Cranky pants racist Don Imus, who forced himself into the headlines yesterday with a new bigoted remark to add to his collection, is now explaining away his statement as a just a little something everyone misunderstood. Discussing Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones yesterday morning, Imus was told on air that Jones has “been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005.” Imus asked, “What color is he?” and was told, “He’s African-American.” Said Imus: "Well, there you go. Now we know.”

To the casual observer, this might've sounded like Imus was saying, "Well of course the guy who's been arrested six times has skin that's been kissed by the sun!" But that's not the case, insists the ignoramus.

"I meant that he was being picked on because he's black," Imus said in a statement released by his spokesman.

As could be expected, Speaker For All Who Are Black, the Rev. Al Sharpton, laid into Imus before he tried explaining himself, saying, "I find the inference of his remark disturbing because it plays into stereotypes. We will determine in the next day or so whether or not his remark warrants direct action on our part."

More interesting, though, was Rutgers University women's basketball spokeswoman Stacey Brann's response: a no comment, telling the AP there was "no need to revisit the past." Yeah, like the Jim Crow era.