OK. Just what you wanted. Someone else to weigh in on the Don Imus firestorm.

Let me take a little different tack. After doing several TV shows about the week’s events and watching the very powerful edition yesterday of “Meet the Press,” I have come to the conclusion that this may be a watershed event when it comes to racism and sexism in American life. Or at least that is my hope.

I am hopeful that “shock jocks” will go the way of the dinosaurs. But, more important, I am hopeful that the personal, nasty, mean-spirited, vituperative “free speech” will no longer by thought of as particularly free. It costs us, all of us.

Don Imus has had a schtick -- a very successful one -- for many years. It has involved a combination of thoughtful, interesting interviews and crazy behavior. Read more...

Now that Don Imus has been fired, who else should be pink-slipped?

Here are my candidates:

Alberto Gonzales: I have lots of friends at the Justice Department, so this may seem hard. But it ain’t. Al has got to go. The days are counting down for this Administration, and for it to be able to get anything done with the limited time left, it needs to throw any excess baggage overboard. In other words, if you aren’t helping, you are hurting.

Nancy Pelosi: First Syria, next stop Iran? Let’s stop confusing the world, and leave diplomacy with the Executive Branch. Can you imagine if Newt decided to sit down with Milosevic while he was ethnic-cleansing the Balkans? Read more...

Over the weekend I saw a moving clip from Senator John McCain’s speech before the Virginia Military Institute. “Before I left for Iraq,” McCain noted, “I was watching with regret as the House of Representatives voted to deny our troops the support necessary to carry out their new mission. Democratic leaders smiled and cheered as the last votes were counted. What were they celebrating? Defeat? Surrender? In Iraq, only our enemies were cheering.” And yet, the Democratic leadership continues to put politics before substance by pressing on with a bill that limits the ability of commanders in the field to make tactical decisions while putting up an artificial timeline that tells the enemy how long it will take before we leave in defeat. Read more...

If, as we suspect, Rudy faces off with Fred Thompson in the Republican primary and Hillary takes on Obama in the Democratic contest, it'll important to see the primaries not as separate and distinct, but as one combined battle.

At least half the states, including California, allow independents to vote in either party's primary. With more people identifying as independents than as either Democrats or Republicans, their presence in the primaries is crucial. Read more...

Will somebody take away John McCain’s checkbook? His presidential candidacy is floundering, in part, because he is just spending too much money. The campaign expenditure reports are in and McCain is spending his money just as fast as he’s raising it. In the last quarter, he raised $12 million to Rudy’s $15 million. Sounds close, right? Read more...

Well, MSNBC has decided to terminate Don Imus's appearances on its network and not simulcast his CBS syndicated radio show. Many acknowledge that this obviously leaves CBS with no choice but to sever its ties with him as well. I am a firm believer that the marketplace should make these decisions and that we tread a slippery slope when people are fired for stupid, derisive and blatantly racist comments. What kind of country would we have if this sudden trend continues? I am a defender of free speech no matter how offensive and demeaning its expression. There's also no doubt that if Imus had been anything other than a Caucasian man, he would still be on the airwaves today and held as an icon in many circles. Obviously Imus will land quickly on his feet and will mature and become a better human being from this experience.
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OK, it is still recess and, for us reporters, that means a vacation away from members of Congress (they call it a district work period and they are working hard). So in the absence of the echo chamber, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s newfound support for cutting off funding for the Iraq war seemed like one of those passing remarks he is fond of. And later, as it was buried by the Don Imus brushfire, it began to feel like something I had dreamt and not actually read.

But Congress is set to return to town next week and Reid has indeed boldly moved himself outside the mainstream position of his party, a lonely place one cannot exactly return from with ease. He has aligned himself with Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and supports his legislation for an end to funds come March 31, 2008. Reportedly, Reid made this decision following an emotional visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, but I guess we should assume he has actually weighed this question over weeks, if not months. Read more...

Now that Don Imus’s radio and television shows are safely buried in the cemetery, his racist and sexist comments his epitaph, we need
to ponder the meaning of the entire affair for our body politic.

The ultimate effect of the episode is going to be far-reaching, permanent and profound. It makes a statement once and for all that ethnic and sexist humor is not admissible on the public airwaves. And it's about time!

Don Imus’s essential sin is that he makes racism, sexism and
ethnic hatred fun and entertaining. It is his very humor that makes
him more offensive and dangerous than the most vitriolic of demagogues.
Now all the shock jocks around the country are going to have to clean up
their acts. Read more...

We shouldn’t be surprised at what happened to Don Imus. It’s in the Bible. Hosea 8/7: “They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind.”

For decades, on the radio, Don Imus sowed the winds of insult, hatred and racism. And this week — after one ugly comment that shocked an entire nation — he finally reaped the whirlwind.

Good for NBC for getting his poison off the air. The only question is: Why’d it take them so long? The Rutgers basketball champions weren’t the first women, blacks or Jews he’d offended. Read more...