Karl Rove Has A Sense of Humor

Remember that possible media bias scandal at the St. Petersburg Times? Here’s the paper’s explanation:

Talk about embarrassing. We’re still adjusting to our recently overhauled system for processing stories here at the SPT, and it showed big time on our website today. It seems that in processing the syndicated column of satirist Andy Borowitz someone mistakenly labeled it to appear on the site as a straight news story. So it appeared online as a normal wire compilation. Headline: “Satan, Rove plot GOP campaign strategy.” Sheepishly, Buzz can confirm Satan and Rove are not in fact plotting anything together that we know of.

The piece was deleted from our website when we realized the mistake, but at least a couple other sites found it and saved it for posterity. The result can be seen here at Hotline on Call and here at Wonkette.

Rove spoke to Online City Editor Kevin McGeever, and was exceptionally gracious. He thought it was funny and noted that he’d been accused of being Satan, but never actually working with Beelzebub. He wanted a copy of the online story for himself.

So it wasn’t bias, just incompetence. We feel so much better.

Rove, Satan And Egg on Our Face [The Buzz/St. Petersburg Times]

Earlier: St. Petersburg ‘Times’: Best Newspaper in America

READ MORE: Media, bias, florida, karl rove, satan, scandal, screw-ups, st. petersburg times

Remainders: Are You There God? It’s Me, Larry

• When everything that’s soulless and wrong becomes a Power Point slide. [The Nation]

• Tonight, Larry King will cry himself to sleep with more and larger tears than last night. Also, more sobbing. [Extreme Mortman]

• Bush must’ve been in Iraq when Bill Frist’s “Over Off the Hill” card got passed around. [Think Progress]

• The World Cup may halt wars, but a coupla’ free pints later. it might be a bloody tax liability. Sorry mate. [Tax Prof]

• Ann Coulter’s staying in the land of earthquakes and high crime rates. [LAist]

• Gitmo Prisoners, Elvis, and the toilet-assisted deaths they shared. [1115.org via DCeiver]

READ MORE: guantanamo bay, Media, Remainders, ann coulter, bill frist, booze, corporations, george w. bush, gitmo, larry king, screw-ups, suicide, taxes, world cup

Wonkette’s Week in Review: Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall

• The sandstone walls at 1600 Pennsylvania are bursting with beauty. We decided to play the wicked stepmother and ask, “Who’s the fairest of them all?” There are fine choices, whether you prefer men or women. In the off chance that you prefer to pass judgment using more than a thumbnail photo, we’ve even provided testimonials: boys here and girls here. Polls close Monday morning at 10, and for God’s sake no cheating please.

• Proof that “Republican Strategist” is fast becoming an oxymoron, as Jack Burkman offers cash for a lesbian to have sex with him. In case she changes her mind, Jack made sure she had one of his business cards. Stay classy Jack.

• President Bush didn’t get anything to eat on the way back from Iraq, so after landing he went and put his foot straight in his mouth. We weren’t the only ones who found it funny, but after the all the jokes this story has a happy ending.

• We scored an interview with former adult actress-cum-Nevada gubernatorial candidate Mimi Miyagi. But it looks like porn stars will do anybody.

• Former FEMA director Michael Brown sent us an email, proving he can both read and write.

• The circus won’t be coming to town now that Rove’s off the hook.

READ MORE: Media, White House, email, george w. bush, indictments, jack burkman, karl rove, michael brown, mimi miyagi, myspace, nevada, peter wallsten, plamegate, porn, presidential press conference, press conferences, republican strategists, screw-ups, sex, tucker carlson, week in review, white house hotties

Jon Stewart’s Take on the Presidential Faux Pas

Our story about President Bush’s unfortunate exchange with L.A. Times reporter Peter Wallsten got picked up by many news outlets — both real and fake:

It’s all in the delivery, isn’t it?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Earlier: President Bush’s “Oh, Shit” Moment of the Day
Breaking: President Bush Apologizes to Peter Wallsten

READ MORE: Media, White House, daily show, funny videos, george w. bush, jon stewart, oh fuck, peter wallsten, presidential press conference, press conferences, screw-ups, the daily show, top, video, videos

Breaking: President Bush Apologizes to Peter Wallsten

Ah, the power of the blogosphere. We were the first to report on President Bush teasing reporter Peter Wallsten for wearing “shades” at a Rose Garden press conference — sunglasses that Wallsten wears because he’s legally blind. Wallsten suffers from Stargardt’s disease, which causes vision loss.

And now, news of a presidential apology:

Wallsten said Bush called his cell phone later in the day to apologize and tell him that he didn’t know he had [Stargardt’s] disease. Wallsten said he interrupted and told the president that no apology was necessary and that he didn’t feel offended since he hadn’t told anyone at the White House about his condition.

More details, after the jump.

READ MORE: Media, White House, breaking, george w. bush, oh fuck, peter wallsten, presidential press conference, press conferences, screw-ups, top

The Rose Garden Press Conference Video

In President Bush’s defense, he may not have known that Peter Wallsten is legally blind. And Wallsten said he was not offended by the president’s remarks. But the president still looks pretty silly when he chuckles at the end of this video.

