Lies, Damned Lies, and Matt Drudge

So, in the face of John McCain lying about his leisurely stroll through Baghdad (not only didn't he mention the 100 troops, 3 Black Hawks, and 2 Apaches guiding his way, he neglected to point out the pre-stroll sweeps of the area by other soldiers), the only thing the right-wing could do was lie right back about somebody else to throw everybody off the track:

Yesterday, right-wing Internet gossip Matt Drudge posted an “exclusive” report — based on an anonymous, unnamed source — claiming that Ware had acted inappropriately during a weekend press conference and implying that Ware is an alcoholic:

“During a live press conference in Bagdad [sic], Senators McCain and Graham were heckled by CNN reporter Michael Ware. An official at the press conference called Ware’s conduct ‘outrageous,’ saying, ‘here you have two United States Senators in Bagdad [sic] giving first-hand reports while Ware is laughing and mocking their comments. I’ve never witnessed such disrespect. This guy is an activist not a reporter.’”

Not true, according to Ware: “I did not heckle the senator. Indeed, I didn’t say a word. I didn’t even ask a question. In fact, when I raised my hand to ask a question, the press conference abruptly ended.”

By the way, the wingnuts should get their allies straight from their detractors. It turns out that Ware has called the Democrats' proposal for withdrawal "a gift to Al Qaeda." He has no political agenda, he has been living in Baghdad for about four years and he reports what he sees.

Which is why he has to be silenced by the likes of Drudge, who's pretty much never right about anything. And the guppies of the right blogosphere went along for the ride. Idiots.

(Also, Drudge is basing his entire "Ware's a drunk" theory off a joke that Ware made on Bill Maher's show last year. Crack reporting.)

UPDATE: McCain's market - safe one day, under sniper fire the next. I wonder why?

UPDATE II: There's now video of the press conference showing no heckling, not even so much as a peep from Michael Ware, although he does raise his hands at the end, at which point they abruptly end the press conference.

In the annals of Republican horseshit, this may be the horseshittiest.