Blonde on Blonde on Blonde: Oprah's Preferences; Grown Men Crying; and What to do About Smokers

Imus was confronted today by a gang of blonds consisting of his wife Deirdre, her pal Lis Wiehl, and the addition of Meghan McCain, who, besides being the daughter of Senator John McCain, is also an accomplished author and blogger for The Daily Beast. He made it out alive, but others did not (Hi, Larry Gatlin).
 
Meghan joined today’s Blonde on Blonde (on Blonde) because Imus sought the opinion of, as he put it, “a younger person,” though at his age, pretty much anybody meets that requirement.
 
First, everyone agreed that a website called RateBU.com, where people vote on pictures of female students at Boston University based on who they think is hotter, is stupid, but permissible.
 
“Mark Zuckerberg did this like five years ago,” Meghan said, referring to Facebook’s founder. “I think it’s sexist, but I think unfortunately, it happens all the time.”
 
So does speculation about sexual orientation, at least if you’re Oprah Winfrey, who was recently asked by Barbara Walters whether she is a lesbian.
 
“That’s really an inappropriate thing to do,” Lis said, though Deirdre took a different position, saying, “I’m always intrigued by someone’s sexual preference.” Meghan was not offended at all, noting that she’s been asked every question under the sun about her own sex life.
 
Imus then asked Bernard to chime in, or as he put it, “Blonde on Blonde on Blonde on Bald.” “It was fine in the context, because the rumors are out there,” Bernard said. “It gave Oprah a chance to clear it up.”
 
Last Friday, President Obama met with former President Bill Clinton, and left the elder statesman to face the press in the White House briefing room while he skedaddled, claiming he was late for a date with his wife Michelle.
 
“Democrats always have to call in backup—Republicans fight their own battles,” Meghan said. “I loved it. It was such a wimpy move.”
 
While Lis thought it was “a bad move” for Obama to leave Clinton to do his bidding, she did not think the issue was a question of party affiliation. Deirdre countered with, “I can’t picture, frankly, a Republican doing that.”
 
Even more to the point, Imus told Lis, “You are such a weenie, it’s unbelievable!”
 
He was admittedly hostile today toward Lis because she appeared on another Fox News show alongside the country music singer turned political analyst Larry Gatlin, who set Imus off when he suddenly appeared in the studio.
 
“You can’t be a human being and be dumber than Larry Gatlin,” Imus said.
At least Gatlin didn’t start weeping at the insult, as future House Speaker John Boehner did on “60 Minutes” the other night while discussing his hopes for the children of America.
 
“My father’s old school, and grown men crying makes me very uncomfortable,” Meghan said. “I don’t cry on television, ever, as a general rule. Just run the country, please stop telling me about your emotions.”
 
Deirdre was fine with Boehner’s emotional display, but suspected something is lurking below the surface. Her husband got a little more specific. “There’s a bag of boys’ underwear in his closet,” he surmised about Boehner, a two-pack-a-day smoker.
 
“Ew,” Meghan said, on learning of this nasty habit. “I think that’s a sign of weakness.”
 
But people still do it all the time, and it’s particularly bothersome and disgusting in apartment buildings, where smoke wafts through paper-thin walls. Though Lis said smokers have a legal right to do what they want in their homes, Imus dealt accordingly with the smokers in his own building.
 
“You know what’s going to happen if they don’t stop smoking?” he said. “They’re going to stop breathing.”
 
Luckily, Imus made it through Blonde on Blonde on Blonde today without befalling the same fate. 
 
-Julie Kanfer