Once Matt Drudge's report about Don Imus' return to talk radio was posted, his phone probably started ringing off the hook as members of the media elite tripped over themselves to welcome the I-man back to the public airwaves.

The reason is simple: Imus' following is too large too ignore. In this age of declining TV ratings for the network news and declining newspaper circulation, media companies want to reach out to his audience, not turn their back on them. Advertisers will eventually return too once they believe that Imus has really learned his lesson. WABC, the New York station that will be Imus' new home, will have his show on a 40-second delay for that very reason.

The fact that Imus' got a second chance and may even get a third or a fourth one isn't surprising considering the terrible shape of the radio business. Radio listeners of the 1980s and 1990s are today's Internet surfers and iPod users. Stations are desperate for talent such as Imus who already have a following. That's why shock jocks including Opie And Anthony will always have a job in radio waiting for them whenever they get fired for saying something offensive.

Fox News' Bill O'Reilly stirred up a hornets nest in the mainstream media when he attempted to give a compliment to Sylvia's, a famous restaurant in Harlem, saying: "It was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people were sitting there, and they were ordering and having fun."

Was the host of the "O'Reilly Factor" expecting a drive-by shooting before the main course was served, or for his fellow diners to start spontaneously rapping? Believe it or not, he dined at Sylvia's with the Rev. Al Sharpton and even picked up the check.

What O'Reilly said was obviously stupid, but is it any dumber than the other stuff he says on his broadcast? Media Matters, the liberal media watchdog group he despises, has compiled a list of his racially insensitive remarks here, which shows O'Reilly's comments on his radio show on September 19 were par for the course.

I am amazed that people are amazed by Bill O'Reilly. Evey time O'Reilly shoots off his mouth or bullies someone, people always act like something new has happened. It seems like they've never watched his show or even heard of the guy. That's why people who suggest O'Reilly is in hot water for his remarks about Sylvia's are wrong. His inflammatory rhetoric is still ratings gold. Why would News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) honcho Rupert Murdoch punish O'Reilly for being himself?

By the way, some enterprising promoter should book Sharpton and O'Reilly on the rubber chicken circuit. You can bet that some business groups would pay big bucks to have these two titans debate each other over the pressing issues of the day like rock'em sock'em robots. I sure would want to attend that conventions.

Let me first make my stance completely clear. As a member of the proud, yet possibly coarse foundation of American society I wish to make an open declaration based on my First Amendment right of free speech: Don Imus has made himself a broadcast journalistic wimp of the highest order.

I DO NOT condone the words that Imus chose to spew in regard to a specific class of athlete, but I do support his right to open his mouth and forcefully insert his own foot. But somewhere along the line Imus must have missed the memo which clearly explained that it's one thing to denigrate a class of athletes with whom you do not associate and who are in no position to immediately refute you and it's a completely different thing to tell someone like Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) CEO Rex Tillerson to sit down and shut up. (Umm, yeah I blogged that).

I could end this rant right here and consider myself fulfilled in chastising Mr. Imus but I really haven't brought this full circle yet. It's not enough that I simply rake him over the coals for his poor choice of wording. For me, there's yet a larger issue.