IMUS

I don't watch Imus or listen to him although I have infrequently in the past. I switched over to NPR years ago, mainly because I don't want to listen to someone screaming at me in the morning and I just got too impatient with commercials. Lately, I've even stepped away from NPR, at least in real time. I podcast the programs I want to hear – none of which are "news" shows – and read newspapers on line and in several papers and weekly magazines for my news. But I've been following the latest faux paus by someone motivated by ratings, distanced from reality by a huge salary and plenty of yes-men staff, stretching for the laugh way past what he might say in his real life.

Imus is rude and crude – not Howard Stern crude, but certainly not Ms. Manners on the radio. Apparently, millions of people find this interesting. Not me. But he seems to have done some good things with his life – most notably, the camp he funds for children who've experienced misfortune. That, too, is not without controversy. And he does try to poke a little hole in the hot air windbags that appear on his show. Amusing? Not to me. But the insults are his shtick, not unlike Don Riddle from years gone by. What he said about the women of Rutgers basketball team is inexcusable, but not the worst thing said on the radio. I endorse his suspension. Certainly his remarks were insensitive and smacked of a racial slur. But many of those protesting are living in glass houses. The Reverend Al Sharpton may have forgotten the Tawana Brawley affair as I'm sure he'd like the rest of us to – an example of someone who clearly misspoke while trying to entertain his audience.

The point I may not be making too well is that we all have said some really stupid things we wish we could take back – things we might not even believe. Imus has the added misfortune of saying it in front of millions. He is clearly remorseful and he will endure a two week suspension. If we are going to police the air waves, let's not stop with him. Let's look at Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, et. al. Let's make the airwaves more civil and take them all off indefinitely.