As we all know, Don Imus is back on air, following the “nappy headed ho” stupidity.  But it’s different this time.

Imus became “something” because of his irreverence at a time when he was pushing the envelope.  He was cutting edge then, and it gave him a huge audience.  Imus was big and a lot of people listened.

But Imus grew up and his envelope pushing became quite mainstream.  But he still had an audience.  Because of that, he was able to get some big name people to come on his show.  He was such a softball interviewer that he made Larry King seem risky, but he got the big names and so we listened.

Imus doesn’t have anybody important on his show now.  I gather that he’s a pariah, and no one is willing to take the chance of being associated with someone who calls Rutgers Basketball players “nappy headed hos.”  So the Imus show is now all about Imus.  I’m sorry to say, but Imus is a bore.

His mumbling, pointless meandering may have meant something when there were people on his show who mattered, but Imus doesn’t matter.  He stopped mattering a long time ago, and I guess I never noticed because of his guests.  But now it’s impossible not to notice.  I listen for brief periods at a time, before turning to some other station that has something really desirable on it, like the news or 60s rock.  Actually, anything other than Imus.

It’s really too bad that what Imus once brought to the air is now gone.  He’s unlikely to venture too far with the envelope given the way he got his head handed to him by the Rev. Al, who Imus was foolish enough to engage.  Imus must want to stay on that straight and narrow that will rehabilitate him and make him acceptable to political society.  Maybe that will happen, since politicians are usually willing to forgive and forget anything as long as it provides them with greater benefit than detriment.

But will Imus hold on long enough to be accepted back into the bossom of important guests?  I doubt it.  Who wants to spend their time listening to someone who has rendered himself wholly irrelevant?  What a waste of good air time.  I’d rather listen to Curtis and Kuby again, and I was never enthralled with that show.