The Lynching of Don Imus

I'm no fan of Imus. It's been years since I've watched any 'Imus In the Morning' — mainly because I think he's a jerk, a bully, and so excessively internally contradictory that he gives me a headache. And of course what he recently said was stupid, wrong, hurtful... all of that. Nevertheless, one can praise Imus, not unreasonably, as Sam Smith does. Or look past Imus at those most responsible for bringing him down. Perhaps I need to take a sensitivity pill, but it seems to me there's an enormous amount of hypocrisy on display here, purely affected outrage without a shred of embarrassment. A lynch-mob mentality. Imus caught the tail of the whip this time. Who'll be next, for what offense? We have better ways to maintain a civil public dialogue.

‡ (4/15) Frank Rich puts it very well also, here.