Frank Rich Too Busy Doing Other Stuff To Write Column Yesterday

Imus welcomed Frank Rich to the show this morning, and expressed his profound hope that his guest had a better Thanksgiving holiday than, say, Tiger Woods did. Rich felt some sympathy toward Woods, whose "minor car accident" in the wee hours of Friday morning is looking more and more like a domestic dispute between Woods and his wife.

"His privacy is going to be invaded," said Rich, a New York Times op-ed columnist. "But I guess that's what you sign up for when you become the superstar celebrity of any sport."

Or, as Imus pointed out, when you drive your car into a fire hydrant in your neighbor's yard, and they call the cops.

Speaking of crashing into things, two unknown lunatics from Virginia weaseled their way into last week's state dinner at the White House, bypassing the Secret Service even though their names were not on the guest list.

"It's really funny, up to a point," said Rich. "And then when you start to think about it...it's just unbelievable, and frightening."

That these two wackos turned out to be nobodies is irrelevant to Imus. Their ability to get inside what was supposed to be a tightly guarded event at an even more tightly guarded White House is astounding.

"The Secret Service, they certainly know the threats against this President are up 400 percent from what they were against President Bush," Imus said.

Given the "very angry" atmosphere in this country, Rich said the Secret Service should not be letting in "anybody in a party costume." It's unlikely, he added, that a terrorist trying to break security at the White House would storm in dressed in full fatigues.

Though Rich had no column in yesterday's paper ("How hard can it be to knock out 1,500 words?" one radio host wondered), he had no shortage of opinions on President Obama's decision on Afghanistan, which he will divulge in a speech tomorrow night.

"No one can make a case that this is a good thing," said Rich. "You hear the case, 'We must win! We can't afford to lose! We have to finish the job!' But what 'victory' is, what 'the job' is that we're finishing remains undefined."

Finally, Imus wondered whether President Obama was disingenuous about everything he promised during the campaign, or if, once elected, reality hit him in the face. Rich supposed the latter, but advised the President to stand up to the past.

And on top of his all that, Imus observed, "Now he has to worry that all the doors are locked at the White House, and the alarm's on."

-Julie Kanfer