I just can’t take it anymore.
This is the First Amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress off grievances.
Congress shall make no law. Get it?
No matter what you think about Imus and his racist comments, firing him is not a violation of his right to free speech. Now if (in some sci-fi version of reality) Congress or Bush and some representative of the state came down and silenced him for his remarks, his 1st Amendment rights would be violated.
But the right to Free Speech does not mean that everyone has a right to their own radio show, on which they can say what they damn well please, without market forces such as listener boredom or listener outrage influencing their future employment.
If Imus were fired because of the public outcry, his firing might or might not break stipulations of his employment contract, but the First Amendment would not be at play at all.