As far as the question of the justness of canning his tv show goes, I agree that pointing out that various black rappers also use some of the same language is besides the point. The "they did it first" defense is irritating and disingenuous, but I don't find it nearly as irritating as the he's-basically-a-good-guy-who-erred routine, and that he needs to be measured by his "internal goodness."

It exasperates me to no end when social conservatives offer this argument, about "what's in their heart." I don't presume to judge Imus's heart when I concur that he deserves to have his tv show stripped from him. I presume to judge his behavior, and the fact that the Rutgers team incident was just one in a long line of supposed flubs with racist overtones doesn't speak well for him. I'll still allow that he may well be a heck of a guy in many other respects-- I have no problem with that, and I'm not saying that to seem reasonable-- I understand people are complex.

(As far as his right to speech goes, 1. He still has his bread and butter, his radio show, and 2.where were Imus's defenders when Phil Donahue was canned, also from MSNBC, on the eve of the current war?)

It occurs to me the bottom-line regarding Imus's tv gig is not his character, nor his contriteness, nor his right to speech. Consider: If he was just some guy working in an organization and numerous co-workers came forth, documenting numerous incidents like the ones Imus has offered forth on the airwaves, uttered before said coworkers (or say, before coworkers and customers), he would have been fired forthwith. Can you imagine a cashier at Wal-mart keeping her job if she was conclusively documented describing some customers as "nappy-headed hos" to a customer as the young ladies were walking in or out the store, even if they were out of earshot?

Broadsheet?

The Duke students were cleared today of all charges. The Attorney General says they were innocent.

Here is how Broadsheet characterizes that:

Duke players cleared

All remaining charges in the notoriously botched case have been dropped.

Ms. Walsh, is their headline a fair statement of today's events? Does botch tell you that the students were declared to be innocent? Or does botch tell you that the students are guilty and would be in prison except for the incompetence of the DA?

botch (bŏch) pronunciation

tr.v., botched, botch·ing, botch·es.

1. To ruin through clumsiness.

2. To make or perform clumsily; bungle.

3. To repair or mend clumsily.

Be honest Ms. Walsh, is the headline at Broadsheet accurate? Or is it a sexist and bigoted smear?

If it's the latter, just what is the difference between Broadsheet and some tabloid smear merchant yellow journalist rag, or a disgusting bigoted shock jock like Imus?

Hey White People!

You gotta problem with rap music? How about you stop your white teens from buying it! They are the number one consumers of rap music after all.

And after years of protests and calls for action, etc. from leaders (including Sharpton and Jackson) and organizations within the black community against the offensive lyrics in rap music, maybe it's time for a different approach. Maybe it's time white people protest it by not buying it?

I haven't bought a rap album in years because of the offensive lyrics. A lot of black people I know haven't and the rap industry is suffering financially. Why do you think rap artists are starting clothing lines and vodka brands and acting in films? Because they people aren't buying their crap anymore.

It's funny that an old, rich white man can insult a bunch of black girls and it's still ends up being our fault!! Yes, me and my sisters somehow brought this on ourselves.

P.S. Gordon - about that 19:1 black on white murder rate statistic? That's bullshit. Murder, like America's churches, is segregated. White people kill white people and black people kill black people. So when you see my brother walking down the street - 6-feet-tall and black - please don't shoot him and claim self-defense.

According to one widely disputed statistic, 70 percent of sales of rap music belong to whites. However, because if issues with how that statistic was obtained, it is probably closer to 50-60 percent. ( http://poplicks.com/2005/06/who-buys-hip-hop.html )

Let's do some math -- 50 Cent's Massacre album sells 4 million copies in its first weeks of release. Assuming the CD costs 15.00, that is 60 million dollars in sales. Let's assume that 70 percent are white sales -- that still leaves at least 18 million dollars being forked over by non-whites. Now I may be showing my middle class bias here but.... even if whites were to stop buying rap, that would still leave 18 million dollars for just one album. To me, that is still a heckuva lot of money!

For the record, I do not buy nor would I allow my children to buy any of that trash.

...that what goes around, comes around. And it sure came around for him this time.

When the Dixie Chicks offended Bush supporters, conservatives tried to destroy their careers, gleefully saying that along with free speech came responsibility. Now I hear conservatives saying that Imus shouldn't have to accept responsibility for his free speech.

It won't hurt him anyway: he will be banished to outer space and end up on Sirius. They can have him.

If CBS pulls Imus off the air, what about his 3.5 million listeners? For that matter, what about the people who enjoyed watching him on MSNBC and now can't? Who speaks for them??

I listened to Imus in mid '95 when I first started commuting a fair distance to work early in the morning. I preferred him to Howard Stern because I thought he was funnier, if profane. But after a while I was ground down by the sheer misanthropy of the man. So I stopped listening. But there are millions of people in this country who DO listen. And if he is pulled off the air their access to his speech will have been curtailed by what seems to me to be something very much like prior restraint, and that's illegal.