The AP writes about the big debate showdown…

UPDATE: YouTube has a clip of the debate…

“Consumers have the right to say to advertisers, are your standards going to be where people are attacked based on your gender and race?” Sharpton said.

McGuirk countered that Sharpton “terrorized these spineless, thumbsucking executives” into taking Imus off the air. In an earlier appearance on “Hannity & Colmes,” he said the executives “were in a fetal position under their desks sucking their thumbs on their BlackBerrys, trying to coordinate their response.”

Sharpton responded: “What he is saying is we want to apologize and we want to decide what the penalty is.” He said that most people wanted Imus fired, including a minister who arranged Imus’ meeting with the Rutgers team, and many NBC employees.

“Is Al Roker one of these guys hiding under the desk with a BlackBerry?” Sharpton asked.

McGuirk said that Imus “made one small mistake. He ran a red light” and shouldn’t have been fired.

He asked Sharpton. “Who elected you the PC police chief? Who elected you to anything?”

As does The New York Post’s Hasani Gittens…
(more…)