If you terminate him then to be fair half the talk show types, including biggies like Limbaugh and Hannity, should go too. Imus is the fall guy at the moment, but they are all equally foul. They all get off on bad-mouthing, baiting, and general nastiness, clothed in "protected free speech." The thinking public doesn't listen to them, anyway. They are on because it pays - so tell the advertisers you have had enough.

I cringe to think about all the foul-mouthed lyrics being broadcast daily on popular radio stations; any comments Imus made do not hold a candle to the sexist, racist, and extremist lyrics in today's tripe that passes for music these days. Leave the guy alone, he is entitled to his opinions just like the rest of us 'working class' types.

What's that I smell - a faint whiff of hypocrisy? So Imus is crude and rude, I can't justify the comment - it was beyond the pale, but doesn't he get a chance at atonement? (after all he's had at a lifetime of unselfish public service). I think he should be forgiven - or else fire all the foul mouthed rappers, the Ann Coulters, the Rush's, et al. and don't forget the Jesse Jackson's and Al Sharpton's - they have had more than a few passes!

The Imus situation is indeed quite a sticky one for free speech. On one hand you have the ramblings of an old guy with a bad hair-do that have caused some offence, on the other you have the right for said old guy to actually ramble in the first place. Personally, I think the whole hoopla to be totally overblown. Our culture is permeated with negative messages which are treated as marks of honor made by those who are considered pinnacles of their respective cultures or counter-cultures: Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, South Park, Bill Mahr, Southboro Baptist Church (the folks who run godhatesfags.com), and music videos (specifically in the genre of rap). Just about any comedian has spouted off something that could be considered ‘racially/religiously/orientationally insensitive’ in order to evoke a laugh…Chris Rock, George Carlin, Eddie Griffin, Eddie Murphy, and Lenny Bruce have all used various instances of race (or religion, or orientation ect…) in their acts. All of the above have offended someone at one time or another, so are they all racists and homophobes? Is all this hate speech? Or is it simply satire with comedic intent?

To be sure, I am no fan of Don Imus, but I am indeed a fan of being able to open one’s mouth without fear of being censured for what may come out of it. I’d rather wake up in the land of the free every day, not the world as envisioned in the mind of Bill O’riely. On the other hand, anyone who finds offence with one’s words has the absolute right to debate, disagree, and where applicable protest, boycott, or simply change the channel. That’s America as it should be, folks. So should Imus be fired for his words? That depends on the amount of pressure exerted on his bosses by the public; after all, business is business. But the citizenry, in my humble opinion, is simply latching on to what the media and talking heads such as Al Sharpton are saying they should be outraged about instead of focusing their ire on the real problems and problem makers that currently afflict our beleaguered country. Let's see what 'they' tell us to be angry about next week.

Anyone had the ability not to turn him on. Millions of us however found his book reviews while interviewing the authors essential as many of us are still hooked on books. I particularly liked his interviews for candidates running for both parties. He made no bones about being a Republican but often referred to Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld as war criminals.

Until CBS fires him from his radio program, I will be listening to him on the internet. After spending my evenings watching the news, it is refreshing to have it on the Imus Program only set in a more lucid format and without the awful music.

The Bill of rights took a hit yesterday as it seems as if too many Americans do not want free speech but will demand a government control to censor our news and entertainment. This depresses me more than hearing about "hos" on his program.

We Ameicans are weak and in need of federal cotrols. I just hope everyone realizes the hypocrisy of this move yesterday. It has stunned me greatly.

Sandy has it correct. Free speech is for everyone: you, me, Imus, Limbaugh, Coulter and all those other talking heads. Wheter you like what is being said is beside the point.

Every piece of electronic equipment, radio, TV, etc. has an OFF button. If you don't like what the show has to offer, turn it OFF and TELL the sponsors. That is where the power is, in your wallet! Don't buy from companies that sponsor programs that you don't like. Without the income, the advertisers go away and there will be no spouting fool behind the microphone. As long as you only whine about it, nothing really happens.

Imus shouldn't be fired any more than the myriads of minority DJs and talk show hosts are fired who toss ehtnic slurs about Hispanics, Asians and, yes, whites on a daily basis. When those people are taken to task for their hate-filled diatribes while protected by "Free Speech" and their minority status, then Imus and others like him can be fired. Even Al Sharpton has used slurs to describe non-Blacks - so much for the righteousness of his complaints. All ethnic slurs are vile and disgusting regardless of who uses them. But, I am tired of being called racist when I am offended by Blacks and others who fill the radio waves with venom about my ethnicity (or the ethnicity of others). I detest racism. But, I detest it by all who express it - not just by whites. I cannot always control my thoughts, but I can control the words I use to express them. There is NEVER an excuse for racist remarks or descriptors.

