John McCain, Surge Supporter, Shows Little Empathy for Imus

Fresh of a visit to Imus's hometown of Kingman, Arizona, Senator John McCain reported that some of the local law enforcement people still remember the I-Man. "You kept them busier than most any of the other citizens," McCain said.

Less busy are the 10 percent of Americans who are unemployed, down from 10.2 percent in October, according to today's jobs report. So, unemployment looks good, huh?

"In Kingman, I can tell you they don't feel anything except enormous pain," he said. "They're not able to stay in their homes, they're not able to keep their jobs. I'm sure Wall Street will go up, I'm sure there will be more bonuses by these obscene manipulators."

Imus thus rephrased his question: "Boy, those unemployment numbers suck, don't they?"

Though he was glad to see some improvement, McCain insisted, "People are madder than I have ever seen them in my life, and frankly, I'm madder."

McCain was kinder toward President Obama and the administration on the decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, he is just confused about the certain date — July 2011 — that Obama has set for withdrawal. Secretaries Gates and Clinton claim the date is conditional, while the President says it's "chiseled in stone."

"Our allies, the Afghans, the Pakistanis, and all the countries in the region now are wondering, 'What in the hell is going on?'" said McCain, swearing unnecessarily. "The best way to get out of there is to succeed, and the best way to succeed is to make sure that our enemies know we're getting the job done, just like we got it done in Iraq despite all the people who said it would never work, including the current President."

While the Senator paused for air, Imus wondered what "getting the job done" means.

"It means exactly what we did in Iraq," said McCain. "You clear, you hold, you build. You get the people on your side, you build up the military, you hand over the responsibility to them, and they move forward. And the country can no longer be a base for attacks on the United States of America and our allies."

Oh, that's all?

In Iraq, where the surge that McCain supported has brought a reasonable level of stability to the country, troops are no longer in the cities, and McCain vaguely predicted that "over time" the U.S. would have less than 30,000 total troops in Iraq. He further maintained that Iraq would never return to the way it was before.

"Democracy is a very imperfect kind of process," he said. "There's still corruption and sectarian problems and violence, but there sure as hell won't be Saddam Hussein."

McCain, admittedly worried about the numerous domestic and international challenges facing the U.S., displayed far less concern for the I-Man's challenges.

"I'm glad those guys are beating up on you this morning," he told Imus, referring to Bernard and Charles. "Keep it up, guys!"

-Julie Kanfer