via NewsDay(hat tip Ryan)

The reporter was fake, using a fake name, spoofing alleged fake White House reporter "Jeff Gannon." But the news conference was real serious.

"Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker," he shouted, as if in a White House news conference, identifying himself as "Dino Ironbody"

His question: "How do you feel about the president's awesome plan to privatize Social Security?"

Miller, who realized what was going on, played along.

A spokesman for Comedy Central, where the show is aired, said the pretend reporter was spoofing the former White House correspondent known as Jeff Gannon -- who is really James D. Guckert -- who worked for a conservative Web site and was accused of asking pro-Bush questions. The access Guckert enjoyed to White House news conferences has been a source of controversy.

Video

AmericaBlog: USA Next accused of stealing photo of gay couple for anti-AARP ad campaign.

also via Carpetbagger

Johnson said he told the president that night, "Syria is the problem. Syria is where those weapons of mass destruction are, in my view. You know, I can fly an F-15, put two nukes on 'em and I'll make one pass. We won't have to worry about Syria anymore."

The crowd roared with applause.

In a few weeks, Bush has dropped 8 points for those who approve of his handling of Social Security. That's according to the CNN/USA TODAY poll.

(update)via Atrios:

BEGALA : A new poll for the Associated Press shows that a solid majority, indeed 55 percent of Americans, oppose President Bush's plan to privatize part of Social Security, despite Mr. Bush's relentless stumping for it. The GOP chairman in Hawaii says -- quote -- "I think Social Security as it is has served its purpose" -- unquote. That is the Bush Republican view...

Look, any Democrat who rescue Mr. Bush's assault on Social Security ought to be defeated in a primary and allowed to begin their own retirement early.

Universal Didn't Distribute 'Old Arab' in Coulter Column, Not Sure She Sent It

(hat tip Eric) E&P has verifyed our story as well:

NEW YORK Universal Press Syndicate confirms that Ann Coulter's description of fellow columnist Helen Thomas as an "old Arab" was not in the Feb. 23 Coulter piece it sent to newspapers. And Universal isn't even sure the phrase appeared in the version Coulter submitted to the syndicate.

The "old Arab" reference did appear in the version of the column posted on Coulter's Web site.

from Media Matters
Media Matters has done a big follow-up to our reporting on Ann Coulter's racist Helen Thomas remark.

When Universal Press Syndicate (UPS), which syndicates right-wing pundit Ann Coulter's weekly columns, reportedly* removed a race-based attack on Hearst Newspapers columnist and White House correspondent Helen Thomas from Coulter's February 24 column, it would not have been the first time a Coulter column was cleaned up prior to publication. While the syndicate did not edit Coulter's reference to "oily Jews" in an October 20, 2004, column, at least two publications removed it before printing her column.

Prior to syndication on February 24, UPS replaced Coulter's reference to "that old Arab Helen Thomas" with "that dyspeptic, old Helen Thomas," as the weblog Crooks and Liars documented. Thomas's parents were Lebanese immigrants.

In her October 20, 2004, column, Coulter attacked Democrats as "crazy people" and wrote:

There's no consensus position, but the Democrats are pretty sure the real reason we went to Iraq was one of the following:

• Bush family's connections to the Saudis,
• Halliburton,
• the Carlyle Group,
• something about the Texas Rangers needing more left-handed pitching,
• the neoconservatives,
• the Straussians,
• oil,
• the Jews,
• oily Jews.

UPS syndicated this version of the column, and several websites, including the Heritage Foundation's Townhall.com, Jewish World Review, WorldNetDaily, and David Horowitz's FrontPageMag.com picked it up. But a Nexis search revealed only two newspapers -- the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and The Calgary Sun -- that published the column, and both removed "oily Jews" before printing it. (Media Matters for America has documented the Tribune-Review's right-wing history.) Human Events Online, a right-wing online news site, also published the edited version.

USA Today commissioned Coulter to provide conservative commentary on the Democratic National Convention in July 2004, but the paper spiked her first column, which referred to the event as the "Spawn of Satan convention," and replaced Coulter with National Review Online editor-at-large Jonah Goldberg for the rest of the convention over what the executive editor described as "editorial differences." National Review also fired Coulter as a contributing editor in October 2001 after she wrote of Muslims: "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity."

