Don Imus' friends in the media and politics have been rallying around him. Apparently, all the rest of us don't really know what a good guy he really is. See, if you're not in the punditry club, you might not get understand. Of course, if you're in the punditry club, you're most likely a straight, older white male who has never been the brunt of hate and bigotry. Pam Spaulding has the quintessential post explaining why Imus has to go:
This is why Imus has to go. There will be no self-policing. "You probably can't do it anymore." Jesus. I guess [Newsweek's Howard] Fineman means you can't do it on the air, but in the clubby band of journalists and media figures, this kind of racism and misogyny is still worth a belly laugh among friends. It sounds like neither [The Boston Globe's Tom] Oliphant or Fineman would call him out on this in private conversation. They'd chuckle and just say "oh, that's just the I-Man."Why indeed?
After all, they're not the target of the "nappy headed hos" comment, and I doubt there are any decisionmakers of color (or racially aware, non-POC) at MSNBC or CBS who would have telegraphed years ago to Imus that he couldn't continue years of making a living tossing off racist and sexist comments for a profit. This time he wasn't picking on media stars or politicians, he was slurring a women's basketball team. They aren't public political figures; Imus and his clowning colleagues were attacking black women with the worst stereotypes imaginable.
Why cater to the most base elements of society while at the same time offering a program up as a platform for legitimate political discussion?
