Letters to the Editor
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Excuses, excuses, excuses.
First, pointing the finger at someone and saying "but he's worse" is an infantile attempt to displace responsibility. Yes, Bush is terrible and the fact that he still has his job is a tragedy, but that doesn't mean that Imus shouldn't be held responsible for the things he has done, however comparatively minor. Should we stop convicting criminals of shoplifting or handing out speeding tickets because our president is a bigger criminal and far more reckless? Of course not. Should we stop ourselves from calling out Imus for being an asshole when Bush is a bigger asshole? No.
Second, it's true that self-righteous indignation over Imus' comments can be extremely off-putting. The fact is that many of us have said awful things, or tolerated assholes in bars for saying such things, and by sounding off at Imus some of us may be trying to dodge our own responsibility for our less than stellar actions or inactions (see point the first). However, we can both admit that we are not "holier than thou" and also point out that Imus was being an asshole and want him taken off the air for persistently being an asshole.
Third, it's not his radio show. It's his network's radio show. When Imus' sponsors voted with their dollars, he was out because he was costing his network money due to his assholery.
Forth, perhaps instead of getting defensive and telling us what should and should not be worthy of censure, Keillor should wonder why it's okay with him that you can hear such things said at any old bar. It's the height of clueless white male privilege to declare that your opinion and the opinion of those like you about the relative importance of the "nappy headed hos" comment is the only really important one. All the African Americans and all of the women who are implicated by those words? Just overreacting, I guess! It is also the height of clueless male privilege to think that, just because you're okay with Joe Schmoe's "severe" opinions about women, the rest of us ought to be as well.