UPS has syndicated Coulter since 1999.

*On February 28 at 4:50 p.m. ET, Editor & Publisher reported that Universal "isn't even sure the phrase appeared in the version Coulter submitted to the syndicate" and "is trying to determine what was in the Feb. 23 column Coulter transmitted to Universal."

Paul, did a little digging into Ann Coulter's latest column published by Universal Press Syndicate. Lisa Tarry (associate Editor at United Press Syn.) and she told him that Ann sent them the edited version. Ann sent them the ‘dyspeptic, old Helen Thomas’ version, not the ‘old Arab’ version on her website.Was Ann afraid to send them the original knowing they might edit it? Did Ann change her website version after the fact?

Thinking about what Lisa Tarry (UPS editor) told me on the phone, “Ann sent us the ‘dyspeptic’ version of the article”, I went back to the article on Ann’s website, www.anncoulter.com and sure enough, at the bottom of the article is this:

COPYRIGHT 2005 UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE
4520 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. 64111; (816) 932-6600

I called Lisa back and asked her to explain. She said that Ann must have copied the article from the UPS website, put it on her website then changed the wording to “old arab Helen”.

To make a long story short, I asked her if UPS approves of Ann using the copyright statement on her website and she said “No we don’t, and my managers are looking into the matter”. I don’t know about you, but something just doesn’t seem right about this to me. I asked Lisa if UPS is going to make Ann remove the copyright clause and she said “I don’t know”

Is it normal for an opinion writer (or any journalist for that matter) to use someone else’s copyright without their permission, on their own personal propaganda?

As I look at it, it’s one thing to slam an old women like Helen on your own website. But to make it look like you have the blessings of an outfit like UPS is just going a little bit too far.

AARP prepares to punch back on Social Security

Newsweek

....President Bush's proposal for sweeping changes in the 70-year-old retirement program has touched off the mother of all lobbying battles, and AARP is suddenly in the line of fire. A pioneer of grass-roots lobbying, the group finds itself under attack from a new legion of well-funded, Web-based foes who have decided that the Bush plan will fail if a leading critic—AARP—isn't bloodied.

Bob Brigham has more here

Dave Meyer has more about United Seniors here which include:

United Seniors has a long history of misleading and deceiving senior citizens

USA Next accused of stealing photo of gay couple for anti-AARP ad campaign

via AmericaBlog

WASHINGTON, DC - Conservative front organization USA Next was accused today of illegally using a gay couple’s wedding photo in an anti-gay ad campaign supporting President Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security.

The couple in the photo, Richard M. Raymen and Steven P. Hansen of Portland, Oregon, have come forward through an attorney to demand that USA Next stop using their image, and that the organization publicly apologize for using their image in a homophobic and libelous way. The demand, contained in a letter sent today to USA Next Chairman and CEO Charles Jarvis, references the couples’ right to seek damages for the misappropriation of their image.

By ALI AL-FATLAWI, Associated Press Writer

HILLAH, Iraq - A suicide car bomber blasted a crowd of police and national guard recruits Monday as they gathered for physicals outside a medical clinic south of Baghdad, killing at least 115 people and wounding 132 — the single deadliest attack in the two-year insurgency.

via WWDT

...You know a television show is on its last legs when it adds a cute child actor in a last ditch attempt at ratings. It happened to "The Brady Bunch." It happened to "All in the Family." It happened to "Different Strokes," "The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties."

And now it's happening to President Bush's travelling road show for Social Security reform (or, as Josh Marshall likes to call it, "Bamboozlepalooza").

The NY Times reports that nine-year-old Noah McCullough of Tonight Show presidential trivia fame has agreed to join the President and entourage in stumping for privatization. He will travel in advance of presidential visits to soften radio and public audiences with his command of presidential trivia, his youthful charm and his faith in Bush's plan.

Tbogg reminds us that Dennis Prager once claimed that the "politicization of children" was a symptom of the liberal disease.

Of course, as moralists, we must consider not only the means taken but the end for the sake of which it was taken. read on