Dear Don:
I remember the years back in the seventies -- too much vodka and whatever for you, so goodbye NYC career for Donno. Then people who loved you rescued you out of Cleveland and put you on a jet plane, destination: rehab in West Palm Beach. It's 1988 and you and Charles pop up on WFAN, a sports channel of all places! About the only thing funny at that point was your trashing Pete Franklin, the old dude on the midnight shift before you show up with your posse at 5:30 AM.
I agreed with you at that time: This will never work! But at least I'll hear Dr. Billy Sol Harges for a while, I thought, until Mr. Imus gets fired again.
I was wrong, and so were you. Well, it was more than rehab in Florida. As Charles McCord knew, it was not a drying out or restoration of Don Imus, but a transformation; one you have not been able to camoflage the nearly 20 years since your return to the Big Apple. Only a couple of us know in our hearts that not only did you stop drinkin' and druggin' ... at least for this moment, but you found the baby Jesus. And that's where you kept Jesus, in the cradle of your life. No problem, we all did that at first.
But then it becomes a problem.
Fast forward: Incredible success for you, Charles, Bernie, Lou, and the rest of the crew. I needed my daily "JD" fix, and I laughed and cringed like everyone else. But the baby Jesus always remained so, never growing up even with the Rabbi and Father Tom becoming regulars. Who needed a Lord and Savior at that point anyway, it was going all so good--the Ranch, pundits and celebrities, sponsors, the fund-raising, the Clinton "escape," all the way up to the Rutgers Women's Basketball appearance in the NCAA Finals.
A baby can't save ya now, Don, but a Man's Man can. Right now, it ain't about the suits at NBC/CBS firing you, or the hits from Sharpton, Jesse, and others. It's about your life.
Quit the duplicity and surrender, Don, just as you did down in West Palm Beach, because some of the words of the Man from Galilee are applying to you right now: "To whom much is given, much is expected!" And you blew it with a couple of words. I know you know this, but just hang in and continue reading.
Here's the bad news: these executives fire you when they are funding the ghetto rap demeaning all women; Sharpton gets you fired when he should have been fired long ago for Twanya, Duke, etc, but no one would ever hire him, so we could get him fired(!); the relationship you are building with the Rutgers ladies, the objective Black Community (that saw the double standard before you brought it up), and the public will never see the good that will come of this fiasco. Why? Because you are now off the air waves!
That's the bad news. Here's the good news: a new Black Leadership is emerging in America that resents the "victim" role that some see themselves in, given your kind of antics with the Rutgers kids; these honest and articulate new community leaders see the two Reverands (Jesse and Al) as now useless to their most informed, educated, and objective constiutents; you admit you have to change; and those of us in corporate America see the hypocrisy of your bosses, and some of their heads will soon roll as well.
But the best of the good news? DON IMUS FINALLY FIGURED OUT HE IS NO LONGER FIGHTING FOR HIS CAREER; HE IS FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE.
How to win this, Mr. Imus? Do what you have done in the past and turn your words into action inspite of no longer having a media perch. Get back on the air after you and your beautiful wife, family, and friends help you to heal; continue to serve the community--black, white, infirmed, poor, male, female (especially these fine Jersey ladies at Rutgers), and finally admit, but please don't bore us, that you now found the Man from Galillee, not the cute little baby from Bethlehem.
Can't serve two masters, JD. Make a mature decision just as Charles has. Don't worry about how much money you are going to lose by being honest about your salvation. You already blew the job with stupid, lazy, old remarks with a language that isn't even yours! Don't blow your life by lying that you rehabilitated yourself, or some safe baby image (that won't offend some of your liberal friends) did it for you. The life, principles, and example of a Real Man are helping you heal now, Don, and his tomb is still empty in Jerusalem. (oops, you just lost your agnostic, atheistic, New Age friends whom you haven't heard from in over a week anyway.) As you feared, Charles would agree with all this.
Well, Imus, you problably will never read this. Who am I to even think you would find this of relevance anyway?You are too far "above the line." But who wants to be you now??
Yea, I and my family owe you lots because of the tough time you put my daughter Tina through when she worked at the FAN and took over for Sid Rosenberg one day. You were brutal to her, but in my household the following is understood: "That which does not destroy you shall make you stronger." Thanks for being the jerk you often are (a loveable one to me), since she was just nominated for an Emmy for her Sports Reporting at the Red Sox station, NESN.
I am grateful you made it hard for her on her one appearance on your show. It prepared her for the future. I gave you a pass on that one. She received her "baptism" so to speak. My kind alway look for the heart first anyway, and you do have a pretty big one (albeit a nasty one from time to time as the old demons try to sneak back in, particularly for those of us who might think Jesus is still a baby in a manger).
Yes, I always knew that nastiness would eventually get you in big trouble in spite of all of your wonderful work. And the example you set as a recovering drug addict and alcoholic each day is one only your most loyal listeners appreciate. But finally you are on your knees, where all good people should end up at some time, realizing it is a "come to Jesus moment," as much as you claim it is not. I know you will get into that moment, BECAUSE YOU ARE A GOOD MAN WHO SAID A BAD THING. (Welcome to the Club.)
I look forward to your return. Enjoy the relationship with the Man, Jesus, not the baby.
And that's it for this blog, except that I think I just might sing a bit, since you're now off the air, and it'll be a while before I hear the following again: "I don't care if it rains or freezes, long as I have my plastic Jesus, riding on the dashboard of my car..."
At least I'll hum it from time to time ... until you return.
Thanks for all you've done for others, and thanks for being contrite this week. God bless you and those fine Rutgers girls for their greatness and for their forgiving you.
Sincerely,
Joe Cervasio, long-time, first-time.
PS: More opinions about our friend, Imus? Just go to www.google.com and "Imus", "MSMBC", "WFAN", etc. will surely open the world to you. Or read the best column on the subject I discovered: The SundayStar Ledger, April 15, 2007, "Imus Could Have Touted Unity on Air," by Fran Wood. www.nj.com/columns/ledger/wood Or go to www.amiannoying.com or www.newsvine.com
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