If the FCC wants to keep vulgarity off the regulated air, start with Imus.

2 week suspension sounds about right.  It was an abhorrent and stupid comment, but no one was physically injured.

I wonder how long it will be before he makes the remark that gets him fired.

For years, I have been wondering the same thing about George Bush.  Dont hold your breath.

This is a positive step, and I'd agree it was appropriate if this was an isolated incident, but it isn't.  This is just the first time he's been called on it.

get a contract like Howard Stern did on XM or Sirius Radio where you can say whatever you freakin' want and listners pay 12.95 a month to hear you sounding like an absolute idiot.  Other than that, he is on public media waves and the FCC need stringent rules on what is acceptable on the airwaves and what is not.  Remember, his offensive statements were heard on television, my kids heard what he said as they were eating breakfast.  (That is another story)

He is being suspended to take the heat off.  MSNBC is giving Westwood One a chance to bring in another producer, yes that is right, we are talking about Corporate America where someone has to take the fall and it is Bernard.  Bernard will get a package, but when Imus is back on MSNBC, it will be with a new producer and the reigns will be tighten considerably.

Imus is a lucky, "you know what", because after seeing him today all I can say is that Imus gave the "best apology tour" I have ever heard.  See what happens when you are almost 70 and your $$$ are about to be snatched!!

Two weeks is not acceptable.

seems fair, he's a comedian and he crossed the line big time but he was trying to be funny , he wasn't a politician using race as wedge which bothers me alot more than Imus, Rush says worse things on a daily basis and he's not making jokes, i don't think he should lose his show over it as his apoligy and charitable works should mean something.

MSNBC will be on my morning viewing schedule.

I don't understand.  If the simulcast is suspended for two weeks, doesn't that mean he's still on the radio?  If that's the case, I'd hardly bill this as "Imus getting a two week suspension."

Imus should be dropped.

I just don't get it.  I could never, never even think of stringing together the words that Imus said, let alone making a conscious decision to say them.  I could see letting an everyday curse word slip out while on air, since that's a vocabulary you use in your private life. (I mean a regular curse word, nothing racial.) But if he was able to formulate the adjectives and noun and then actually say those words on live radio and TV, what exactly does he say in private?  I would hate to hear it.

Didn't the meanest, evilest people in the world also do nice things?  Just because Imus does nice things doesn't excuse him.  A man beats his wife, but then is always buying her jewels and taking her to dinner.  Is the wife-beating excused because he does "nice" things?

I could see suspending Chris Matthews for saying the F word on Imus, because he knows better.  Imus' comments warranted meaningful consequences; firing.

I don't think Jesus would have let Imus off the hook. Jesus was not racist; but he also preached forgiveness, so I believe Jesus would have given Imus a 2 week suspension.

Dan Abrams and the rest of MSNBC has absolutely blasted Fox News for their comments today.

at its "options".  They found Imus' comments horrid.  They may go after him, MSNBC, CBS, etc.

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=f6 cb296b-f466-4398-983e-92541c820cef&f =00&fg=email

Who cares?  Why is this portrait of a blinking idiot an issue?

BC

It's beyond me why this man who has helped to degrade the political culture of any sort of civility or dignity is given a soap box to stand on. He has nothing to offer. He is neither informed, nor does he have any fresh or constructive perspective. He's simply a foul mouthed curmudgeon who harbors  racist and sexist attitudes. His presence simply legitimizes the pollution of the present political culture of ignorance, contempt for others, and uninformed opinion.

I actually think this is a bad move by NBC.  They admit wrongdoing by their guy but also admit that it doesn't rise to a certain level.  So what can he say that will get him fired?  What??  They want to have it both ways, but in this case you can't.  You can forgive a man for being a racist but you shouldn't employ someone who is.  There is absolutely, positively no reason to ever listen to this man, period.  It is a waste of time.

Two front page stories on this?

Imus is morning-show host, which basically means he's brain-dead like the rest of this.  And he's been offensive in the past.

Is there supposed to be a surprise here.
Excuse me while I yawn

He's MSNBC and CBS' problem.
Not mine.

he made a mistake by using the word "ho" to describe college women athletes?   along with, of course, more of his usual vile racist spew.  

in what universe is it acceptable for someone on a major network to call a group of young college athletes "hos"?   (and then he begrudgingly apologizes...  to Al Sharpton, rather than to the people he insulted, who are apparently beneath his notice.)  

this jerk has gone on far too long with his outrageously insulting remarks about all women, men of color, all Jewish people, &--um, let's see, just about everyone except rich heterosexual able-bodied white males.  

two-week suspension, my ass.  he's gotta go.   this is way over the line.  

Don Imus must resign or be fired. Those are the only two acceptable options I see for him.

By the way, just who the hell is Don Imus to talk about anybody's hair? He has a head full of nappy hair, which usually looks as if he forgot or refused to comb it.  As for his whorishness, he's a radio/tv broadcaster. 'Nuff said.

Notice I didn't say radio/tv "personality" since he has precious little of that commodity.

Recall the nasty, juvenile comments Imus made about Ned Lamont's appearance.

