Can Someone Let Us Know if Carl Jeffers Is Still Talking?

Imus led into this morning's interview with Carl Jeffers's by playing a Frank Sinatra song, one of Jeffers's favorites. But Imus made sure to indicate he had done so under duress, though he likes Sinatra's songs "Cycles," which, when it was released as a 45, was on the flip side of Sinatra's hit song "My Way."

"'My Way' is not at the top of my list," said Jeffers. "But in the late 60s, Sinatra had some great arrangements."

Naturally, Jeffers listed some of these arrangements, but caught himself extrapolating and decided it was time to move on, because talking about Sinatra for 30 minutes was probably not what the I-Man had in mind today.

"No, I only want to talk about Sinatra," Imus joked, and Jeffers stopped talking for a few seconds to howl with laughter.

As they shifted topics to the plight of New York Governor David Paterson, about whom rampant rumors of sex and drugs have been spread but not substantiated this week, Jeffers took the opportunity to wail on Mike Lupica. Earlier today, Lupica said that Paterson knows his opponent Andrew Cuomo is responsible for these rumors, even though he has not said it outright.

"Governor Paterson has never asserted that he thinks it's Andrew Cuomo," said Jeffers. "He has asserted that he thinks there is an effort in the press, in the journalistic media, to essentially smear him."

Imus cautioned his guest against criticizing Lupica, and insisted that Paterson knows Cuomo is orchestrating this campaign against him. Jeffers, by contrary, saluted the Governor for showing restraint, at least in public, which is too often not the case.

"You can assert that because you're a responsible journalist," Imus said. "I, however, am not."

Jeffers moved from Paterson's political health to President Bill Clinton's literal health. Glad to see Clinton out of the hospital following yesterday's angioplasty procedure, Jeffers believes the former President is actually helping the current one.

"One of the reason that, since the very early stages of the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton's personal poll numbers have consistently been the highest of anybody in the administration, including the President, is because in tandem with Bill Clinton, they've done such an effective job in the Secretary of State's office," said Jeffers.

This went on a bit longer, before Imus chimed in, "Are you still talking?"

Yes, yes he was. And somewhere out there, he probably still is.

-Julie Kanfer