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Don Imus returned to the radio Monday morning - almost eight months after he was fired for making racially-charged remarks about members of the Rutgers women's basketball team, by saying: "What happened is what should have happened."

Imus' new show, a simulcast between WABC (770 AM) and the cable network RFD-TV, began with the host talking for about 15 minutes about the Rutgers drama.

What he realized, he said, is that "even if I'm a good person, that doesn't give me license to say something reprehensible about people who don't deserve it."

He referred to the new show as a "second chance" and a "rejuvenation," and he has added two black members to his regular cast: comic Karith Foster, who used to work on "The View," and comic Tony Powell, who yesterday was doing sports.

Neither was a major presence today, though Powell was the only person to make a semi-light Rutgers reference.

Long-time regulars Charles McCord, Rob Bartlett, Larry Kenny, Bernard McGuirk and Lou Ruffino also said relatively little.

Producer McGuirk said nothing, though he was on the stage at Town Hall for yesterday's live kickoff show.

A number of familiar Imus guests returned, including historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, Presidential candidates John McCain and Chris  Dodd, and political consultants James Carville and Mary Matalin.

Imus sounded slightly rusty on his interview rhythms with McCain, though that may have had more to do with McCain himself sounding a little punchy.

Otherwise, Imus seemed to relax as the show went on. He also looked refreshed – enough that there will probably be some speculation about whether he had some facial work done.

He promised, in any case, that the basics "will not change. . . . Dick Cheney is still a war criminal and Hillary Clinton is still Satan."