Suppose you were walking through a fancy club locker room and overheard some guys

[librechik]

talking real racist and misogynist, with a lot of dirty slang and laughter, urging each other on and on with their quips. You were offended by the luridness of the language, and were not surprised it was so secret, in a locker room. That's the way the world works, you think, a lot of big shots doing their deals and talking about pussy, & comparing dicks. No women allowed, and no blacks either. Nothing you can do about that--it's private!

Then you walked around the corner and instead of a bunch of lowlifes you saw it was Senators, Congressmen, and Governors, and mayors, and highly respected news anchors and reporters that were doing all the trash talking. And instead of the privacy of the locker room, they were sitting in front of network micropohones, broadcasting their insider talk and woman-hating filth proudly to the whole world.

Imus was like getting a glimpse into the private world of the Good Old Boys Club of DC, revealing their private locker room deals and attitudes to a world they seemed hardly aware of, so self absorbed are they. And instead of repulsive lowlifes, the speakers are the distinguished elite who lord it over us in their professional lives, bashing bloggers and lying and carrying water for the Republicans.

That's what was so shocking about it. Our elite leaders are mere assholes like the worst Tony Soprano thugs. Now they will be more secretive about their hatred. But it will still drive them and ruin our media and discourse in the process.