From the moment someone took note of Don Imus’ comments, the news narrative that would inevitably emerge was disturbingly familiar: it was Mel Gibson, Michael Richards and Tim Hardaway all over again.

Interestingly, though, often out of the sensationalistic morass, when more thoughtful columnists and commentators step back and look at the big picture, we get some pretty good insights — not into the Imus debate itself, but into the culture that somehow latches onto these moments as touchstones.

Speaking of constructing news narratives, CNN (yeah, CNN, which almost renamed itself the Imus News Network this week, instead choosing This-Is-A-Big-Problem-for-MSNBC News Network) did a nice job of interviewing a variety of sources on how the Imus story is the same old, same old — and the product of market forces rather than journalistic motivations.

For example, Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, believes that “the cycle of slur/apology/victim’s-group demand/greater apology/contrition-rehab has run its course,” while Char Miller, director of urban studies at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, claims that “by combining racism and sexism, he increased the animosity” — and the response is appropriate.

In separate piece for the New York Times, Selena Roberts navigates a middle road by saying that it’s the racism and sexism that feels dated:

Ho is the new bitch. And bitch is the old sissy. But whatever the label, women are always first to be part of the gag when sexism and misogyny are publicly sanctioned and celebrated — particularly in sports.

She compiles a list of recent, subtler instances of misogyny coming from the mouths of sports figures.

In the end, Roberts reminds us, maybe Essence Carson, captain of the Rutgers basketball team mocked by Imus, said it best when she claimed their response wasn’t going to be about Imus at all but about “attacking an issue we know isn’t right.”