Joe Klein joins the Hypocrite chorus on Don Imus

To be fair, Joe may believe that Imus, Wolfowitz and Gonzales are all guilty and just thinks that any attempt to hold them accountable is the equivilant of a lynch mob.

In any event, the "scape goat" analogy, in whatever form, only has validity if we stop with Imus. I, for one, hope that Imus is only the beginning. If, as Joe seems to argue, Imus is merely giving public voice to private behavior, the solution is not to give him a pass. That would only validate such private expressions of bigotry and encourage the proliferation of its enablers in the media and punditocrocy.

Rather, we should strive to insure that very next professional gasbag who engages in similar pandering to the worst impulses in our society gets exactly the same as Imus did. It's called setting a standard for public behavior.

Interesting that Joe finds holding political and media insiders to account dangerously toxic. The kind of poison spouted by Imus which Joe implies is commonplace in the National locker room? Not so much.

Not sure what Rev. Al Sharpton's checkered past has to do with anything. But if Joe wants to run him out of the public discourse, he's welcome to try.