Don Imus Rutgers Controversy Not Going Away

When Don Imus called the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" this week, he seemed to think nothing of it. It was just another in a long line of comments in which Imus makes people the butt of his jokes because of their race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other trait. (Watch the video.)

But the controversy surrounding those comments is not going away: MSNBC carries Imus's show each morning, and an NBC spokeswoman said the network is "continuing to review the situation."

There's not much chance of MSNBC taking him off the air, though. The network is in third place in the cable news race, and Imus's show has gained in the ratings by about 100,000 viewers over the last year. There's no way a struggling network is going to get rid of a guy who draws that kind of viewership.

However, Imus might find that he has an increasingly difficult time getting guests on his program. The National Association of Black Journalists is calling for a boycott of the show. Imus doesn't often have black journalists on his show, but he does often have people who don't want to be in the crosshairs of the National Association of Black Journalists: People like Tim Russert, John McCain and Joe Lieberman. If those people decide they're not going to do Imus's show anymore, his show will suffer.

And that's what should happen. Imus wants to be treated like a serious journalist when that suits him and then hide behind the excuse that he's just a shock jock when that suits him. This incident might teach him that he can't have it both ways.

UPDATE: Don Imus Apologizes Again, Al Sharpton Weighs In

Previously at FanHouse:
Don Imus Calls Rutgers Women's Team 'Nappy-Headed Hos'
Who's Worse, Don Imus or Billy Packer?