IMUS THINKING IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME

I have reserved comment on the unfortunate (continuing) saga of Mr. Don Imus, cultural icon, and radio, if not TV star / personality. Imus, speaking from his "Imus in the morning" pulpit, was quoted as calling the women athletes on the Rutgers basketball team, "nappy headed ho's", among other things.

Was I surprised to hear the latest hate filled comments from Mr. Imus? No, he had always pushed the envelope on his radio and TV simulcast show. And gotten away with it with nary a reprimand from his employer. And, as in most matters of this nature, it got progressively worse. On Imus, no subject was taboo. Sex, politics, religion, celebrities, whatever was in the forefront of the news was fodder for the Imus teams comedic stylings.

Am I shocked at the comment? No. Am I shocked at the moral outrage from virtually the entire population? No, of course not. Imus was chastised from all sections of the populous, especially from black leaders such as the Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson, and rightfully so. The public outcry, the public debate and discourse over the Rutgers basketball team was louder than the public discourse that certainly should have developed over the treatment (or more correctly, lack of treatment and or help) the victims (largely African American) of the devastating disaster which was Hurricane Katrina, which killed many, and displaced thousands of middle class minority citizens. Am I shocked? No.

What shocked me was the silence from the broadcasting network, who merely suspended the simulcast TV portion of his show. Was that penance enough? Obviously the broadcasting company waited to measure the nations outcries. Well, today, the hammer came down on the "Imus in the morning" show, both TV and radio.

The shocking part was Imus was not fired for saying the hate filled racist comments towards collegiate athletes who had done nothing, absolutely nothing to deserve this. No, Imus was fired for one reason, and one reason alone.....

Imus lost his sponsors.

No sponsors, no money, no Imus in the morning.

It is as clear as black and white.

And again, no, I am not shocked at that either.

Imus, who did apologize profusely, did what Michael Richards did after his racial incident, he pointed towards the amount of charity work he had done, and the number of black friends and associates he had. Pathetic. How either of these nimrods could have possibly thought their comments were acceptable, let alone funny or amusing completely escapes me.

Don Imus, Michael Richards and Mel Gibson, three classic examples of how this country; a country who couldn't even pass a civil rights bill until 1964, is not only populated, but having its politics, religion and its entertainment shaped to a small extent by moronic bigots, operating publicly through a cloak of secrecy. However, the truth always, always comes out eventually. Bye Don, your 15 minutes are up.