The LATimes' Mary McNamara is calling on Fox News to pull John Gibson off the air because of his "hate-filled, and prepared, mockery of actor Heath Ledger's death." McNamara was not specific about which platform (radio or TV) Gibson should be pulled from.

McNamara continues: "That Gibson would choose the event of a young man's death — a young heterosexual man, it must be said — to exercise his 'right' to homophobia is not just a matter of taste, it's an issue of policy." Then asking: "What is Fox News' policy about the language of hate?"

If this reminds you of another radio personality's recent tour through the early stages of (at least temporary) career death — denial, anger, bargaining — there's good reason. Don Imus lost his show as a result of a similar "joke" — a racist reference to the Rutgers women's basketball team — and there is no good reason why Gibson's fate should not be similar.

• Earlier: Gibson Addresses Ledger Comments...