The Sexism of Imus and Nifong
Built for Sacrifice
The thoughtless, sexist, unconstrained words of veteran broadcaster Don Imus and North Carolina prosecutor Mike Nifong produced two uncannily juxtaposed events during this monumental week in American history.
First, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper ended an unjustified, fraudulent rape case by exonerating and pronouncing innocent the wrongly accused Duke University lacrosse players. District Attorney Mike Nifong, whom AG Cooper painted as a “rogue prosecutor,” had violated just about every law, procedure, and ethical rule in his haste to convict, and thereby sacrifice, three innocent men — just to win reelection. Unchecked until late in the saga, Nifong began his misguided quest, before network TV cameras, by condemning the accused and predicting the future trial’s verdicts, and ended it by being caught concealing exculpatory evidence.
Second, MSNBC and CBS Radio fired Don Imus, one of the most influential broadcasters in history, from his morning TV/radio show, after he had referred to black members of the Rutgers University women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed hos.”
Wait. You’re confused already. You are wondering what sexist words Mr. Nifong uttered, aren’t you? That’s because you are a sexist. You forgot sexism’s definition: gender-based attitudes, conditions, and behaviors. You believe sexism pertains only to hurting and discriminating against women. As I pointed out in “Man-Hating DA Nifong Surrenders,” the rogue prosecutor thought nothing of sacrificing three male students — because he suffers from a disease that afflicts many Americans: misandry.
The Rutgers situation, albeit unacceptable, was, in reality, about invective and derived pain. Did Imus deserve to be fired? Probably. After all, he had made a career of constantly spewing racist, anti-Semitic, sexist garbage. But, at the end of the day, he is harmless — a nuisance on the airwaves whom one could have switched off. The understandably insulted basketball players, whose names I cannot recall, were bruised but not scarred for life — as some have claimed to be. Offended? Yes. Damaged? No. Potential employers never will find these women falsely associated with felony rape charges on Google.
On the other hand, the landmark Duke rape case — a total travesty, crime, and miscarriage of justice — permanently besmirched and almost destroyed three college men and their families. The estimated legal bill for each student is $1 million. After learning of the allegations, Duke University threw them under the bus and forced the lacrosse coach to resign. Students and faculty alike lynched them with libelous posters and ads in the university newspaper. The major media organizations and feminist bloggers, in a hysterical frenzy, ensured that every human on the planet would know their names and faces.
Judging by the overwhelming media coverage this week, America considers Don Imus’s verbal indiscretion and subsequent firing the primary news item. The day after the landmark Duke decision, my local paper, the San Jose Mercury News, used page six to summarize it. What was on the front page of that issue? The impending California drought. Now, what story do you suppose this same paper used to smother the front page today, given that CBS fired Imus yesterday? I needn’t answer that.
Even though the outcome of the Duke rape case was a precedent-setting legal decision — giving a ray of hope to all men who have been and will continue to be falsely accused of rape — Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, the self-appointed, self-annointed popes of the black community, were totally silent. As was Nancy Grace, who, early on, had convicted the Duke students on her CNN program. Where were all the national politicians? Nowhere to be found. In the American Gynocracy, misandry is policy.
It seems that the media complex will hover like angry hornets over any story, whether true or false, about a man wronging a woman. But, if a woman (teamed with a rogue prosecutor) harms a man — whether with her fists or with her lies — the reporters and their editors express a collective yawn.
Last week, a “shielded” woman accused three University of Minnesota football players of rape. The accused men spent a weekend in jail and were released without ever being charged. The university, automatically presuming guilt, suspended them. As in the Duke case, their names and photos became public property. Why? Because they allegedly committed crimes. Drive-by allegations against men have become acceptable. Nobody, including any reporter covering the story, cares if the rape charges are bogus, that men are destroyed. Why? In a misandric culture, men have no value and are disposable.
In 2006, when Mike Nifong was running for reelection as district attorney in Durham, North Carolina, most people in the town suspected that he had done something illegal in prosecuting the Duke students. He was an unknown prosecutor and likely to lose to his opponent, Freda Black. But, the Duke case give him instant celebrity, and the lynch-mob voters reelected him anyway. Why? Because most people fervently believe three things: 1) women who cry rape are always truthful; 2) men are built for sacrifice; 3) any politician running on a man-bad/woman-victim platform is honorable.
To illustrate the misandric disease, let’s examine the caustic words of Rachel Marsden, a regular guest on Fox News Channel’s Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld. She made shockingly insensitive and deeply disturbing comments on that show within hours of the exoneration of the accused Duke men:
“I just love how everybody is still talking like these guys’ lives are ruined. They put themselves up there as victims … by giving a press conference. They just go about their lives and say, ‘Glad that’s over; move on.’ How is the US ever going to win a war against anybody if its citizens are so delicate that allegations and name-calling can actually ruin their lives? What about these soldiers who are out there on the front lines, fighting a real war? These guys — they’re silver-spooners. They have trust funds coming out their ying-yangs. They’ll all be just fine.”
