Imus Says Little During 'Chat' with Carl Jeffers. For a Change.

Note to Imus in the Morning guests: if your taste in music does not mirror the I-Man’s, prepare to be grilled.

Such was the case for Carl Jeffers this morning, the political pundit whose five favorite songs include records by Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, and someone named Peter Cincotti. Attempting to prove that his tastes are, in fact, eclectic, Jeffers listed among his other favorite songs titles by Van Morrison and the Ellington Band.

But this was neither here nor there for Imus, who told his verbose guest, “I’m going to send Charles Rangel to your house to kill you in your sleep.”

Since Jeffers insisted he possessed a “broad spectrum of interest in music,” Imus challenged him to name a Bruce Springsteen song (no luck), an Eagles song (nope), or a Madonna song (he doesn’t like her very much).

Though his musical knowledge might be limited, Jeffers possesses a range of thoughtful opinions on newsier subjects, so Imus stuck to those going forward.

Jeffers agreed with RNC Chairman Michael Steele’s off-the-cuff comment last week that Afghanistan is a war of “Obama’s choosing,” even though Steele has gotten a lot of flack for saying so.

In discussing this point with Imus a few months ago, Jeffers recalled, “I said, remember, once these troops are committed, the war in Afghanistan becomes President Obama’s war…and the results would be the results of his efforts, and of the military strategies that his commanders implement.”

It’s not unlike the Vietnam War, Jeffers posited, which many Americans associate with President Lyndon B. Johnson, even though his predecessor John F. Kennedy was the first to send military advisors to the country.

“But we think of LBJ because he was the one who escalated the war to the level that we had 500,000 American troops there, and prosecuted it on the basis that is affected the culture here in America,” said Jeffers. “In the same way, Afghanistan was obviously George Bush’s originally, but with the surge and the current efforts there to ramp up, it becomes President Obama’s. And that is who we will think about with Afghanistan.”

He noted that Steele was wrong on pretty much every other point he made during this ill-advised speech at a fundraiser. He is also being roundly criticized, for calling the war in Afghanistan “unwinnable.”

“For the last ten years, since 2001, anytime a Democrat…would question what the ultimate results could be about the efforts in Iraq in Afghanistan, they were immediately accused of being unpatriotic, of not supporting the troops, and being less than honest about the true efforts that America was making,” said Jeffers.

It is therefore fitting, in his view, “that now a Republican who makes the same statement be subject to the same ridicule.”

Besides, “Every man rises to his own level of incompetence,” said Jeffers. “This may be the ultimate incompetent level for him.”

Don’t hold your breath, Carl. Though you’re probably not likely to do that anyway.

-Julie Kanfer