Whom Shall We Follow?

Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald makes some good points in writing about the Imus controversy. He points out that Imus has for many years been tearing down people with his humor, yet that has not stopped a long parade of luminaries from appearing regularly on his show. The list includes John McCain, John Kerry, Tom Brokaw, Joseph Biden, Chris Matthews, and Tim Russert. To quote Pitts directly,

Don Imus ought to be ashamed of himself, but no more so than Kerry, Matthews, Brokaw, Biden and anybody else who lacked the wit to understand that the willingness to offend in and of itself represents neither courage nor authenticity. The question is, what are you offending for? If you are pushing boundaries, what are you pushing them toward?

It is painfully clear that Imus was pushing toward nothing, unless you count the gratification of his own ego and misanthropy.

What's sad isn't that he was willing to lead in that direction. What's sad is that so many of us were willing to follow.

So, if we are going to be followers, whom shall we follow? George Will writes in the Washington Post about a man whose courage, determination, and class still stand out sixty years after he became the first black man to be allowed to play baseball in the major leagues. Will points out that

Robinson changed sensibilities, which led to changed laws, which in turn accelerated changes in sensibilities.

Jack Roosevelt Robinson's middle name was homage to the president who said "speak softly and carry a big stick." Robinson's deeds spoke loudly. His stick weighed 34 ounces, which was enough.