The follow-up to my completely inaccurate prediction. Gotta admit, I didn't see it coming.
<http://redstateson.blogspot.com/2007/04/imussed.html>
...............
Surprised me too.
I think the team's press conference decisively tipped the scales against Imus. Their official reaction statement simply stated the facts: 'we've had a rough season...things finally turned around...we wanted to celebrate with friends and family and now this happens'. That changed the tone from an abstraction (yet another faux earnest back and forth about racism) to something very real.
Indeed, several of my colleagues, whose first reaction was "it was wrong but let's keep things in perspective" completely melted in favor of the women after the press event and began saying that Imus had to go.
Beyond the media circus there's a lesson in this: an object lesson taught by these young women and their coach on how to handle this sort of thing in the age of hyper-real media.
.d.