Laureen Stiller Rikleen

To be completely honest I had never heard about this situation with Don Imus, but after reading past articles and this one I'd have to say I agree with Rikleen's point. Yes, he said some very racists and sexual comments, but I don't think he should be banned from being on the air. There have been numerous incidents when other people have had comments like these and they weren't punished nearly as harshly. The author points out that it's a right of his to say what ever he'd like to say because of the first amendment. He also is a great interviewer. He asks the questions that his listeners really want to know. He keeps them interested and entertained by simply doing his job. He's also raised a considerable amount of money for charity. This does not sound like a bad person to me. It sounds like a man who slipped up and said something he should have kept to himself, but overall he does his job well and has done some commendable things for others.

The example that struck me the most was about the New York Nicks Coach Isaiah Thomas who was found guilty of sexually harassing a female executive. This is the best example because the two situations are practically one and the same, both men did something that offended a single person or and entire group of people. And here's the difference, Imus is being punished for what he did, and Thomas is still coaching. This doesn't sound fair to me that two people that generally did the same thing are not punished in the same way. There was another minor example which was one of the main reasons I ended up agreeing with Rikleen. She said that he's "one of the few interviewers willing to ask the tough questions that most others ignore". She goes on to say that the way he asks the questions and the kinds of questions he ask are exactly what his listeners were wondering as well. He does his job. This strengthened her point by stating the obvious, he does his job well, therefore he should be able to keep it. We can only wait and see if that's the way this will turn out.