When you really think about it, Ms. Marsden’s diatribe is significantly more offensive and dangerous than what Don Imus said. Yet, there have been no mass-protests, as there weren’t when Mike Nifong publicly executed the three Duke athletes without a trial. Ironically, Marsden is known in her native Canada as an admitted stalker — she pleaded guilty to criminally harassing a former Vancouver radio host — and for bringing questionable rape charges that destroyed the career and life of a university president. She already knew she could make such a sexist statement about the Duke men with impunity.
The NoNonsense Bottom Line
When the story is man-bad/woman-victim, there isn’t enough ink or satellite time to cover it. But, if that same story suddenly shifts to, or begins as, woman-bad/man-victim, a leading newspaper buries it on page six, and people focus on American Idol.
Sexism affects men and women equally, but people don’t view it that way. As a result, men and fathers get the short end of the stick in reproduction, domestic violence, rape, marriage, divorce, child custody, child support, alimony, maternity fraud, and paternity fraud. Men are portrayed as morons and victims of “comedic” female violence on TV sitcoms and commercials. Without due process, men are publicly destroyed and thrown into jail like expendable pieces of meat.
I have one question: What kind of society have we become?
About the Author
Marc H. Rudov is an internationally recognized author of 45+ articles and the books Under the Clitoral Hood: How to Crank Her Engine Without Cash, Booze, or Jumper Cables™ (ISBN 9780974501727), and The Man’s No-Nonsense Guide to Women: How to Succeed in Romance on Planet Earth™ (ISBN 0974501719).
Rudov’s books, articles, blog, and podcasts are available at TheNoNonsenseMan.com.
Copyright © 2007 by Marc H. Rudov. All rights reserved.
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Stumble It!
April 13th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Our society/culture has become a racist, sexist, celebrity-worshipping, misandric, politically-correct cesspool without a Constitution, where free speech and treatment by government depends on race and especially gender, Our government is at war with fathers in a bid to take over the role of husband and father and grow the already totalitarian anti-male bureaucracy. Our judiciary is thoroughly corrupt, and our legislative branch is full of cowards to the right and Commies to the left. We are a neo-Marxist feminist totalitarian gynocracy, and most of us are too brainwashed by PC to even notice what a morally and financially bankrupt toilet we are leaving for our children to live in.
April 13th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
DCfather…well said my man..thank god for mensnews daily where like minds can meet..
April 14th, 2007 at 11:10 am
We have become this kind of society (quoting you Marc), one where:
“1) women who cry rape are always truthful; 2) men are built for sacrifice; 3) any politician running on a man-bad/woman-victim platform is honorable.”
In otherwords, an overly feminised society. Unrelenting feminism dominating this culture for 40+ years have brought us to where we are at today. Oprah, The View, Lifetime Network have female viewers in the 10s of millions. Add Katie Couric, Paula Zahn, and as you already noted Nancy Grace, who all bring female chauvinism to their positions of influence and “news” reporting. Add The millions of female viewers emote and buy what these charlatans are selling.
One day it may even be illegal to hurt another persons feelings. Considering the power that the VAWA gives all women over all men we are halfway there.
All men ought to be grateful that these “silver spooners” where able to beat this rogue DA. Female bloggers and others want to redefine this as an issue of social class when it is an issue of widespread cultural misandry. Afterall, how many innocent men of far less means were simply put away in prision because they could not afford to defend themselves against a system and culture so heavily biased against them simply because they are men. We should all be grateful these siver spooners exposed this for all to see no matter how hard angry women want to deflect this fact and try and divide and conquer men along lines of social class and wealth.
We have become such an overly feminised society for so long that the threats and influence from it against men have become deeply embedded into our legal and “justice” system, our legislative system, our education system, the media, our employment, all the way down to weakening a man’s relationships with family, friends, and even weakening his position for fairness and justice with complete strangers if they happen to be women.
It is undeniably an Orwellian place for males and they had better damn well wake up and make their voices heard loud and clear before things reach a point of no return.
April 14th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Now (http://now.org/) for those whose mastery of the gag reflex is not as strong as mine – is too busy fisting in the air over it’s ‘victory’ in defeating ‘racism and sexism’ by getting Don Imus fired to be ‘distracted’ by the fiasco of the duke case.
It seems that IRONY is really and truly lost on N.O.W. and it’s supporters!