It’s over for Don Imus….temporarily, I presume. CBS honcho Leslie Moonves pulled the plug on “Imus in the Morning” earlier today, and this combined with MSNBC’s decision yesterday to drop its simulcast of the radio show means the guy is totally over and lights out. For now. Obviously an economic decision due to sponsor queasiness about sticking with Imus with the racial context heating up and the Sharpton-generated calls for his dismissal. Never pick on the unpowerful. Imus will make some more amends, and then go off to his ranch and chill for a few months, and then his show will return on some other network. Within a year, I’m guessing.

The Drudge Report has this transcript of what Imus said this morning: “My position on all of this is not whining about the hideously hypocritical coverage from the newspapers — from everybody — or the lack of support, say, from people like Harold Ford, Jr. who I had my life threatened over supporting and all these kind of things. It all began, and it doesn’t make any difference — like [James] Carville said — stop talking about the context, it doesn’t make any difference. If I hadn’t have said it I wouldn’t be here. So let’s stop whining about it. You gotta stop complaining. I said a stupid, idiotic thing that desperately hurt these kids. I’m going to apologize but we gotta move on.”