Rep. Peter King: Loser?
Congressman Peter King, a Republican from New York, was not well today, having heard Imus repeatedly refer to him as a loser for appearing on this show. But the Congressman was mistaken.
“I didn’t call you a loser for going on this show,” Imus gently explained. “I called you a loser, period.”
Then, because he wanted to make Imus feel bad, or something, King reported that he had recently been given a clean bill of health. “My prostate is fine, my heart is pumping like a 21-year old,” he said.
To which Imus replied, “You don’t look great,” and moved on.
King, an ardent supporter of Israel, has no problem with President Obama meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday. He takes issue, however, with Obama not meeting publicly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“To me, it sends the wrong signal,” said King. “It shows that he’s moving further away from Israel.”
In the wake of last week’s raid by Israel of a Turkish flotilla carrying aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip, Obama’s actions are especially troubling to King, who accused him of encouraging our enemies.
“I don’t think you would have had a country like Turkey involved in that flotilla two or three years ago,” said King. “But they’re getting such mixed signals from President Obama that he’s really weakening our position in the Middle East.”
Obama also called the situation in Gaza “unsustainable,” which King said implies that he’d like Israel to change its policy, and that Israel is the cause of the problems.
“That’s not true,” King insisted. “Israel has made concession after concession. Israel’s record is far from perfect, but it’s as perfect as anyone else’s in that region of the world; certainly far more than the Palestinians, far more than many of the Arab countries.”
The flaw with the President’s policy, in King’s view, is that it draws a moral equivalency between Israel and its enemies. “He compares Israel constructing some apartments in Jerusalem with Iran constructing a bomb,” King added.
A member of Congress for 17 years, King, like the rest of his colleagues, is up for reelection in November. Despite an anti-incumbent fever around the country, he’s expected to win handily.
“I have Bernard!” said King, referring to his favorite constituent and the executive producer of this show. He thinks the incumbents in trouble are those who have changed their positions, or those who have been too quiet. “For better or for worse, people know where I stand. I’m out there.”
Softened, Imus apologized for calling King a loser, but pointed out, “Facts are facts.”
-Julie Kanfer
Reader Comments (1)
Peter King IS a loser and a fraud.
He supported, funded, wrote execrable novels in favour of the IRA.
When it became politically expedient, he became Rudy Guiliani, Jr.
He's awful.
Imus is the best