Cheaper, Quicker and Paid Actors. With Birthday Hats.
Ok, now we really need a drink. And we're going to have it with The Washington Monthly's Nick Confessore, who pointed us to the Google cache of the original story about the Bush 9/11 ad backlash. Our first post on it was, it seems, not at all marred by the few shots Wild Turkey we had before breakfast. Everything's there: the quote about paid actors (not stock footage of real firefighters) being "cheaper and quicker," the quote about the red hats on the actors looking like birthday party favors. . . All that's missing are Karl Rove's greasy fingerprints. And those, of course, are on the story that's currently up.
It's also possible that Newsweek was hoodwinked by a fake Bush adviser attempting to make the administration seem even more callous and opportunistic than they already are. That seems a bit like overkill to us, but you never know. Until we get a correction or something, why don't we just blame Nader?
Technical note: We're not linking to the Google cache directly because it doesn't seem to be there any more. Please don't audit us, Mr. Rove. . .
A 'Shocking' Stumble [Google Cache screen grab]
Fast, Cheap, Out of Control? The Missing Bush Adviser Quote [Wonkette]
A Cheap, Quick Memorial [Wonkette]