YouTube - Lenny Bruce Live

I would hope that there are people young enough - reading this blog - to not know who Lenny Bruce is. I wonder what his take would be re: this Imus/Rutgers thing. So here he is. Ladies and gentlemen...


Lenny Bruce.

YouTube - Lenny Bruce Live

Imus again. I'm sorry, but it's a " developing story. " So my opinions are developing, too. I saw Imus being interviewed by Matt Lauer this morning. He keeps making the point, " Ours is a comedy show. "

I first started listening to Imus when I was in the advertising business in Hartford. He and Howard Stern were the " Shock Jocks " on WNBC. I loved their irreverance and it inspired me to write ad copy with that kind of edge. One 30 second radio spot I wrote and produced wasn't run on the radio station on which we had bought time. It was pulled and the radio station executives had a meeting to discuss its " appropriateness. " I can't recall the details of the spot, but I do recall that it had some biblical chararacters making some remarks you wouldn't find in the bible. It was a " humorous " spot.

The spot eventually ran and it probably offended some listeners.

I wrote a lot of ad copy in the nine years I was in the business. My forte was humor. I'd do almost anything to get a laugh. If someone was offended, I'd think: Oh c'mon. It's humor! That was twenty years ago. Before the dawn of the Age of Irony.

David Letterman is the God of Irony. If you take anything he says seriously, you " Just don't get it. " Offended? Grow up. You're taking this way too seriously. When Imus says, " It's a comedy show, " he's using that kind of defense.

But is it a comedy show? Sure he has Bernard and the Cardinal, Rob Bartlett's cast of characters. But the real stars of the show, for many of us listeners, are politicians, historians, journalists. People who are as funny as a heart attack.

It's convenient now for Imus to wrap himself in the banner of comedy. Before the Rutgers things broke, would Imus have characterized his program as a " comedy show? " Or a variety show with some humor and much serious discussion about children with cancer and autism, the war in Iraq, global warming, mercury poisoning, etc. etc.

Imus begins his suspension next Monday. MSNBC and CBS, by doing this, are doing two things with which I strongly disagree.

It's robbing the market, i.e., we listeners of the chance to vote with our fingers. We can't choose not to listen to something which isn't on the air. We can't turn that dial.

And it's giving people like Frank Rich, John McCain, Jeff Greenfield, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Chris Matthews, Tim Russert - the usual suspects, the regular guests, a pass. They won't have to decide whether or not to go on a show that's not on for two weeks.

That said. I just watched the press conference at which Vivien Stringer and the Rutgers team members spoke. I hope Imus watched that. As I did, I could not imagine how I would be feeling if I had said what he said about these women. The I Man must feel awful about this. Will he change his ways?

If he does it's over for him. His dark side is the side that's kept him going for decades. Without that dangerous edge, Imus in the Morning is going to become Imus's worse nightmare:

Another Today Show. All happy talk all of the time.

There was a front page story in the New York Times today about the movement to introduce the concept of civility into the " conversational free for all on the internet known as the blogosphere. "

Last week, Tim O'Reilly ( I'm not making this up; that's his name and yes, this is a post whose topic is civility, common sense and maturity ) , a book publisher, began working on a set of guidlelines to shape online discussion and debate.

According to the Times, the recommendation that carries the most weight is the one recommending that bloggers not publish anonymous comments. This blog has commented on that one, so I won't repeat what's already been said. Check the archive if you're interested in my opinion on that one.

There's a school of thought out there in the blogosphere ( Amazing that one's round as well ) that all comments should be posted, no matter how threatening and venile they are. That's bullshit. Every blogger is also a gatekeeper. Editorial page editors don't publish every letter to the editor. The cable news guys don't display every email to Wolf Blitzer. And I wouldn't expect you to rip open a snail mail envelope you'd find in your mailbox. One addressed to : The asshole who lives here.

This blog thing is still pretty new. It's a new universe. A new world. A new country. What's happening right now is akin to drafting a constitution, a declaration of dependence and independence. We'll see how it goes.

