The most talked about news of the week has been that Don Imus was fired for racially insensitive remarks. Imus had a history of racism, sexism and just downright nastiness that stretched back for years.
His ouster reminds us that perhaps it’s time for a bit more spring cleaning. There are other public figures who should also get the boot for past and present deeds.
Huffington Post offered a few names, and I’d like to add some to the list.
Bill O’Reilly: This guy offends every night, and his flagship show at the Faux News channel has got to go. Besides his repeatedly racist rhetoric, he shouts down his guests and turns off their mics when they disagree with him, and he cannot debate them on a fair footing. This is not the news. What was the CBC thinking?
Rush Limbaugh: Rush told his listeners this week that they are coming for him next. And he is right to be worried. It’s only a matter of time before he maligns Black quarterbacks or insults everyone as he did when Survivor tried to play the race card.
Howard Stern: Stern may be safe for a while on the realm of satellite radio, but his sexist and racist rants are well known. What about his Aunt Jemima fantasy?
Paul Wolfowitz: This NeoCon poster boy is currently in hot water for helping his love interest get a raise at the World Bank. But he should be indicted, tried and convicted for his role in starting the Iraq War back when he was Deputy Secretary of Defense.
Alberto Gonzales: A recent poll says most Americans agree that “Gonzo” should resign for overseeing the politically motivated firings of several US prosecutors. But what about his history as the chief architect of US torture policy and facilitating war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Karl Rove: Bush’s Brain is always up to something. You know it. I know it. Congress knows it. The problem is he has an uncanny knack at legally covering his tracks. So now that four years Rove emails have come up missing, we have to wonder just what else this sinister villian has to hide?
Dick Cheney: We all know that Evil Dick is the mastermind behind much of the Bush administration’s misguided policies. From the Plame/Wilson affair to falsifying evidence to promote the invasion and occupation of Iraq, from his energy task force to shooting his buddy in the face, why can’t we find a reason to indict this guy? I still want to know about the live fly war games on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001… Impeach Dick Cheney NOW!!
George W. Bush: If there we are to maintain any faith in the rule of law and the US Constitution, the US House of Representatives has got to begin investigating President George Bush for impeachable offenses. He has admitted to breaking federal law by spying on US citizens. He has overstepped his authority by issuing hundreds of signing statements. By signing the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and Public Law 109-364 (or as I like to call it “The Martial Law Act of 2006”) Bush has turned the office of the president into a defacto dictatorship.
Bush lied us into an illegal and immoral imperial invasion and occupation of Iraq, and his policies have caused the deaths of nearly 700,000 Iraqi civilians, far more than 3000 US soldiers and the wounding and maiming of tens of thousands of people. Now his determination to escalate the occupation in spite of the advice of leading generals, his own bipartisan Iraqi Study Group, Congressional and public protest, and basic common sense demonstrate not incompetence, but a desire to bog the US military down in an imperial conflict that will only lead to more deaths and continued looting of the US treasury. He must be stopped. We can’t wait another year. Impeach Bush NOW!
Nadir: I’m sure I’ll offend someone again soon. Probably at my show tonight. Maybe during this post. In my own defense, however, I have resigned from that blog where I used to argue and cuss at right-wing pundits, and I apologized for using racially descriptive language on LastChocolateCity.com. That’s gotta be worth something, right?