MSNBC DROPS IMUS

MSNBC dropped toxic shock jock Don Imus this afternoon, after a day in which companies, pols, and network execs couldn't distance themselves from the host fast enough. The announcement came after General Motors and Sprint Nextel, the show's two biggest advertisers, pulled their sponsorship, and prez contender Barack Obama, intiially reticent on the issue, recommended firing.

"What matters to us most is that the men and women of NBC Universal have confidence in the values we have set for this company," MSNBC said in a statement. "This is the only decision that makes that possible." Bruce Gordon, a CBS board member and former director of the NAACP, has publicly suggested that Imus be fired, raising the question of how long CBS will hold out. (More MSNBC stories.)