Imus should be taken off the air by MSNBC because MSNBC styles itself as a "news" channel, and this was not an isolated incident (indeed, this isn't the first time that Imus has promised to end his racist schtick -- see http://www.onthemedia.org/yore/transcrip ts/transcripts_081801_imus.html )

Whether he should be banned from CBS radio, or fired from WFAN, is a different story -- the kind of offensive crap that one hears from Imus on a daily basis is pervasive throughout the radio dial, and won't go away because Imus gets taken off the air temporarily (even if he's fired, he has a large enough fan base that someone else will hire him even if only as a publicity stunt.)  

He said he was sorry over and over.  He made a mistake and I think he knows he made a mistake. He says she going to change his show; give him an opportunity to do so. If he doesn't change the show then it should be closed down. I believe his comments had a racist overtone and as an African-American I believe he should face the consequences. He is being suspended and is the talk of every news source and newspaper in the country. However, I believe in free speech. Don't watch Imus. And I have to say, where was Sharpton and Jackson when Rush called Obama and Halle 'HALFICANS'.  Is that not a racist comment? I believe RUSH's comment was far worse and had a malicious intent.  Both comments were inhumane and just plain stupid.  If anyone should be taken off the air for disseminating hate, it should be RUSH. Why Imus and not RUSH? Explain that one.

This is what infuriates me about the Grandma Imus story. Why is Imus the topic anyway? Why does he get to absorb the nation's attention for days on end and boost his TV ratings? He is just another racist--we already knew that--and he is not going to change. He also has a right to put that crap on the radio but why do MSNBC and CNN produce and broadcast that kind of programming?

Where is the general criticism, by the Democrats, of this whole movement of so-called "shock-jocks" and other media hate-mongers? The terms "shock-jock" or "political lightning rod" are dismissive of the damage that these people do to society. This kind of programming is now a new form of socially acceptable hate entertainment.

Why do weenies like Grandma Imus, Beck, Hannity, Coulter, Stern and their audiences need to beat up decent Americans based on race or orientation or gender? This is a social movement made up of weak, insecure men and women, in privileged positions, that get their kicks picking on people with less power or money--people that actually deserve our respect. This kind of entertainment is dangerous to civil society because it is tied up with the entertainment industry and people get rich doing it.

It should be called what it is--hideously un-American. Imus may have the right to spew his racism but when are our Democratic leaders going to call these Media outlets out for their programming? When Edwards pulled out of the Fox debate that was a beginning. But rejecting Fox should is only a beginning in a serious fight to reclaim our civil society.

You'd think bloggers, of all people, would have a higher opinion of the right of free speech, including the right to offend.

If Imus were on AAR and saying equivalent things about Dick Cheney or Ann Coulter where would you come down on his right of free speech?

What Imus said was offensive.  He's allowed to be offensive.  This is America.  If enough people are offended, they'll stop listening, and he'll lose his job.

I have a real libertarian streak when it comes to free speech and while I find Imus, Howard Stern, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, etc offensive and don't listen to any of them, my reaction is if you don't like what they are saying change the channel.  I am not any more interested in having progressives policing the airways, even if I agree with their point of view, than I am conservative Christians.  

Like the ACLU defending the right of neo-Nazi's to march in Skokie, IL in the late 1970s, I may not like what you have to say but I will defend your right to say it.  Part of having free speech means sometimes you will be offended.  Having seen the actions of Bush's FCC over the last 6 years, it is a choice I am willing to make even if I wish the Don Imus's of the world would go away.

I am absolutely in favor of free speech but I am sick to death of equivocation about what constitutes a civil society. We must use OUR FREE SPEECH to hold the destructive forces in society at bay. If we don't use our freedom of speech now to push back against these people then we will give our country over to racism and fascism. We are losing that freedom as we speak--or have we already given it up by self-censoring or apathy?

I cant help but wonder what'd had happened if instead of "nappy headed hoes," Imus would have said the same words about jews and/or Gays and Imus would have been fired on the spot.

Gwen Ifill nailed it in her NYT op-ed today:  "...For all their grit, hard work and courage, [the team] got branded "nappy-headed ho's" -- a shockingly concise sexual and racial insult, tossed out in a volley of male camaraderie by a group of amused, middle-aged white men. The "joke" -- as delivered and later recanted -- by the radio and television personality Don Imus failed one big test: it was not funny.

The serial apologies of Mr. Imus, who was suspended yesterday by both NBC News and CBS Radio for his remarks, have failed another test. The sincerity seems forced and suspect because he's done some version of this several times before...."

if this had been the first time, fine.  if Imus was hired purely as an entertainer and was satisfying some puerile market segment, fine.  someone who consistently hits all women, men of color, & other less privileged demographic groups with his below-the-belt unfunny diatribes on a mainstream show?  no.  

time for CBS and MSNBC to stop equivocating on this jerk--where do they stand on calling young African-American college students "nappy-headed hos"?   if they aren't in favor of it, they'd better damn well stop hiring Imus to do it.  

Why is it that bigotry (Imus) is such a big money maker?

I was very proud of how well the student athletes of Rutgers presented themselves.

The manner in which they made their comments made Imus look like a knave and a fool.

Their comments showed that student-athletes are both students and athletes. Rutgers and the women's basketball team are to be commended for the way in which they conducted their news conference.