Politics: J'accuse!

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Letterman had a clip from a speech Bush gave in Orlando recently. In it, you see Bush droning on and on, while behind him a small boy is seen fidgeting, looking at his watch, yawning, and eventually falling asleep. (The boy was 12, and according to his father, up late.) It was a funny bit. So funny that CNN ran the clip in its entirety, but added that the White House had told them that the clip was made with the "editing magic" so often used by Letterman. Later, another CNN anchor ran the clip, but said the White House had told them that the kid was at the speech, but not on the stage or right behind Bush where the Letterman clip showed him. Letterman was annoyed, and claimed that both White House statements were 100% flat out lies. Then a representative from CNN calls Letterman's producers and claims that no, no, the White House didn't tell them any of those things, they were wrong. Letterman feels bad for accusing the White House, but insists the tape is accurate. Now Letterman's producers have discovered that yes, the White House, or someone acting at their behest did in fact contact CNN. And CNN again "misspoke" when they said they hadn't been contacted.

After some rather embarassing missteps, everything is now hunky-dory with the Sleeping Boy Fiasco*. Hell, the WH press office is controlling access to the boy, and they're just tickled that he's going to appear on Letterman tonight.

I'm curious to see how the interview will go. Think the kid will be prepped?

For his part, Dave smells something rotten:

"This whole thing just smells. Doesn't it smell a little bit?" Letterman asked his audience last night. "I mean, it just seems all just a little too tidy, just a little too neat. And now, the guy, the kid in Florida -- and his old man -- was really upset in the beginning. . . . Well, now everybody down there loves it. Everybody couldn't be happier; everybody thought it was hilarious. So you see, it's just a little too tidy. Stuff like this never ends happily, certainly not happily for me. I was waiting for the lawsuit, I was waiting to be arrested, I was waiting to be beaten to a pulp, and now, oh . . . we couldn't be happier."

Gattigap

*Which is a good thing, because I hear that until about 24 hours ago, when they realized that the kid is the son of a BSD supporter, WH officials were mentioning to Wolf Blitzer that there were "some weird elements in this boy's life."