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This morning, commuters in New York City were handed free copies of what appeared to be copies of the New York Times. In fact, what they had been given was a surprisingly elaborate forgery: A fake version of the paper dated July 4th, 2009 that offers as its lead story "IRAQ WAR ENDS."

Other headlines in the paper, which is full of stories that, if true, would be cause for celebration among liberals, include "USA Patriot Act Repealed" and "National Health Insurance Act Passes"; the fake newspaper's slogan is "All the news we hope to print."

Here's a video from the creators of the fake newspaper explaining what they did. They claim 1.2 million papers were printed and that the planning took six months:

New York Times Special Edition Video News Release - Nov. 12, 2008 from H Schweppes on Vimeo. The fake paper also has a Web site with all of its articles, which is here, though it has been loading slowly this morning. Gawker traces the effort to a "longtime liberal prank group" known as The Yes Men.

This morning, commuters in New York City were handed free copies of what appeared to be the New York Times. In fact, what they had been given was a surprisingly elaborate forgery: A fake version of the paper dated July 4th, 2009 that offers as its lead story "IRAQ WAR ENDS."

Other headlines in the paper, which is full of stories that, if true, would be cause for celebration among liberals, include "USA Patriot Act Repealed" and "National Health Insurance Act Passes"; the fake newspaper's slogan is "All the news we hope to print."

Here's a video from the creators of the fake newspaper explaining what they did. (Note: The video includes an interview in front of the real New York Times building that appears staged, and other interviews may be as well.) They claim 1.2 million papers were printed and that the planning took six months:


New York Times Special Edition Video News Release - Nov. 12, 2008 from H Schweppes on Vimeo.

The fake paper also has a Web site with all of its articles, which is here, though it has been loading slowly this morning. (That's a screengrab of the Web site above.) Gawker traces the effort to a "longtime liberal prank group" known as The Yes Men.

The Republican National Committee is sending around this Associated Press photo of overall-clad McCain supporters standing outside an Obama rally, clutching plungers and a sign proclaiming "I Am Joe The Plumber":

The only problem? At least two of the members aren't quite as similar to the newly famous Joe Wurzelbacher as they might like you to think. As CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic, who is traveling with the Obama campaign, reports, the man on the right does say he's an actual plumber – though he is from Melbourne, Australia, and will thus not be casting a vote this November.

And the man on the left, plunger thrust high in the air, is Charlie Smith – the National Chairman of the College Republicans.

UPDATE: Smith said he drove down to the rally because he disagrees with Barack Obama’s tax policy. “We’re gonna pay higher taxes under Barack Obama, he’s gonna tax small businesses,” he said. “We’re out here supporting the American dream, people like Joe the plumber.”

And here's some video of the group:

I just ran into Kevin Farley, who stars as a bumbling Michael Moore in the new film “An American Carol.” The trailer for the film, which you can see here, debuted on “The O’Reilly Factor”; O’Reilly himself has a cameo in the movie, which the Fox host describes as “a spoof of the far left.”

Farley was working the halls of the RNC to promote the film, which screened for about 2,000 people here earlier this week.

“We thought it would be smart to come here and talk to the people that would like it the most,” Farley said, shortly before Gail Stanart, a Texas delegate who had been standing next to Farley, broke in to say she had seen the film and found it “hysterical.”

“It’s so over the top that I don’t think it will be offensive, but it also has a message,” she added. “It makes you think.”

Farley, who has never spoken to Moore, describes himself as a “conservative person.” He said Moore is “a pretty nice guy, probably,” but that people can get justifiably upset by some of the things he has said in the past.

Farley said he is not working in any way with the McCain campaign or the RNC, adding that he did not expect the film to have an impact on the outcome of the presidential election.

“I don’t think it will at all,” Farley said. “I think people will make up their own mind. A movie won’t make up their mind for a person.”

“If it does,” he added, laughing, “it’s crazy.”

She may claim to be “just an average hockey mom,” but John McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin is anything but average.

