Free Speech : Less Free in Imus Country

So, the safety helmet crew wants us to start self-censoring our blogs in order to create the appearance of safety. They haven't won that battle yet, but those people have their fingers in a lot of pies. Now, they have succeeded in taking Don Imus off the radio and television for two weeks because he called a female basketball team "nappy-headed hos". (This *might* make MSNBC bearable to watch in the morning over the next two weeks.) And then it will be back on television because a bunch of important rich white people think that he's irreverent, urbane, and wears a cowboy hat.

Give me a break. Imus comes back in May and makes another racist/misogynist joke within a few months. Or maybe he is replaced by another Glenn Beck / Tucker Carlson / Brit Hume clone who will say something similarly offensive. Is there really a difference? Mainstream cable news is squishy, homogeneous, and white. It's like pasteurized milk. What's the point of taking off Don Imus? To punish him? To punish anybody who says "nappy-headed hos"? Would it be OK to say "well-coifed, tattooed she-beasts"? Or what if we made the ultimate derogatory remark and said they looked like a carlos mencia in drag?

Have a good vacation, Mr. Imus. Maybe you can get your nappy hair cut while you're gone.