Based on the book: Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War by David Corn and Michael Isikoff.

Alec Baldwin was accused earlier today of using racial slurs in a confrontation with a New York Post photographer, and right wing blogs immediately launched into a unison chorus of howling pearl-clutching outrage, calling Baldwin a racist because they’re always gleeful when they get a chance to turn the tables and accuse a liberal of racism. It doesn’t happen very often, so they try to make the most of it. Who can blame them?

Just one problem: an audio recording of the confrontation clears Baldwin of the Post’s charges: Report: No Racial Slurs Heard on Alec Baldwin Audio.

NEW YORK, Feb. 18 (UPI) — Audio of a confrontation between Alec Baldwin and New York Post staffers doesn’t back up their claims the actor uttered racist slurs, TMZ said Monday.

The Post reported Baldwin threatened a female reporter and referred to a black photographer as a “coon,” “crackhead” and “drug dealer” when they approached him outside his Manhattan home during the weekend and asked for a comment about his pregnant yoga teacher wife, Hilaria, being sued by a former student.

However, TMZ said no racial epithets were heard on the audio it reviewed. The celebrity news website also said Baldwin can be heard on the audio saying to the reporter, “I want you to choke to death,” not, “I want to choke you to death,” as the Post team alleged.

I’ll be waiting for the wingnut blogosphere’s corrections, starting with Jim Hoft, the Dumbest Man on the Internet: AWFUL… Racist Hothead Alec Baldwin Calls Reporter a “Coon” and “Drug Dealer” | the Gateway Pundit.

(But I won’t be holding my breath.)

You know that universal wingnut talking point that President Obama is “antisemitic” and despises Israel?

Well, here’s the reality: On Israel Trip, Obama to Get Medal.

(CNN) - When President Barack Obama visits Israel next month, he’ll be awarded the Presidential Medal of Distinction, Israeli President Shimon Peres’ office announced Monday.

Obama, the first sitting U.S. president to receive the recognition, will be awarded the medal for making “a unique and significant contribution to strengthening the State of Israel and the security of its citizens,” according to a release announcing the news.

Also see:
Peres to Give Obama Medal of Distinction | the Times of Israel

In what was billed as the largest climate rally in U.S. history, thousands of people marched past the White House on Sunday to urge President Obama to reject a controversial pipeline and take other steps to fight climate change.

Organizers, including the Sierra Club, estimated that more than 35,000 people from 30-plus states — some dressed as polar bears — endured frigid temperatures to join the “Forward on Climate” rally, although the crowd size could not be confirmed. Their immediate target is Obama’s final decision, expected soon, on the Keystone XL oil pipeline that would carry tar sands from Canada through several U.S. states.

“This movement’s been building a long time. One of the things that’s built it is everybody’s desire to give the president the support he needs to block this Keystone pipeline,” Bill McKibben, founder of the environmental activist group, 350.org, said as protesters gathered on the National Mall.

More: Tens of Thousands Demand Action on Climate Change