been nice to see ALL the people given the opportunity to have a vote, for once.

Cannoli Joe’s

Is South Austin starved for restaurants? One look at the mob at newly opened Cannoli Joe’s last night On Highway 290 S would suggest the answer is yes. Bob Hauser’s concept is an all-you-can-eat Italian buffet. The buffet line winds around what management would like to have you imagine is a street in some Italian town. Weeknight price points are $12.99 for dinner and $8.99 for lunch. Weekend nights the price is $15.99.

We dined there last night and the food for the most part was not bad at all. It neither tasted nor looked like the standard buffet fare that one often sees. The Rigatoni Bolognese was fresh and tasty as was the Fusilli with sausage in a creamy tomato sauce. I liked the Sausage and Peppers as well: really nice texture and flavor. It was a bit chaotic and it is kid friendly: I almost stomped on a rambling four-year-old who was way below my eye level. But the servers were earnest and enthusiastic, if young. I’ll head back again on a weekend night and give you my complete impressions.