ABSTRACT
President Clinton has walked out on Don Imus' performance at the Radio and TV Correspondents' dinner, maybe first getting Newt Gingrich to go with him. A walk-out could have changed the subject—making Clinton's behavior and not Imus' the issue. The degraded-discourse argument hovers over Imus' radio show too, mostly because he is both a sophisticated political interviewer and a comedian arrested at the level of penis jokes and towel-snapping insults. Yet there is a clear trivializing aspect to Imus's demand that his polls and reporters be crisp, quick, and entertaining. Massachusetts Governor William Weld, denounced as a "dud" by Imus after an insufficiently sprightly performance, now goes on the show with a bunch of one-liners and jokes. One of Imus' less lovable traits is his habit of alternately praising and abusing guests. Now Imus is abusing Cokie Roberts for boycotting the show over his speech.