President Bush To Legally Blind Reporter: ‘Are You Going to Ask That Question with Shades On?’ [Think Progress]

Earlier: An Update on President Bush’s Screw-Up
President Bush’s “Oh, Shit” Moment of the Day

READ MORE: Media, White House, george w. bush, oh fuck, peter wallsten, presidential press conference, press conferences, screw-ups, top, video, videos

An Update on President Bush’s Screw-Up

Earlier today, we broke the story of how President Bush poked fun at reporter Peter Wallsten for wearing sunglasses while asking a question. Wallsten, it turns out, is legally blind.

The crew over at Think Progress has followed up on our scoop; check out their work here. They interviewed Wallsten, obtained the transcript of the exchange, and grabbed a video clip of it, too.

We also reprint the transcript here, after the jump.

READ MORE: Media, White House, george w. bush, oh fuck, peter wallsten, presidential press conference, press conferences, screw-ups, think progress, top

President Bush’s “Oh, Shit” Moment of the Day

Earlier today, we described an exchange at this morning’s press conference between President Bush and Peter Wallsten of the Los Angeles Times. President Bush joked about Wallsten’s wearing sunglasses while asking his question.

We called it the best exchange of the conference; but it was even better than we thought. A tipster points out:

For what it matters, during the Bush Rose Garden presser this a.m., Wallsten was wearing shades because he is legally blind — a fact that Bush apparently didn’t know, or forgot, about one of the reporters covering him for one of America’s major newspapers.

Way to go, Mr. President.

Latest update: President Bush has apologized to Wallsten.

Update: An excerpt from the transcript, with the exact exchange, is available here. A video clip of the incident is accessible here.

Earlier: Presidents Get Jet Lag Too

READ MORE: Media, White House, george w. bush, oh fuck, peter wallsten, presidential press conference, press conferences, screw-ups, top

DHS Gets All “Soup Nazi” on NYC’s Ass

As one of you aptly noted, “DHS is serious about this ‘internet’ thing.” Here’s a little more on why Homeland Security cut New York’s antiterrorism funding:

Federal officials said yesterday that the city had not only done a poor job of articulating its needs in its application, but had also mishandled the application itself, failing to file it electronically as required, instead faxing its request to Washington.

C’mon, Secretary Chertoff, cut New York a little slack. Have you ever tried filling out a PDF with tooltip text? E-filing can be such a bitch!

City Has Itself to Blame for Terror Cuts, U.S. Says [NYT]
Earlier: East Coast Roolz! Midwest Droolz!

READ MORE: New York City, dhs, homeland security, screw-ups, terror, terrorism

Dianne Feinstein Is Bad for the Environment

Namely, the environment immediately surrounding her multimillion-dollar mansion, high in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco.

We previously linked to real estate porn of Senator Feinstein’s palatial residence. We now learn, via the San Francisco Chronicle, that recent landscaping changes by DiFi have infuriated city officials and her neighbors.

Details appear after the jump.

READ MORE: dianne feinstein, real estate, real estate boondoggles, screw-ups

You Know, You Can Look This Stuff Up, Guys

Slow news day so far — CNN is reporting on the prosecution of a German cannibal. So we bring you these two screen caps. This one’s from the New York Sun:

And this one’s from the Note:

D-OH, indeed. Our correspondent observes: “I’m not saying anything negative about Detroit… but I don’t think Ohio would want it included within their borders.”

(Yeah, we know, we make mistakes like this all the time. But we don’t have copy editors. We’re bloggers, and making mistakes is in our job description.)

CIA Nominee Gains Backing In the Senate [NY Sun]
The Note

READ MORE: corrections, funny screen caps, john conyers, new york sun, russ feingold, screengrabs, screw-ups, slow news day, the note

Second-Best Book Recall This Year (After Kaavya Viswanathan)

Sometimes books get pulled due to massive and widespread plagiarism. And sometimes they get pulled for more amusing reasons. Consider what happened to Leaving Women Behind : Modern Families Outdated Laws:

There is a misspelled word in the Foreward by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Republican from Texas. On page vii of her brief 2-page Foreword, Senator Hutchison’s 2nd of 5 paragraphs begins:

“Despite these remarkable changes, and the major progress women have made in obtaining equality in the workplace, our pubic policy institutions have not kept pace.”

The word should have been public. Can you imagine the discussions between the senator’s staff and the publisher when they found out? Can’t help but feel for the people whose job it was to proofread that piece at both ends.

Oops! Some poor staffer probably got canned over this. But maybe Senator Hutchison deserves part of the blame.

Even if some staffer drafted the foreword, it was only two pages long — the Senator should have proofread it herself. But that Senator Hutchison, she’s “spacey.”

Book recall [Amazon]
The book recall mystery solved [Amazon]

READ MORE: books, kaavya viswanathan, kay bailey hutchison, screw-ups