John LeBoutillier is a Glutton for Punishment. Around Here, That's a Good Thing

Former Congressman John LeBoutillier was banned from this program for a little while, but Imus deemed him officially un-banned today, and congratulated his guest on taking his banishment “like a man.”
 
But LeBoutillier is all too familiar with the I-Man’s ways, and knew how not to anger him. “I’ve listened since May of 1972,” he said. “I am the Imus listener.”
 
Now, however, he is an Imus guest, and as such is required to make thorough, concise, interesting observations while Imus pretends to listen and understand.
 
LeBoutillier, now a “nationally recognized right-wing nut,” according to Imus, thinks the results of the midterm elections earlier this month, where Republicans made substantial gains, are proof of a genuine fear among Americans that their country is declining.
 
“The country, like a billiard ball, is bouncing back and forth, left and right, looking quickly for a solution to that question: are we going down the drain?” he said. “Can we forestall it? Can we fix the problem?”
 
The Republicans and Democrats, in his view, don’t know how to handle anything, and have completely lost it. Case in point: Rep. John Boehner, the soon-to-be Speaker of the House, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, both Republicans, turned down an opportunity to meet tomorrow with President Obama.
 
“They are so afraid of meeting publicly with Obama for fear that the Tea Party and the Right will accuse them of doing a dirty deal with the devil,” LeBoutillier said. “Until they get that whole thing set on the Right between the Republicans and the Tea Party, and everybody’s together, they don’t even want to talk to the President of the United States.”
 
Unfortunately, elections in this country are won in the middle of the political spectrum, LeBoutiller said, and that middle “is sitting there, disgusted with both parties.”
 
Which is what gave rise to the Tea Party, a primarily economic movement. “Financially, we’ve spent the country into oblivion—federally, on a state level, and personally,” LeBoutillier said, adding, “We’re living beyond our means as people, and as a nation.”
 
Though Imus ascribes to Matt Taibbi’s theory that all this political nonsense is merely a diversion from larger, more disturbing financial dealings of people on Wall Street and in Washington, LeBoutiller is somewhat less skeptical.
 
“It’s two separate things going on at the same time,” he said.
 
After a few minutes talking about upcoming guest Bethany McLean’s first book about Enron, called The Smartest Guys in the Room, Imus declared the interview over.
 
“We’re out of time and we’ve accomplished nothing,” he said. “You answers were good, my questions weren’t. I don’t understand any of it, and I’m pretty much thinking about other stuff.”
 
-Julie Kanfer