Many may have heard about the outrageous actions of Opie & Anthony, radio DJ’s on XM satellite radio. If you have not it can be summed up as the following: The DJ’s had a man (who I believe was homeless) on air and cajoled him as he commented on raping Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, First Lady Laura Bush, and the Queen of England. This was an explicative laden, graphic, tirade that the 2 DJ’s commented and laughed along with. Obviously they seem to find the rape of women funny.
Considering the recent uproar against Mr. Don Imus, Rev. Al Sharpton (for comments about the religion of Presidential hopeful Mr. Mitt Romney), and the rap hip-hop music genre for their insulting use of language, and disrespect of women, many are upset by this ‘comedy’ skit. While I find it vile and reprehensible, I cannot ask for their being fired. It’s not the same situation. Though it is sad that anyone would find humor on this subject, or would want to derive their income from promoting such commentary, I have to say that it is just my opinion.
I do not see any positive reason to encourage anyone to rape ANY woman, ever. I equally can’t imagine that the mothers of these 2 men are please with them. What a way to start the Mother’s Day weekend. I have to believe that both of these men are single, and likely to stay that way. But they should not be fired.
The fact is that they are not on public airwaves, they are dealing with public figures, and there is freedom of speech. The First Amendment allows for almost any comment, no matter how offensive. That is with the exception of directly causing or inciting harm against another individual. This is the reason that neo-nazi’s and klu klux klan members can have meeting. It’s also why you can’t scream fire in a crowded theater. As upsetting as it makes me, they have the right to say what they did; though it’s a close call.
The bigger reasons working for them are in part that all of the women are public figures. This is not an excuse for what was done. What it does mean is that they have venues and opportunities to respond in kind to these comments, if they chose to dignify them with a comment at all. There is no doubt that if any of these powerful and respected women chose to say something about this, it would be covered internationally in a second. There is no shortage of individuals and groups that will respond on their behalf and will have that covered as well. In a manner this is like Ms. Rosie O’Donnell picking a fight with Mr. Donald Trump, both took opportunities to respond publicly. Of course their spat never rose to the same level as this, but at points it was close.
But the most solid reason why they won’t be fired is because it was no a comment made to the public. Unlike Mr. Don Imus, this event happened on essentially closed airspace. Individuals subscribe to XM radio to receive this particular channel. There is full disclosure of how derogatory and perhaps insipid these 2 men can be. Only those who have paid for the satellite service, and chosen to listen to this channel out of the 100 available to them, are affected. That effectively makes it a conversation among willing participants. If a participant finds themselves in a conversation with a racist, or misogynist, or other individual I would call mentally deficient, you can just walk away. In this case perhaps that means changing the channel, turning the satellite radio off, or canceling your service (possibly with a letter addressed to the CEO of this publicly traded company). Some might even go so far as to sell their shares in the stock (the symbol being XMSR).
Though it’s given that Opie & Anthony can do what they did, and that they won’t be fired for it, there is something to consider. The women they have picked on are some of the most powerful in the world. I wouldn’t suggest either of these radio DJ’s go to England anytime in the near future. Britons are noted for their love of the Royal family. Picking on the wife of the President of the United States is hardly a smart career move. With a mere negative public comment the stock of XM radio could be cut in half in a second, and I guarantee they would be out the door immediately afterwards. [It can happen. I saw the President do this to several stocks when I was a stockbroker. It must be said that they were manipulated stocks, but the power to move the market instantly is unquestionable.] Secretary of State Rice is no less powerful and there isn’t a corporation in the world that would want to bring down her wrath or that of her office, just as many nations fear and respect her for the same reasons. I can’t say I’d be upset to see a backlash against these ‘men’.
This is what I think, what do you think?
No comments:
Post a Comment