What Fun: Karith Foster Debuting With Don Imus Today On WABC

UPDATE: Imus went on the air today and said not a word of defense about the reprehensible, sexist, racist comments he made last spring. Rather, he called his major gaffe a life changing experience. Good for him:

'Imus apologized to the basketball players and called the ensuing furor a "life-changing experience.

Imus' lineup of guests featured two presidential hopefuls, Democrat Chris Dodd and Republican John McCain. As he did several times in the days after the episode, Imus condemned his controversial remark last spring and said he had learned his lesson.

"I didn't see any point in going on some sort of 'Larry King' tour to offer a bunch of lame excuses for making an essentially reprehensible remark about innocent people who did not deserve to be made fun of," he said. '

Now let's move on.

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A new sidekick for Don Imus who covers all bases: A New York, Texas, Black, Jewish American female, who apparently has a sense of humor. And she can laugh at herself first and foremost. Sounds like fun. An excerpt from this morning's NY Post article:

Karith Foster, a Harlem resident who grew up outside Dallas, was brought on by Imus to ease tension stirred up by his racist comment about the Rutgers women's basketball team, which got him booted in April, sources said.

Foster was raised in upscale Plano, Texas, which she describes on her Web site as having “the ethnic diversity of a Klan rally."

After earning a degree in broadcast journalism from Missouri's Stephens College, she went on to study at Oxford University in England before taking a reporting job at ABC.

She later moved to the production team of Barbara Walters' “The View" - where she was exposed to the world of stand-up comedy.

She was soon appearing at several top comedy clubs, including Caroline's in New York and LA's The Laugh Factory.

Foster's TV credits include NBC's “Last Comic Standing" and the original “Showtime at the Apollo."

Despite her Texas roots, “I'm really a Jewish girl from Long Island trapped in this body, which technically makes me a JA-AP [Jewish African-American Princess]," she jokes on her Web site.

“So it's not ‘talk to the hand,' but ‘talk to the manicure.'"

I like it, I like her, I like the toned-down Imus and I like the idea that we live in a country that allows second and third chances, especially for people who can admit their mistakes and are genuinely sorry. Heaven knows we've all been there, and will be again.