Don't Mess With This Weiner

The soon-to-be-wed (for now) Anthony Weiner has a temperament well-suited to dealing with the I-Man, which is exactly what he was forced to do this morning.

Told that “everybody” was trying to score an invite to his nuptials, Weiner, a congressman from New York, wondered if Imus was looking to revamp the always hilarious “Who’s invited to Charles’s house for Thanksgiving?” bit.

Moving on to something a bit more current, like the attempted bombing of Times Square two weeks ago, Weiner criticized government officials for succumbing to the pressure to provide information to the public with little regard for accuracy.

“We’re on a 24-hour news station right now that demands these answers,” he said of why some officials claimed initially—and wrongly—that  a “lone wolf” had perpetrated the attack. “It’s a tough environment to be fighting terrorism in.”

Weiner conceded that he and his fellow government representative should always be honest with the American people about security threats.

“Sometimes we get a little bit amped up too much, and sometimes we don’t do nearly enough,” he said, and expressed disappointment over the Department of Homeland Security announcing yesterday that they’ll be cutting New York’s terrorism funding.

“Springfield, Massachusetts is going to get transit security funding at a time when New York’s getting ours cut, after this Times Square attack,” said Weiner, a Democrat. “It’s a question of whether or not we’re going to engage in politics on this stuff, or we’re going to try to be honest.”

Imus chastised all elected officials for saying one thing to get elected and doing another once in office, which Weiner took issue with. “I think, for the most part, elected officials say what they mean,” he said. “They might not always be able to deliver on it.”

Weiner supports President Obama’s nomination of Elena Kagen to the Supreme Court, and hopes she’ll move the Court further to the Left, or at least more toward the Center.

“Why don’t we just get somebody who will interpret the Constitution and not bring baggage of their own to the court?” Imus wondered. To Weiner’s protest that judges are human beings who read the newspapers and form opinions, Imus replied, “Read the Constitution, and interpret that, and butt out of the papers.”

Though he has not read Arizona’s new immigration law yet (he’s working his way though the As), Weiner believes comprehensive immigration reform should not only strengthen border security, but also establish a path for citizenship to undocumented workers that are part of the fabric of the U.S. economy.

Charged again with being a left-wing Obama lackey, Weiner pointed out that he spent all of yesterday blasting the administration for slashing New York’s anti-terrorism funds. “As you know from the detailed research you do for these interviews,” he told Imus.

You must have him confused with someone else, Congressman.

-Julie Kanfer