His comment seems so obviously meant as a joke, and it's so similar to speech heard across this country every day, I don't get where all these people come from who are shocked, shocked, SHOCKED. And I say this even though friends I know and respect are among the offened.

First clarification: the majority engaging in an activity does not make it right. Segregation was never okay. National Socialism was never acceptable. But the widespread use of street language by people in every facet of society (usually lightheartedly) is recognized as a playful, non-aggressive act.

Second clarification: I think the anger is generated by Imus and not by what he said. He's been disliked for quite awhile. It would take a Hannity or O'Reilly to beat him in this category. Had Rosie O'Donnell screamed it on The View three times an episode for a week, she'd probably still be able to sign a multi-million dollar deal for her own syndicated show. It's about the man, not the words.

Couldn't have been one of the most comfortable for you. You were tag-teamed, no doubt about it.

But a word of advice. You shouldn't have let them portray you as a defender of hiphop misogyny. Yeah, the "rap is just as bad if not worse thing" is a dodge of the right-wing and has been for years. It's not surprising that Scarborough would go there.

Ah, but the other half of the tag team? What were John Ridley's motives? I don't know this guy, never saw him before this week. But here is what I think.

First, let me digress a moment to Jesse Jackson. As soon as I saw his newspaper column on Tuesday, I knew where he was going. He was going to use the Imus thing as an opportunity to get some African-Americans on MSNBC. And I don't see anything wrong with that. He saw an opportunity to advance his cause and he's taking it. As a liberal and an MSNBC listener, I was ashamed to realize that until Jesse said it, it hadn't occurred to me that there were no blacks of any significance as hosts or even regular guests on MSNBC.

So, back to Ridley. As I said, I know nothing of the man. He may be an opportunist just trying to grub corporate bucks and say whatever is necessary to do so. But maybe he's a sincere opponent of misogynistic rap and sees here an opportunity, in the wake of Imus, to pursue a long-held goal that there wasn't the opportunity for before - to campaign publicly against it - as Jackson did. It seems to me we'll soon find out. Ridley seems to be under consideration as at least a regular guest on MSNBC, if not a host. What are they going to do with Imus' timeslot?

If it's the latter, and there is going to be in the wake of Imus, such a campaign from within the African-American community, then, Joan, you, as an opponent of the filth too, should be supporting it, and not just treating it as JUST a dodge to defend Imus. It's possible that it's both things, from different people.

Slippery ground indeed.

Please - the U.S. Constitution is a limit on government power. It states what the government can and cannot do. It does not apply to private actors. And while the airwaves are "public" it was not the government that removed Imus from a TV station. It was the private owners of the station. No violation of the First Amendment Right to Free Speech occured. You can disagree with the suits that run the station, but that does not make them the government.

Imus is racist, sexist and homophobic. So is much of rap music. So is much of popular culture. Doesn't make it acceptable. Imus can take his speech elsewhere; he has not been silenced. And I watched many of the discussions on cable concerning this, and saw many African-Americans state that rap music is guilty of the same misogyny that drove Imus, not to mention the same racism and homophobia. Blacks have also expressed concern over Imus before this latest incident, but nobody listened until now. Some in the Black commnity have been expressing concern over rap culture for quite some time.

Hopefully this issue will not fade away soon - at least not before the hatred that pervades the airwaves is exposed - all the hatred, regardless of the source and the political affiliation - Rush, Beck, Coulter, Malkin, the idiots at Fox Noise - whereever and whoever. Let's clear the air and see if there is some way to convince people that ideas can be discussed without the hatred and name calling, that women deserve respect, that racism needs to be exposed and discussed openly, that African Americans, and other minorities, deserve respect, that all of us are subject to criticism for our ideas and actions, but none deserve hatred and respect. Let's at least try.

I meant none deserve disrespect, but you knew that.

And let me say after witnessing this Imus fiasco, it's a darn good thing that whitey was not the minority in this country in the first couple hundred years and absorbed the abuse that blacks took. With the whining and crying that many whites are doing about this, God knows what they would have done back then as the oppressed. Or the sensitivity chip they would have on their shoulder about it today, probably the size of a boulder.

Yes, there is a double standard. A movie about white people not being able to jump is okay. A movie called black people can't whatever is not okay. Black rappers can say things that white media personalities with a public microphone cannot say.

As the majority in this country, and considering the sorry history in this country of the majority stomping on the minority, it seems that we could be big enough and secure enough to accept this double standard. It's a pretty small price to pay for the past. And it seems to be the only price.

But no. It's gotta be god-damn kindergarten with these conservatives--"So and So does it too. Make them stop too."