The reaction to McCain’s shocking selection of the Alaska governor has been all over the map, but one argument no one can make about Palin is that she is a bland choice.

It’s not just her credentials as the youngest and only female governor in Alaska’s history that make Palin so intriguing. How many vice-presidential candidates in American history have been avid moose hunters, sports reporters or beauty queens? Palin is all three.

When Vogue Magazine asked her what her favorite meal was, she didn’t settle on pizza or Mexican. "Moose stew after a day of snowmachining,” she said. Does it get any more Alaska than that?

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The presidential candidates have appeared on countless late night and day time talk shows, from “Ellen” to “Oprah” to Jay and Dave. But they’re not leaving any stone unturned in the search for votes. All three remaining candidates have taped promos for the WWE’s “Raw” program (that’s “professional” wrestling to the uninitiated). You can watch them here but here’s a preview:

Hillary Clinton: “Hi, I’m Hillary Clinton. But tonight, in honor of the WWE, you can call me Hill-Rod. This election is starting to feel a lot like ‘King of the Ring.’ The only difference is, the last man standing may just be a woman.”

Barack Obama: “To the special interests who’ve been setting the agenda in Washington for far too long, to all the forces of division and distraction that have stopped us from making progress for the American people, I’ve got one question -- Do you smell what Barack is cooking?”

John McCain: “Looks like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama want to settle their differences in the ring. Well, that’s fine with me but let me tell you, if you want to be The Man, you’ve got to beat The Man. Come November, it will be game over.”

UPDATE: And here they are:

The following is a dispatch from CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller:

When historians of the future examine President Bush’s daily schedules as issued each day by the White House press office, they might be tempted to think he never attended a political fund-raiser.

They can scour his schedules and never find the word ‘fund-raiser,” although our CBS News tally shows that as President, Mr. Bush has attended over 300 of them.

Last Tuesday in Florida, he raised over $1.4 million for the GOP at two events in Jacksonville and Palm Beach – but here’s how they were listed on his public schedule:

12:30 pm THE PRESIDENT attends a Republican National Committee Luncheon
Private Residence | Jacksonville, Florida
CLOSED PRESS

5:50 pm THE PRESIDENT attends a Republican National Committee Reception
Private Residence | Palm Beach, Florida
CLOSED PRESS

The listings show he attended a “luncheon” at the first stop and “reception” at the next - no mention of the word “fund-raiser.”

It’s the same in the 11,000 pages of schedules released last week covering Hillary Clinton’s eight years as First Lady.

During her last two years, she attended scores of fund-raisers for her U.S. Senate campaign in New York – but the word “fund-raiser” is avoided as shown by these three listings on June 30, 2000:

2:40 pm- HILLARY 2000 RECEPTION
3:40 pm Private Residence
CLOSED PRESS

6:30 pm- HILLARY 2000 RECEPTION
7:30 pm Top Floor Dining Room
Crystal City DoubleTree Hotel
2030 Army Navy Drive
Arlington, VA

7:55 pm- HILLARY 2000 RECEPTION
9:00 pm Private Residence
CLOSED PRESS

The public schedules of President Bush and Hillary Clinton offer some insight into how they spend their days, but the most interesting material is omitted.

If only we had access to a president’s or candidate’s daily diary that would show every move, meeting, phone call and even bedtime.

To see what I’m talking about, check the on-line archives of Pres. Lyndon Johnson. At the LBJ Library website, you can view actual pages from the Daily Diary of his presidency kept by his personal secretaries.

The entries show every phone call he made or received, every meeting he had, and often provided details on what was discussed.

What's worth more these days: A Roger Clemens rookie card – or a Barack Obama?

Upper Deck has issued limited edition trading cards featuring a number of the presidential candidates, though the company's prognostication skills are no better than the scouts: While also-rans Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney got their own cards, still contending Mike Huckabee didn't. (The Associated Press reports that Huck will be included in an updated set to be released in May.)