Well, I did it. Didn't do it I mean. Didn't listen to Imus this morning. The I Man issued a lame apology for his remarks and those of his cohort, Bernard McGuirk. Last week both of them called the Rutgers womens basketball team " Hos. " There's been a huge backlash.

Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are calling for him to be fired. Rutgers coach Vivien Stringer is livid. Columnist Clarence Page says Imus promised him six years ago - SIX years ago! - that he would put an end to the racist humor being spewed on his show. Page likened his intervention to that of one trying to get a drunk to stop drinking. Imus is a recovering alcoholic and substance abuser, who now constantly reminds us that he is a " good man " whose demons have been replaced with kids with cancer and autism.

" I guess he's fallen off of the wagon, " Page said yesterday.

So we'll see how this goes. Will it blow over? Or will Imus go down? Stay tuned. But not into Imus. Not into WFAN between 5:30 a.m. and 9 a.m.

I listen to Imus like I used to read Playboy. Playboy? Oh yeah, I get it, but for the articles, man! That's what I said back when I " read " Playboy.

Donna wonders: " How can you listen to him? " And I say, have said: " I listen because I like the interviews. "

The interviews. With people like Frank Rich, Chris Dodd, Andrea Mitchell,Chris Matthews, Jack Jacobs, Joe Biden, John McCain, Anna Quindlen, Dana Priest, Tim Russert...

People like that.

Yesterday morning Imus apologized for remarks made on his show this week. His sidekick Bernard McGuirk called the women on the Rutgers basketball " Hardcore ho's. " Imus responded by calling the young women " Nappy headed ho's. "

Listening to Imus in the Morning on WFAN has been a guilty pleasure for me for the past few years. It's part of my morning ritual. First thing I do when I wake up around 6 a.m. is turn on the radio. Push the button for the pre-selected station: 660 on the AM dial. WFAN.

I'm thinking about changing my morning ritual. Imus went over the line. That's the sorry excuse you'll be hearing. But truth be told, he's gone over the line again and again. There is, and has been an underlying racism there on the show. I've become inured to it. Just Imus being Imus I say to myself. Just Bernard being Bernard. And, after all, ther super ego, Charles McCord's there to scold them.

Even Imus at times plays that role. Bernard will say something that's over that line. Imus will say, " That'll be fine. " And another, more civil path is gone down. Until the next line is crossed.

I'm wondering: How will the line-up of usual suspects, the regular guests on the show, react to this latest tempest in the talk radio teacup? Chris Dodd for example. Dodd's running for president. Will he want to be associated with a man who calls black female athletes " Ho's? "

Joe Biden and John McCain are running for president. Will they think twice now before throwing their voices into Imus's three ring circus?

Former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley was on the Imus show last week. Promoting his new book. Rutgers is a New Jersey school. What are his thoughts about making a return appearance?

And the liberal Frank Rich? Will he forgive Imus for this latest sin? And Andrea Mitchell and Anna Quindlen. What do these women think and what will they do when the producer of the show gives them a call and asks, " Do you want to come on, next Tuesday? "

" That'll be fine, " doesn't work anymore. At least for me. It's not fine what Imus and Bernard said about the young women who play basketball for Rutgers University. They can say they didn't really mean it, which they probably will do. But given what they've been saying for years, I can't really believe them today.

Some are calling for Imus to be fired. I don't agree with that opinion. He's on the radio. WFAN. 660 on the AM dial.

That's a line you can lock in on, or cross. At the end of the day - and in the beginning as well - it's your call.

You love dogs? You're into poetry? You have a thing for people who remain human, in spite of it all? Read Mark Doty's new book: Dog Years.

It'll make you laugh. It'll make you cry. It might even make you bark.

Mark Doty's a poet. Teaches writing at the University of Houston. Owns a home on Commercial Street in Provincetown. He's a good man.

Good man, Mark Doty. Good man.

I know. I know. I've been writing a lot about Mike Daisey. But one more thing before I leave him alone, ship him off like HAL shipped Gary Lockwood's character off into space in Kubrick's 2001.

" I'm interested in the liveness of a person telling a true story in an artful way. "

Well put Michael Daisey. And I'll leave it at that.