Rep. Peter King: Fat Dope?

Though his list was deemed the worst five favorite songs ever, Rep. Peter King, a Republican from New York, thanked Imus for the opportunity to appear as a regular guest on this program.

“It’s truly a great honor,” said King. “It’d be better if I’d been on this show when you were still in your prime and in good health, but it’s still good to be on now.”

To which Imus replied, “You’re a fat dope.”

Having set the tone for the next ten minutes, Imus asked his guest what Congress can do to ensure BP pays out the $20 billion it set aside for the Gulf Coast residents whose lives have been decimated by BP’s disastrous oil spill in the region.

“Keep the heat on them,” said King, who gave President Obama props for going after the oil company last month. “They’ve shown from day one to be totally untrustworthy. They’ve botched this completely. They’ve lied about it.”

Imus wondered what Obama can do if BP doesn’t follow through with payments, and King’s response was to toot the horn of Ken Feinberg, who oversaw the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund and has been put in charge of administering the funds from BP.

“The President and Congress have to make it clear that we stand behind Ken Feinberg, and he has our full support,” said King, whose reply sounded more like “I don’t know” to the I-Man.

Like the rest of the House, King is up for reelection this year and will face opponents in both the primary and the general election. Accused of not taking it seriously because he didn’t know his opponent’s occupation, King said, “Why should I give him free publicity?”

As Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Committee, King is properly rankled about the release yesterday by a website called Wikileaks of 90,000 classified documents pertaining to the war in Afghanistan.

“We should prosecute whoever did this,” he said, and called putting at risk the lives of American men and women fighting overseas “disgraceful.” While King claimed the documents revealed no new information, any information at all can help the enemy.

King predicted the Republicans would  “probably” take back the House in November, but stipulated, “Anyone who’s counting on victory is making a big mistake.” Like Imus, King’s a fan of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who he’d support for President as long as Christie modifies his position about the MTV show “Jersey Shore.”

“This whole idea of blaming New York for the lowlifes in New Jersey,” said King. “The reason they go to New Jersey is it’s the only state they feel comfortable in!”

Low blow, Congressman.

-Julie Kanfer