DON IMUS AND THE PERILS OF COMEDY

Bye-bye, Mr. Imus.

I won't miss him. I don't listen to radio very much, and I've only seen him growling on air during his cable TV broadcasts. As I was switching through the channels, sometimes I'd see him in his cowboy hat with his studio full of doo-wah backup fellas. But I wouldn't stay long. He wasn't worth much.

He must have been a funny guy long ago. But now he's 67 years old and running on empty.

Still, he has become a cause celebre of sorts, for insulting a woman's college basketball team.

So what is there to say about this guy?

I think of a Knights of Columbus dinner for good old Father O'Malley. At the podium, all night long, there are guys making fun of good old Father O'Malley. His golf game, his thinning hair, his bad eyes, that time he called out the wrong bingo number and had two charming old ladies ready to go nuclear - these are all fair game and get plenty of laughs.

But what happens when that comic down at the local club starts telling the same jokes, and Father O'Malley and the Knights of Columbus hear about it? It's not funny any more. That comic, he's not even Catholic. Where does he get off, making fun of good old Father O'Malley? That really pisses us off, goddamn it. Let's get that guy!

It's the same thing with poor Don. If he had been perceived as a long time supporter of the black community, and was known to be speaking only in fun, he would still be babbling over the airwaves. But the problem for Don is that he wasn't seen as sympathetic or supportive of the black community. In fact, insulting a group of young women who were seen as brilliant success stories within the black community - smart and successful - only proves how completely inept and out of touch poor Don was.

He was trying to be funny.

But he wasn't funny any more.

Bye-bye, Don.

Good riddance.