Radio talk show host Don Imus (left)listens to Georgia Gov. Zell Miller (right) during a live broadcast from the governor's mansion front porch Friday, Oct. 31, 1997, in Atlanta. Imus dubbed Miller "one of the most extraordinary politicians in this country because he is not a crook, he doesn't cheat on his wife and he loves the baby Jesus." Charles McCord is seated at center.Eric Lesser/Associated Press

Imus spares no one but Miller during mansion broadcast

Web posted November 1, 1997

Associated Press

ATLANTA -- Perched on the porch of the Georgia governor's mansion, New York radio talk show host Don Imus spewed insults for four hours Friday.

Al Gore? ``Evil.'' ``A horrible person.'' Ross Perot? ``Jughead little martian.'' Strom Thurmond? ``Turnip with a suit on.''

But when it came to his host for the morning -- Georgia Gov. Zell Miller -- Imus' barbed tongue turned to mush.

``God, what a wonderful guy,'' Imus said over and over.

The usually caustic I-Man even dubbed Miller ``one of the most extraordinary politicians in this country because he is not a crook, he doesn't cheat on his wife and he loves the baby Jesus.''

The admiration was mutual. ``The best political satire going,'' Miller said of Imus' show, which is carried by 104 stations across the country and began airing in Atlanta on WQXI-AM in April.

Imus had never heard of Miller until last spring, when the governor welcomed Imus to the Atlanta market by sending him a note and a signed copy of his book, ``Corps Values -- Everything You Need to Know I Learned in the Marines.'' A few months later, Miller got a call from the local affiliate asking if he would loan the mansion for an Imus broadcast.

Imus did a similar broadcast earlier this year from the Arkansas governor's mansion with Gov. Mike Huckabee, another of his favorites.

Miller and Imus share a lot in common. Both are ex-Marines who love country music, hate golf and demand punctuality. Both wore cowboy boots on the air Friday.

``He was very gentle with me,'' Miller said afterward. ``He didn't ask me about the things I had the best lines for. I really wanted him to ask me about Al Gore.''

Instead, Imus tossed softballs during the four-hour long broadcast and let Miller boast about his pre-kindergarten program and his HOPE scholarship program, which gives college students with good grades a free ride.

Miller got in some of the best lines of the day. Presenting Imus with a proclamation declaring ``Imus in the Morning Day'' in Georgia, Miller said, ``I don't know if you want me to read it or not. It'll wet your leg.''

When Imus steered the conversation to country music, Miller bragged about his friendship with singer George Jones and made it clear that he has run with the celebrity crowd a time or two.

``You're not the only one who could start out the night with good intentions and get sideways and end up in places you didn't belong,'' Miller quipped.

``You're not an alcoholic, are you?'' said Imus, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict.

``Oh no,'' Miller said.

Imus fawned over Miller's values book, saying, ``It would be easy to write it off as sappy and lame, but it's really not.''

While he spared Miller from his insults, he wasn't so kind to the South in general. Announcing that he was broadcasting from Georgia, Imus asked, ``Are there any dogs under the porch here?''

Imus sent a sidekick into the audience of about 500 to search for a guest to put on the air, telling him to find someone who owns at least two dogs. The sidekick also called out for any ``trailer park people.''

``I like his cynicism and his brutally honest talk on politicians,'' said Atlanta real estate appraiser Todd Stripling, one of the audience members.

Patti Ward and her husband never miss Imus' show on MSNBC in Grady County in rural southwest Georgia. They watch in shifts while they take showers in the morning, then fill each other in on the good parts.

``Imus spits it out. He's real. He's honest. He's funny,'' said Mrs. Ward, senior reporter at the Thomasville Times-Enterprise newspaper. ``And he's a tad handsome, too.''