Imus was doing what he is paid to do. He was doing his job. He was doing what made him successful. He was fulfilling the role society offered him. I don't defend what he does or even say he shouldn't get his comuppance. But I do feel that it is wrong that Imus is being dropped like a hot potato for insensitive, rude comments while Bill O'Reilly can tell American Jews to move to Israel if they don't like a Christian America and Ann Coulter can advocate terrorism and violence and largely get away with it. Imus is a royal asshole. But that was what he was getting paid to be. Ann Coulter is getting paid to advocate violence. Bill O'Reilly is getting paid to advocate pogroms. They are each getting paid far more than I get paid to be a scientist. This is what society values, if salaries are any indication. Assholes, terrorist advocates and anti-Semites. In the grand scheme of what is wrong in today's media, Don Imus ranks pretty minor in the long list of disgusting statements. He, at least, wasn't advocating violence. A grad school friend of mine commented on the sexual assault charges against Mike Tyson: "We pay people to beat eachother up, then we are surprised when they are violent." We pay people to be assholes, terrorist advocates and anti-Semites on the air...then we are surprised when they say things offensive. Don Imus and his wife run a cattle ranch for children with cancer. They sell a line of foods where all the profits go to this ranch. They have designed cleaning products that are environmentally safer and safer for children than store brands, they sell them at cut rate prices to schools and hospitals and any profit they make goes to a center for pediatric oncology. None of which excuses being an asshole. But if you are going to be paid to be an asshole, why not do good things with the money? Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly and the whole slew of terrorist advocates say far, far worse things and they do nothing of any social value with the money they are paid to be terrorist advocates. Don Imus deserves to get lots of shit for what he says on the air. But many deserve it far more than him. And let's not forget that society was VALUING his being an asshole with cold hard cash. So why are we surprised when he is an asshole?