How could I, a Black guy, a leftist, a person with feminist sympathies, a man who's sweet to women, listen to Stern who, in his terrestrial radio heyday many described as Satan's right-hand man if not Old Scratch himself.
Simple: he's a talented, if flawed, comedian and stories of his evil are wildly exaggerated. As Seinfeld once said to him, during an interview he gave to Howard long ago - back when his radio show was only syndicated to two cities: Philly and LA - 'you're talented but sometimes you allow your worse impulses to win and you go astray.'
The Imus drama has special significance for long-time Stern fans: for years and years Howard told anyone who would listen that Don Imus (with whom Howard used to work when during his career's formative years) was deeply racist, sexist and a scam artist to boot (Imus' financially questionable "ranch" for sick children received merciless scrutiny from Stern).
I remember - because Howard told the story many times - a vignette about Imus ruthlessly insulting a Black female employee of CBS years ago using language pretty similar to what he tossed at the Rutgers team.
Howard described Imus as his enemy...many times. I imagine he's enjoying a cup of sake at Nobu in celebration of his adversary's well deserved descent.
.d.