Obama not getting Middle East help from Clooney

I know, I know, the title shocks you but its true. Jeffrey Ressner, at the Politico, has a good little takedown (via Michael Crowley) of a false report by the British Daily Mail that George Clooney was sending Senator Obama texts advising the Senator on Middle East policy. Ressner:

According to the story that ran Tuesday in the Daily Mail, a notorious British tabloid, Obama has exchanged e-mails, phone calls and text messages with Clooney, who was supposedly advising the candidate on everything from body language to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Obama-Clooney story was concocted from anonymous sources. Yet it spread throughout the world within hours. It was quickly picked up by The Drudge Report and television networks ranging from Fox News to NBC. The overall result served to bolster Republican candidate John McCain’s dubious contention that his rival Obama is a vapid “celebrity” rather than presidential material.

Clooney responded to the article with humor: “”I have never texted or e-mailed Sen. Obama,” he said in a statement. “And I’ll offer a million dollars to anyone who could prove otherwise.
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“In fact, I’ve only talked to the senator once in the last year and a half…. on the phone. I’ve spent more time with Sen. McCain (he did my TV show) than I have with Sen. Obama.

“I would hope that my friend John McCain would join me in condemning this kind of politics. Although I support Sen. Obama, I would never be dumb enough to offer policy advice to either candidate. They seem to be doing fine without me.”

Your probably saying to yourself, what only a moron would really think George Clooney would be advising Senator Obama on Middle East policy (even Clooney thinks the ideas laughable). Of course Michelle Malkin and Powerline are just such morons. I’m sure they’ll be issuing corrections any moment now.