Hello. My name is Tony. I'm a newspaper columnist. I'm one of the reasons the "Imus in the Morning" radio program simulcast on MSNBC has become a minor hit for the cable network.

See, I'm an enabler. People like me make it possible for a self-described "good man" like Don Imus to say bad things every day and get away with it.

Hard-core fans never hold Mr. Imus accountable for anything he says because he's "always joking." I've been a nominal fan of the show for many years, but now I'm trying to kick the habit.

That's why I've decided to turn to a higher power. Thank God for the Rev. Al Sharpton. He'll keep us honest. We know we can no longer reconcile our "liberal" politics with a passive consumption of "Imus in the Morning."

Not to make excuses, but a steady diet of "Imus" desensitizes you. Last week, I heard the exchange between Mr. Imus and his executive producer, Bernie McGuirk, about the NCAA women's basketball game pitting Rutgers against Tennessee and thought nothing of it. I've always assumed their intent was to sound as stupid and reactionary as possible. As usual, they succeeded brilliantly.

Mr. Imus: "That's some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and ..."

Mr. McGuirk: "Some hard-core hos."

Mr. Imus: "That's some nappy-headed hos there."

Later, Mr. McGuirk described the two teams as "Jigaboos vs. Wannabes," a reference to the combatants in Spike Lee's film "School Daze."

Maybe I yawned, but I wasn't outraged. As someone who tunes in "Imus" whenever NPR's "Morning Edition" gets too high-minded, I'm often sucked in by the show's menagerie of bigoted, sexist morons holding forth on the issues of the day.

I'm not proud of this. Many a well-meaning liberal has been swept along by the show's contagious idiocy. I've laughed more than once at the vile ramblings of Mr. McGuirk, the skin-headed stooge most responsible for egging on Don Imus' worst impulses.

If you thought white minstrelsy was restricted to segregated fraternities on elite campuses, you haven't heard Mr. McGuirk's parodies of what he and his misanthropic crew consider black English.

The late James Brown, former Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and poet Maya Angelou have been frequent objects of Mr. McGuirk's racial anxieties. Incredibly, Mr. McGuirk excoriated Sen. Hillary Clinton for "trying to sound black" during a speech at a Selma, Ala., church on the 40th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" last month.

"[Hillary will] have cornrows and gold teeth before this fight with [Sen. Barack] Obama is over," Mr. McGuirk opined with his usual sensitivity. He also complained about Ms. Clinton's alleged use of gang signs to excite black audiences.

With the exception of former Democratic U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., a man whose conservative politics obviously puts Mr. McGuirk and Mr. Imus at ease, black voices, especially those who don't sing, dance or play football, are conspicuously absent from "Imus in the Morning."

Frankly, that's why I watch the show. Since most of us will never be invited into the fellowship of elite opinion makers, watching "Imus" puts us within earshot of what journalists and politicians in the upper echelons talk about when blacks aren't around. It isn't pretty.

Until the Rev. Sharpton confronted Don Imus, he has never been challenged in a serious way by the Tim Russerts, John Kerrys, Joe Liebermans, Howard Finemans or Rick Santorums of the world.

Even MSNBC's "Countdown With Keith Olbermann," for all his snarky brilliance, has yet to showcase Mr. Imus or Mr. McGuirk on its "Worst Persons in the World" segment.

Columnist Clarence Page is the only "establishment" journalist to challenge Mr. Imus to change his bigoted ways on his show. It didn't work, and Mr. Page hasn't been invited back.

In the beginning, it was easy to rationalize an infatuation with "Imus." How bad could a show that regularly taunts minorities and women be when uber-liberals Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich are frequent guests? Pretty bad, I discovered.

Yesterday, Mr. Imus was a guest on the Rev. Sharpton's syndicated radio show. Without a paid posse to prop him up, the "I-man" cut a pathetic figure.

Still, I'd hate to see him lose his job. If he fires Mr. McGuirk, I think he has a reasonable shot at redemption. Maybe the most dignified thing for him to do is retire at the end of the year and devote his remaining days to his various charities.

Meanwhile, I hope that I can go cold-turkey and get this Imus monkey off my back. Although CBS Radio and MSNBC have made this easier by suspending Mr. Imus for two weeks, I don't plan to watch future broadcasts. Pray for me.