I believe he has a substantive point here. This is not news, exactly. We of the more intellectually progressive persuasion have seen and known about this for some time. That's correct. The difference now is that, as Mr. Blumenthal has suggested, the Democratic-controlled Congress is pulling the curtain back on these abuses and finding that there aren't just a few, but many, many abuses of the public trust, many, many contraventions of the law and the Constitution, and many, many examples of just plain incompetence, cynicism, and rampant stupidity. In short, more than the number of rats in that NYC Kentucky Fried Chicken that made news the other day. And what I note as interesting is that around the time of the 2006 elections, instead of trying to hide the shenanigans, the GOP began to implode under the strain. And it continues to do so. The worst of this is yet to come, but if I may wax hopeful here, the outcome of all this could be to raise the level of disgust with this kind of "politics" to the point that we simply will insist on a system that reflects our highest values. Not perfectly, to be sure, but hopefully more accurately. We could reach a place as a culture where we will tolerate nothing less. Rich also makes the point that these people need to punished and publically humiliated to set an example of what we won't allow in our political process. I agree with him. I've been calling for that for a while. These people are criminals and nothing less than criminal charges should be the standard for dealing with their actions. I personally believe that Bush and Cheney should be tried at the Hague for war crimes, convicted, and thrown into a French prison for the rest of their natural lives.

I meant in my previous post to give a shout out to "Rich Miles", not Myers. Rich, if you're reading this, my apologies for getting your screen name wrong.

Negatifzeo:

It would seem that you're with the crowd that thinks Don Imus should not have been so harshly treated for his crude (to put it mildly) remarks. I would say this; under ordinary circumstances, I would agree with you. I remember Imus from when I was a kid in NY back when he had a music show. I just listened to the music. There was not this toxic stew of what I now realize are STUPID people having a forum to vent their spleen in those days. And you would be correct in your assertion that Imus was just some crank who could be safely ignored if there were not so many more like him and WORSE on the dial. The larger issue to me at least is that the public airwaves don't seem to be about any sort of sane, reasonable debate anymore. In the last 20 or so years and particularly in the last decade or so, it's a race to the bottom to see who can be the most outrageous and offensive. Imus getting sacked by NBC and CBS is not about government telling you what you can and can't say. This is a function of a free-market policing itself and the public asking for something more...enlightened, perhaps. This is a good thing in my view.

teegeezfun:

You make an interesting point about the plight of black people. Let me suggest to you that most black folk have already moved on from this and gone back to what most of us are doing, getting an education, becoming empowered, caring for our families just like anybody else. For most black people, that is doubly important as it has been shown to be the only way to thrive in a society that still does not see us as fully human. Don Imus is but one obvious example, and FINALLY after YEARS of his tripe, something was done about him. As to your statement that urban black people are held back by their own psychological baggage, you have an arguable point. But the baggage you're referring to is, in no small measure, due to the legacy of slavery and racial domination in this country. The legacy of being systematically and legally dehumanized for centuries. One unfortunate reaction to that legacy is the sort of "thug" aspect of hip-hop/rap culture which uses the N-word, disrespects women, glorifies violence and excuses it. It's as misogynstic and wrong when 50 cent does it as it is when Imus does it. As HUMAN BEINGS, black or white or Hispanic, it's WRONG and we all should learn better and know better. The tone of your post seems to suggest that black people need to "get over it", and this is not a specifically BLACK problem. It's a HUMAN problem.

EnoMary

As a kid in NY, I had no perception of politics whatsoever, so Imus was nobody to me in those days. From what I've been reading here, Imus began his descent quite some while ago from being just a DJ to a sort of cranky, dissonant "voice" for the not quite right or left "common man". Which is why I'm sure sensible people like you tuned him out. As a black woman, nothing is going to protect you from hearing vile, offensive, racist stuff being shouted anywhere anymore than I as a black man am shielded from somebody hollering the N-word from his truck. We live with this indignity every day. But again, this isn't about free speech. It's about the airwaves being saturated with whack jobs spewing filth for public consumption. Sewer Grade Mind Candy. Finally people have had enough. God knows I sure have. Note how the air is somehow less stale now that Imus is unemployed.

Bless you for getting it and making my point for me. Now I know I'm not crazy.