Few People Recognize Jeff Greenfield, But Imus Recognizes His Good Taste In Music

Imus was impressed that "an intellectual, geek, egghead from Yale" like Jeff Greenfield would have such good taste in music, including the likes of Paul Simon, Dire Straits, and Van Morrison in his five favorite songs.

Greenfield, CBS News's senior political correspondent, actually went to the University of Wisconsin, but that's beside the point. A lifelong music fan, he recalled with great affection being told by his father to "turn down the damn radio" while doing his homework.

"You're almost making me and Lupica want to hang out with you," Imus declared.

It turns out Greenfield also has love for Mike Lupica, who wrote in yesterday's New York Daily News about Jimmy Breslin, arguably the greatest columnist in New York City history.

Breslin, who is being honored this evening at New York University by Lupica and others, was "a newsman's newsman," Greenfield explained, and covered all walks of New York life, from the mob, to politics, to the infamous Son of Sam murders. But loving Breslin is not the only thing Greenfield and Lupica have in common.

"I used to write occasionally about sports," said Greenfield. "I went to Boston in the mid-70s, and I met this impossibly young, already very talented, very short sportswriter."

Imus wondered why Greenfield had to add "very short" to his description of Lupica. "What's happened to you?" Imus asked his guest. "You come on this program, and you turn into me!"

To prove he was in no way becoming Imus, Greenfield went on to eloquently assess President Obama's approach to solving the financial crisis. Whether it was a good idea to choose people like Tim Geithner, Robert Rubin, and Larry Summers to lead this country's recovery "may turn out to be the most significant question of his whole economic policy," Greenfield. He criticized the President for choosing men so closely connected to Wall Street, and to its failures.

"Roosevelt's approach to The Depression was how little he consulted Wall Street," said Greenfield. "His economic program was shaped largely on the run, by people who came out of academia and social work, who did not come with Wall Street assumptions."

To close Face The Nation yesterday, Bob Schieffer scolded Tiger Woods for complaining about the trials of fame. Tiger, it seems, got annoyed when people asked him to sign autographs.

"I'm annoyed when people don't ask me," Imus confessed. "I'm bummed out for the entire day."

As for Greenfield, he gets the odd stare every now and then on the street, he said, "mostly by people who think I went to school with them."

-Julie Kanfer