Rosie isn't Imus

So Imus didn't have to go to work this morning. I don't believe he is a racist. I understand he and his wife are doing a lot of good charitable work through their ranch. I hope they continue with that.

In reporting his departure, AP referred to him as "one of the nation's most prominent broadcasters." AP is right. He had accumulated a lot of power through his success in the media.

Fundamentally, Imus' fall was about how he misused that power and how the power he had accumulated turned on him and destroyed him. This lesson, unfortunately, seems lost on Tom Delay, who until not too long ago was one of the most powerful politicians in the country. Ironically, Mr. Delay's career, too, has so far been a textbook example of how power destroys those who abuse it.

On April 11, Mr. Delay posted a piece in his blog titled, "If the Left takes Imus, We'll take Rosie."

This title is wrong on at least three levels. First, Imus is not the equivalent of Rosie, whom Mr. Delay criticizes for alleging that 9/11 was actually the result of a conspiracy backed by President Bush. Second, the women on the Rutgers basketball team are not the equivalent of President Bush.

And third, where did he get the idea that it was the "Left" that "took" Imus. Imus is gone, because enough people stood up and said, "Enough is enough. We're not going to tolerate this any more."

Being made the target of hateful and abusive speech is part of the job description of the President of the United States, even when it is as ridiculous as what Rosie apparently alleges (I have never seen the show where she appears). The ability to take such abuse is one of the requirements for the job of President.

On the other hand, it shouldn't be a requirement for a woman to make the basketball team at her college.

("Sure you have a 100% shooting average from the floor. But can you take the heat when the shock jocks start making disparaging remarks about you based on the color of your skin and the fact that you're a woman? It's part of being a black woman athlete, you know." I hope this kind of conversation will be a little less likely now.)

Rosie is not Imus, because when she finally leaves the public stage no one is going to describe her as "one of the nation's most prominent" anything. Imus interviewed presidential candidates and had frequent on-air discussions with mainline television journalists, particularly those who work for NBC news.

Rosie keeps Barbara Walters close to her in hopes of sharing in the aura of respectability, but it hasn't worked. Imus successfully built up a power base for himself in the media profession. Rosie has not, and it seems unlikely she ever will.

Based on his April 11 post, Tom Delay hasn't learned his lesson about how a leader should exercise power. He still thinks politics is simply civil war by other means, that it's all about destroying the opponent. He needs to stay in his "time-out seat" a little longer.