"What nonsense or vitriol I or Charley or Ron or anyone spouts in the privacy of our kitchen after one too many on a Saturday night is our own business - but if we go on national TV and spout the same stuff, then it's everybody's business."

A good point, but if you next door neighbor hears a tape of something you said and demands that you leave the neighborhood, would that be fair? As you said it was your own business.

Imus made remarks to his regular audience. People are now demanding his firing who have never heard him before. Is it their business? Do I have the right to tell Charley and Kendall what songs they can sing? Recently I was reading Stan Hugill's brilliant collection, and there were some dated references that would be considered racist by todays standard. Is it right to judge situations out of context?

Your analogy of two people breaking into a home is perfect. One guy gets away with it and one guy goes to jail. Does that really stop others from committing the same crime? Not at all. Ignoring flaws in the system perpetuate the same behavior and sending one person to jail and not others only makes a handful of people feel like they have done the right thing. The reality is, the crimes will continue.