Morning Joe on Imus Return: "We're In Trouble"

Yesterday, Drudge boldly declared a resurrection: That of Don Imus, who has apparently struck an "eight-figure, multiyear contract" with WABC for the triumphant return of "Imus in the Morning" to the airwaves on what, according to Drudge, is "the nation's most listened to talk station." Obviously you will recall that the disgraced shock jock (and that's an occupation with a pretty low bar for 'disgrace') was ousted after calling members of the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" in a double dose of racism and sexism. You know the rest: Contrition tour with Al Sharpton; denouncement by high-profile former guests; cut loose by MSNBC on the TV side and CBS on the WFAN radio side; those last two aren't necessarily in chronological order. Then Imus had nothing left to do but slink into sad obscurity, right? Wrong — he filed a $120 million lawsuit against CBS and settled for a reputed $20 million plus no restrictions on when he could go back on the air. Plus he couldn't say anything mean about Les Moonves. Hey, Moonves has his priorities straight.

And now, a "high-impact resurrection" — a phrase that predates Drudge, incidentally, in a New York magazine profile by Robert Kolker titled "The Resurrection of Don Imus" and after the settlement was announced Imus' buddy Kinky Friedman* said: "He's very much like Jesus. He's coming back and boy is he PO'd." Well, apparently the meek shall inherit, albeit with a 40-second delay, just in case.

It's always interesting to hear what they have to say about it on "Morning Joe" — the show which replaced "Imus in the Morning" on MSNBC, hosted by Joe Scarborough with Mika Brzezinski and the oft-joining Willie Geist; in August when the news of the settlement came down Scarborough went off on a tear, telling his producers to shut up when they suggested via his earpiece that he congratulate Imus on the air: "Like I've been on the Don Imus suck up train from the very beginning...Don Imus always hated my guts." Today's commentary was calmer — less railing against th "sharks" of the TV industry — but still fun:

We're not sure exactly what Brzezinski was anticipating when she said "We're in trouble" but her hair is very smooth and shiny so perhaps she's safe. The gang also raised the big question of the day — who would actually go back on Imus? (One wonders if it will be a question of dominoes, with one or two brave ones leading the way before everyone starts talking about bygones and forgiveness and airtime), and noted that Hillary Clinton probably wouldn't, per Drudge:

Imus is said to be particularly incensed by Senator Hillary Clinton's "shameless exploitation" of the Rutgers situation.

The senator, who Imus has called "Satan" and the "devil", traveled to Rutgers in April to praise the women's basketball team for its response to the controversy. In a campaign email, Hillary called Imus's comments "small-minded bigotry and coarse sexism."

"Hillary, prepare to meet your maker!" a source close to the host joked early Monday.

Nice to see everyone's learned from the events of last April.

Story continues below

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The best line of the morning came later on, however, with the arrival of MSNBC pop culture contributor Courtney Hazlett: "In related news, Media Matters is hiring."

The Resurrection of Imus: Returns on Nation's Top Talk Station [Drudge Report]
Morning Whoa! Joe Scarborough Hauls Off On Imus [ETP]

Related:
The Resurrection of Don Imus [NYM]

Related, randomly:
I Am The Resurrection [Stone Roses]

*Of the band that Ann Coulter might call "The Unperfected Texans."

Comments

[speakyourmind]

Don Imus is about as relevant as Madonna.

[Peter Brown]

Imus is history--days before his self-inflicted downfall I recall thinking that it would be great if MSNBC replaced the tired, irrelevant, pathetic IMUS with someone who could keep my progressive, liberal attention---CNN had lost my interest with its effort to ape Fox noise.

Believe it or not, I think Morning Joe has been a refreshing replacement--even though it has taken a while for me to wipe out painful memories of Scarborrough's relentless,block headed pursuit of Clinton and pandering to the inflexible right. Surprisingly, Joe has cleaned up well--life in NYC may actually be helping to activate some of his neurons that were snoozing under the Pensacola sun.

[Lazslo]

"Her hair is very smooth and shiny so perhaps she's safe"?

[SKonnery]

I can't wait till December to hear what the I-man has to say about all the rats that jumped ship on him when the heat was on. Good for him I'm glad he's back and I've missed his great interviews.

[NoahVail]

Yay-yes!