Bye, bye I-man

At least on MSNBC, Don Imus is history, as he should be.
Here is the statement from the poobahs at MSNBC.

"This decision comes as a result of an ongoing review process, which initially
included the announcement of a suspension. It also takes into account many
conversations with our own employees. What matters to us most is that the men
and women of NBC Universal have confidence in the values we have set for this
company. This is the only decision that makes that possible. Once again, we
apologize to the women of the Rutgers basketball team and to our viewers. We
deeply regret the pain this incident has caused."

Imus should be locked in a room with the players' parents and look them in the eye and explain why he thought such a rude comment was ... funny. In fact, the producer, Bernard McGuirk, started the entire conversation and he skates in all this. That man should be canned now and never darken a radio studio again.
Of course, there is the premise that such language and conversation passes for ... humor. One might want to joke about New Jersey and Tony Soprano and the Nets and Jimmy Hoffa, etc. But those were hard-working athletes who earned their shot at an NCAA title.
Besides, here's another question. Is Don Imus really funny? For someone who claims to host a comedy show, he jumps into politics all the time. Most of which is pathetic, not funny. Imus hasn't been funny since I reviewed his comedy album "10,000 Hamburgers to Go" in 1972 when I worte for the Michigan Daily at the University of Michigan. The man's been around for 4 decades!
But is he funny? No, he's too crotchity and old and wornout to be funny anymore. Perhaps this WILL signal that he is out of touch and needs to hit the sidelines. One employer has made that call.
Do I believe he is a hardcore racist? No. Is he insensitive to what words can do to others? Absolutely. Should he come to the realization that this is the time to exit stage left (or right)? Hopefully on his own.
Then again, I am not "entertained" by what passes for talk radio today and many things said on the air are equally as offensive, but off-handed dismissed as mere politics. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Neal Boortz, Mike Gallagher, Michael Savage, Mark Levin, Lars Larson and all those like-minded parrots are just as bad and hateful as anything Imus utters.
And it ain't entertainment, baby, unless you enjoy seeing ac hild pull the wings off a butterfly.