by Rena Sherwood

Created on: April 12, 2008

Don Imus should not be allowed back on the air because he's not funny. I'm all for free speech, but I'm not for being bored. Listening to a Don Imus show makes you long to be deaf. Even Rush Limbaugh (another waste of radio waves) at least makes a point of being despicable. Before Don Imus was fired, what WAS the point of his show?

In all of the controversy about the adjective "nappy-headed" and race relations in America, one fundamental factor was overlooked that entertainers who are not entertaining should lose their jobs. There are more than enough eager, hungry (and less expensive) DJs to employ instead of has-beens like Don Imus.

Besides, he's past the legal retiring age. Giving him a severance package wouldn't put him into any undue hardship.

So, what's going to be Don Imus' legacy? Nothing, really, except perhaps not being able to hold down a job. He's sort of the Vanilla Ice of disc jockies. Perhaps his biggest contribution to Western civilization was being one of several real life personalities that popular character Doctor Johnny Fever from "WKRP In Cincinnati" was based on. They both were fired for saying a bad word on the air. In Imus' case, he was fired a few times for things he said on the air.

Imus has always been a little stuck in his own head where he thinks he has brilliant talent. He habitually is out of touch with reality. During the first attacks of 9/11, he kept on going, even airing commercials, making them pre-empt the most important news story since the moon landing.

It's amazing that anyone paid any attention to Imus' broadcasts in the first place. Although nationally syndicated, so are a million other radio shows. There's just not enough of a radio audience to have what any disc jockey says to be front page news. Even the mighty Howard Stern's ratings dropped considerably after he went to paid radio. And he can sometimes be really funny.

Imus should thank his lucky stars he hasn't been lynched and quietly disappear into something like the Witness Protection Program. He could get plastic surgery so he won't be recognized. If not for his sake, please, for the sake of anyone who has to look at his face. It's nearly as scary as the fact that he's still employed.

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