Quote from kut2k2:
Let's put it this way: Imus had a window of opportunity in which he could turned this whole thing largely to his advantage.
He had the microphone and the camera, so had he been sincere or even just clever enough to realize that the targets he chose were the wrong ones, he could have said something like
"Look, yesterday I went over the line and said some awful things about some decent young ladies that were uncalled for. Worse, I used some racially loaded language from the rap culture that I should have realized was totally inappropriate. I would like to ask those young women for the opportunity to apologize to them in person and to assure them that nothing like that will ever happen here again."
He could have cut Sharpton & Company off at the pass, had he just realized that he had gone too far in his shock jock schtick. If Sharpton still came out later to get him fired, Imus could have (had his staff done the research) pointed out why Sharpton was unqualified to be pointing fingers at anybody else (Tawanna Brawley, etc.)
But he totally blew it by legitimatizing Sharpton, going on Sharpton's show, and delivering a late apology loaded with excuses like his charity work and his support of Harold Ford. Weak.
He still might not have saved his job(s) but he would have come off looking vastly better than he has.