Frank Rich Shares Imus's Disappointment About "Undisclosed Location"

Imus asked New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Frank Rich if his colleague, and Imus's friend, Maureen Dowd is in trouble for allegedly lifting a portion of yesterday's column from a popular blog.

"I find it hardly believable that a writer as original as Maureen would have cribbed something," said Rich. "It sounded like a fairly bland sentence was somewhat regurgitated. It wasn't a joke or a newsbreak."

The sentence in question, which speaks to the Bush administration's curious use of heightened torture techniques around the time they were building the case for war in Iraq, does not refer to an esoteric topic. Rich's own column touched on it just two weeks ago.

Imus accused the Times of throwing Dowd "under the bus" in their apology because they neglected to offer Dowd's own explanation, which is that a friend mentioned the idea to her on the phone without attributing the blogger, Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall.

"If you're a columnist, people are constantly throwing ideas at you," said Rich. "And it all becomes part of the mix. While much of what you write is attributed and sources are very clear cut, there are certain times when you're writing a column and stuff pops into your head and you don't know where it comes from."

Imus confessed he steals everything on his program (surprise!) but is always sure to properly attribute the source. One person who is easily attributed is Vice President Joe Biden, since he does not know when to shut up. Biden recently disclosed Dick Cheney's famous undisclosed location: the basement of his house.

"I had something in mind far more romantic, and sexy, and mysterious," said Imus, glumly. "Like where Bruce Wayne and those guys go."

Rich said this feeling of disappointment is not uncommon. "We always have these grand feelings about our government and its capabilities," he said. "We think it's going to be like James Bond, and it often turns out to be the most low-tech, unimaginative thing."

In yesterday's column, Rich called for a public airing out of the torture memos Obama released last month, but not in the fashion of Congressional hearings, which he suspects would degenerate into a "food fight."

"I think its going to have to be something like the 9/11 Commission, where you pick people who are out of politics from both parties," he said, and went on to name people like former Supreme Court Jutice Sandra Day O'Connor and former Congressman Lee Hamilton.

Imus had his own suggestions. "How about somebody who's not over 80?" He thought about it for a minute, and added, "How about Bernard and Lou?"

-Julie Kanfer