I could be talking about the North Vietnamese Communists parading American POWs in front of the international press in 1967. But I'm not. I'm talking about the Rutgers women basketball team's press conference condemning Don Imus's reference to them as "nappy-headed hos."

The real story here isn't about Imus's insulting comments, for which he lost both his radio and television shows. It's not even about the hypocrisy of black politicians who tolerate black musicians calling black women hos while calling for the head of an old white guy who said it once. It's really about media bias on issues of race and sex.

When did you last see a television discussion of race that focused on anything but white prejudice? What about the black crime rate? A 2000 study by Nathaniel Pallone of Rutgers University showed that the black homicide rate is 315% greater than their representation in the U.S. population. It's even higher -- 404% -- for sexual assault.

What about the increasing pathology of the black community since the 1960s? Are all the drugs, crime, and family breakdown the result of white prejudice? Do we need to look at other factors such as the destruction of black families headed by men? Why are Islam's patriarchal religion and family structure appealing to many black men and women today?

The Imus controversy was another opportunity for the mainstream media to put on the same old talking heads spouting the same old spiel about women. Is the biggest problem facing America gender income disparities or the disappearance of families headed by fathers?

The inordinate amount of media attention focused on Imus's insulting comments ensured that CBS and NBC would throw him to the wolves. Were the Rutgers women truly crushed by the comments of this crotchety old geezer? If so, life is going to be awfully hard for them. It looked too much like crocodile tears to me.

I never liked Don Imus. I was an occasional viewer of the show but was disgusted by the sporadic vulgar comments. But his simulcast radio show on MSNBC was often the best thing on television. Imus never let his reporter and politician guests blow smoke. Imus's interviews were often better than anything on the mainstream news shows.

CBS and NBC should have clamped down on him years ago but did nothing, apparently because his show was a moneymaker. It was only when the recent media criticism spun out of control that they figured he was a liability. The spineless weasels at CBS and NBC clearly overreacted to the hysteria.

Yes, CBS and NBC gave Imus too much rope, and he hung himself.

Too bad he couldn't trade places with OJ Simpson. At least he'd be out on the golf course, enjoying himself.