Bob Kerrey Receives I-Man's Blessing for New Gig

Sometime in the next few months, former U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey will leave his post as President of the New School University. Luckily, he’s not charged with the task of choosing his replacement.

“Your phone would be ringing off the hook if I were picking,” he told Imus, laughing.

Kerrey’s next gig will likely be as President of the Motion Picture Association of America, the post once held by the I-Man’s pal Jack Valenti.  As for whether this new role would compel him to comment on Mel Gibson’s vicious verbal rant against his ex-girlfriend, Kerrey said, “God, no. Other than I hope I never have to listen to it again.”

Kerrey was compelled, however, to comment on the LeBron James spectacle of last week, telling Imus he thinks James screwed up by deciding to play for Miami in the manner that he did.  

“ESPN encouraged him, and I don’t know who else,” Kerrey said of the network’s hour-long television special dedicated to James’s choice. “But they made a big mistake. He looked silly.”

Not as silly as the Mineral Management Service, which has always done a lousy job, in Kerrey’s view, of regulating oil companies. “They’ve got 10 or 20,000 leases that they have to manage of various mineral rights that are on federal property,” he pointed out, but added that the $15-20 billion in yearly profits from oil, gas, and coal falls into general treasury. “So the Department of the Interior, and particularly MMS, is under-funded.”

He likened the BP oil disaster to the financial catastrophe on Wall Street, saying, “If you don’t regulate these guys, they’re doing things that are going to cost people a heck of a lot of money.”

Yet the inadequacy and inefficiency of the MMS has been known for years, Kerrey said. “The Obama administration had plenty of warning that this agency was in need of substantial strengthening,” he added.   

He questions BP’s ability to survive all of the legal claims, both civil and criminal, being filed against them. “Certainly they’re going to find themselves being challenged at every turn when they say, ‘Don’t worry, we’ve got it covered,’” said Kerrey.

Naturally, Imus had been thinking about something else during these last few minutes: how Kerrey’s new position at the MPAA would benefit Imus.

“It’s a great job, and it’s not going to be a stretch to continue to invite you on this program,” he said. “So it works out well for me, too. I just want you to know that.”

And sighs of relief coming from the MPAA could be heard all over town…

-Julie Kanfer