We need people like Imus around to remind us that bigoted speech concealed under the rubric of humor is still alive, well and agreed with by a substantial portion of the population. I still hear people say to me, "Well, if those people wouldn't kick up such a fuss, there wouldn't be such a problem with racism". Let him, Limbaugh, O'Reilly and the rest of them keep talking so we can react vigorously to them showing the rest of America that we are indeed not a tolerant country.
Judy

Don imus is crude and all of his ilk shoud be canned but unfortunately Don Imus turned against Bush and was calliing him a war monger and he has now gone the way of Howard Stern. It is unfortunate that only the anti Bush rude and crude get fired. Imus should have kissed the GOP ass instead of appologizing for his crude mouth. He may have then kept his job

Imus's remarks were racist and sexist and hurtful to the young women. I applaud them and their coach, who certainly have risen to the occasion and brought him up shortly and defended themselves. So, now he has the opportunity to have his consciousness raised and change. If he continues to spout off like this, he will be viewed as a cretin.
What is also true is that the term "ho" is, after all, a black idiom. He was trying to sound "hip" probably. None of the women had "nappy" hairstyles, so that part just sounded ridiculous. The sad thing is that "bitches" and "ho's" are terms that are so frequently used by black men to refer to all women. There seems to be a lot of rage between black men and women, and this gives them an opportunity to take another look at it...maybe heal some of it.

Imus has sincerely apologized for what was a stupid (but non-malicious) joke. I'm still waiting for Al Sharpton to apologize to the people of New York and specifically Stephen Pagones and the family of Harry Crist, Jr. What he did was far FAR worse than Imus' off-the-cuff joke in poor taste.

Al Sharpton is probably the biggest racist on the planet!

The problem is not racism, but the enormity of Imus' ego. Day after day, he pushed the envelop with his outrageous comments. He also daily made it clear that he was too rich and powerful to have to abide by the "chump" rules which bound the ordinary members of his audience. At bottom, Don Imus is a good person. A liberal dose of humility would certainly make him a far better person. He could do an enormous amount of good in addressing racism, and the coarsening of American culture in general, not to mention that gratuitous cruelty is not necessary for comedy.

If I make a racist comment to one person, they can reply. They can debate me. They can call me a racist. But what if I am on the radio with my own program and I own the microphone? Now what?

I make a racist comment on the radio to 3,500,000 people. No-one can debate me. I own the microphone.

If you want free speech then it has to be a two-way street. I get to call you a racist with equal time for every racist statement you make. So, if you want to make that racist statement to 3,500,000 people, then each of those 3,500,000 people has the right to equal time to debate your statement.

But this does not happen on talk radio. One guy owns the microphone. It is not a dialogue - it is a sermon from the racist pulpit.

Free speech means equal time. Guarantee me that and you can say anything you like on the radio. But then 3,500,000 of us get equal time to say back.

Go for it!

I don't watch Imus because I don't like his show, but he should not be fired for this. People can vote with their remote. If they don't like him, don't watch or listen to his show. Then if he is taken off the air it is because people don't tune in and not because some people are offended by his words. We have too much censorship by the media. He has apologized and that should be enough.

....who knew how many capitol blue viewers were such right wing boneheads ?!?!?

These right wing boneheads love to rant about freedoms until somebody says something about the Bush Administration. I've been booted out of here for my comments even before he was elected.

I have a problem in that I want both sides to all the debates we have here and elsewhere. It takes courage for Imus to have interviews with people that he disagrees with but he gives them a chance to state their positions. I need that input. He also will review authors and knows he has the ability to put the book on the top ten lists from NY Times to Amazon.com. He does not review a book he hasn't read. If it is truly a pile of garbage he will not review it. I need that input as I do book reviews on the internet.

Don Imus does not have to work, he is multi-millionaire who uses his wealth to improve the lives of others. People despise him because he is wealthy. I have no time for that kind of nonsense. But I do know this much. If Bush endorses a candidate for 2008 he/she will be elected because people, even here are too lazy to search for a candidate they respect.

The home page writers are dedicated to pointing out the assets and flaws of our candidates as well as giving our opinions of the daily news. No one knows better than I, with my long time association here that there are two or more agendas here and we often speak up for the party or action that speaks for our interests.

Don Imus will be a loss for me personally and my wanting his freedom to speak is the cause, if I don't like what he says, I turn him off.

We have met the enemy, and they is us - indeed.

This is the biggest shitstorm of hypocrisy seen since Bill Clinton molested 'that little girl.'

We all tut-tut, but racism lives within each of us, whether it is black vs white, black vs not-as-black, not-as-black vs not-black-enough or arguing over who is, say, "white" in the first place.

And don't even get me started on native Americans and the myriad human racial and/or color variations spread between darkest Africa and an albino white boy from - as my 4 year-old grandson might say, "Yew Nork City."

Despicable? Yes. Now, can we talk about the talk-radio crowd? Or the rappers? Or our country's present administration who brand criticism as "treason?"

Spare me.