Frank Rich: Obama's Speech "Somewhat somber, and we're in a big mess."

Imus welcomed New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Frank Rich to the show today. Rich gave Imus some advice about how to handle his persistent jaw pain."The only solution is drugs," he offered. "Massive amounts of drugs."

Regarding Caroline Kennedy's withdrawal from consideration for Hillary Clinton's U.S. Senate seat, Rich thinks a lot of the reporting on the incident was wrong and that Kennedy simply got "cold feet." He highlighted the inherent humor of New York Gov. David A. Paterson's attempt to make everything seem "honky-dory" by having lunch yesterday with new Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Senator Chuck Schumer.

"They were squeezed around a table at what looked like a diner, trying to act as if they all loved each other and this was a great moment in the history of the state of New York," said Rich, laughing. "It really was something out of Pravda."

Imus informed his guest that the foursome had in fact dined at the Waldorf Astoria, an inappropriately expensive choice since "the wheels are coming off the world."

Rich was curious to learn that Imus reads the New York Times almost exclusively online. This shift among readers is turning into a huge problem affecting all segments of the print industry. The question, Rich said, is how to keep online content free.

"The Times has done this amazing series called 'The Reckoning' about all the things that went wrong that contributed to this financial meltdown," said Rich. "But that requires many reporters spending many hours of work looking through records, interviewing people. It takes months of time and it costs money!"

On the subject of problems with no end in sight, Rich thought President Barack Obama's inaugural speech was smart because it was "somewhat somber, and we're in a big mess."

"He was telling the public, we've had a free ride with cheap credit; and everyone gone mad with consumerism; and believing in the bubble and ballooning stock prices; and that housing prices could rise forever," Rich said. "The party's over, and there's going to be pain, and we're all going to have to share it."

Rich agreed with Fred Imus's point that Obama talked to the American public more in the first twenty minutes of his presidency than Bush did in eight years. He added that Obama is taking a page from FDR's book.

"People are frightened. He's got to be out there," Rich said about Obama. "It doesn't mean he'll succeed; we'll have to see what the results are. But I think it's a pretty strong start."

-Julie Kanfer