Each candidate is drawn into a seminal moment in baseball history – Romney is Carlton Fisk at the 1975 World Series, for example, while John McCain is Ted Williams. Obama is meant to be 2005 World Series MVP Jermaine Dye, though the he seems to be pulling a Steve Bartman.

As for the Hillary Clinton card, it got pulled faster than a weak-hitting first baseman. The AP explains: "She was cast as Morganna the 'Kissing Bandit' because, 'Like Clinton, she saw something she liked and went after it.' But the card was pulled from the set after an informal focus group raised concerns that it was inappropriate." (Morganna Roberts was known for running onto the field and kissing players during games.)

A few copies of the Clinton card did get out, though – you can see one on eBay here. Current bid? $212.50.

Ever here the one about the hog farmer and the apple tree? If not, John Edwards would love to tell you – it's his favorite joke.

As part of an ongoing series delving into the lighter details of the candidates' personal lives, the Associated Press today reported on the favorite jokes of the top presidential hopefuls. But you're unlikely to see any of them at the Improv anytime soon: Edwards and McCain were the only ones who responded with actual jokes. Others came forward with self-deprecating anecdotes. And some kept the laughs to themselves.

Edwards offered some home-spun Southern humor: "This guy's driving down a country road and he looks over and there's this farmer holding his hog, holding his hog up to an apple tree. And the guy pulls over — he's a city guy — he pulls over and walks over and he says, 'What are you doing?' And the guy's straining. He's holding the hog. His face is red and he said, 'Feeding my hog.' And he said, 'Feeding your hog?' He said, 'Now dunnit take a lot of time? Holding the hog up to an apple tree to feed him, dunnit take a lot of time?' He says, 'Time don't mean nothing to a damned old hog.'"

McCain goes with a classic joke setting, a bar: "Long story about a guy walking into a bar and noticing another guy at the end. They strike up a conversation and notice many similarities. Another guy walks in later and asks the bartender about the commotion. 'Oh, that's just the O'Reilly brothers getting drunk again.'"

Mike Huckabee says he likes to entertain friends with the harrowing tale of riding a bobsled on an Olympic track a year before the Salt Lake games. Barack Obama gets a kick out of calling very distant cousin Dick Cheney "the black sheep of the family."

Bill Richardson and Mitt Romney both get a kick out of put-downs offered by their wives. Romney says that when he asked his Ann Romney if she saw him running for president in her wildest dreams, she tells him he wasn't in her wildest dreams in the first place. Richardson's wife told him that his poll numbers in New Mexico were up – because he's never there now.

Fred Thompson's favorite joke? "Presidential debates," he says.

But keeping their favorite jokes to themselves are Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton. The former first lady flat-out said she wouldn't tell, while the former New York mayor's campaign vaguely answered with "the most recent one that made him laugh."

Presidential politics is truly inescapable these days, even at the Grammys. Among the nominations announced today were those for Best Spoken Word Album, and the list of contenders presents some tough choices for Democrats. Bill Clinton is nominated for the audiobook of "Giving: How Each Of Us Can Change The World." His wife's top rival for the Democratic nomination, Barack Obama, is nominated for his reading of his bestseller "The Audacity Of Hope." And another former Democratic president, Jimmy Carter, received a nod for his recording of "Sunday Mornings In Plains."

Another nominee is one of the original Friends Of Bill, former U.S. poet laureate Maya Angelou, for her recording of "Celebrations." The final nominee, Alan Alda for "Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself," was once nearly elected president – as a Republican – during the final season of TV's "The West Wing."

In another "art imitates life" moment, Grammy voters who prefer experience may want to side with a Clinton: the former president is a two-time winner in the Spoken Word category, last winning in 2005 for the audiobook version of his autobiography. Obama's no rookie here, though, having won the award in 2006 for the reading of his autobiography, "Dreams From My Father."

Of course, Grammy voters also like to award accomplished artists who have been overlooked in the past. If that's their priority, give the golden gramophone to Mr. Carter, who was nominated in 1997 and 2001, only to lose both times.

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