The greatest king of all-time — Evel Knievel — is dead.  Long live the king.

And yes, I’m still upset that I lost my Evel Knievel toy back in the early ’70s.  I think a friend stole it.

Howard Kurtz frames the big news scandal this way:

“The question I have is whether any heads will roll. This was, after all, a form of lying to the public. To me, this isn’t a liberal or conservative issue.”

Howard Kurtz is right. And another thing …. Oh, wait a minute, let me Google something. OK, my fault. This isn’t a new item on the CNN YouTube debate debacle. It’s from Kurtz’s online chat a month ago about FEMA’s fake press conference.

Gulp. Sorry. Never mind.

(And, for the permanent record, Howard Kurtz does cover the debate fiasco in today’s Washington Post).

Here now is the next installment of our new regular series — the Joke Reality Check — in which we put jokes told on the campaign trail or in the media or in the general political discussion through a VIP check-up and washing. We check whether jokes are stolen, poorly-premised, or poorly written or delivered. And we offer strategic advice to improve the attempt.

Going back to CNN’s YouTube Republican presidential candidate debate debacle, there were several jokes — and we don’t mean the questioners.

Let’s explore part of the early heated exchange between Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney over immigration.

GIULIANI:  It’s unfortunate, but Mitt generally criticizes people in a situation in which he’s had far the — worst record.

For example, in his case, there were six sanctuary cities. He did nothing about them.

There was even a sanctuary mansion. At his own home, illegal immigrants were being employed, not being turned into anybody or by anyone. And then when he deputized the police, he did it two weeks before he was going to leave office, and they never even seemed to catch the illegal immigrants that were working at his mansion. So I would say he had sanctuary mansion, not just sanctuary city.

“Sanctuary mansion” — good one.  But Giuliani completely mangles the delivery, stepping on and telegraphing his line.  A classic case of violating the classic rule: put the punchline last.

Let’s help out Hizzoner by suggesting this easy fix:

At his own home, illegal immigrants were being employed, not being turned into anybody or by anyone. And then when he deputized the police, he did it two weeks before he was going to leave office, and they never even seemed to catch the illegal immigrants that were working at his mansion.  That’s not merely a sanctuary city.  That’s a sanctuary mansion!

(Giuliani could have concluded with a rousing exclamatory “Hey, now” — but it might have cut into his time.)

Here’s an easy way to remember this easy rule.  I call it the Godfather rule of comedy.

Funny:  Of course I know everything about the Godfather movies.  I’ve seen them all.  Godfather I.  Godfather II.  And Godfather III — the good one.

Not funny:  Of course I know everything about the Godfather movies. I really liked Godfather III. It was good.  I also saw Godfather I and II.  But yes, Mitt, Godfather III was good.  I think you have the DVD of it in your sanctuary mansion, right?

By the way, inadvertently this was the funniest moment of the debate:

ANDERSON COOPER:  Congressman Hunter?

DUNCAN HUNTER: Yes. Cooper, a great debate.

“Cooper” of course is the last name.  Talk about getting your punchlines out of order.  Might we next help out Hunter Duncan?

Rough few days for CNN, what with them putting on presidential debates and all.

But in all the gloom, is there something CNN-related to brighten our day?

Of course!  Taste this scrumptious bon-bon from TV Newser:

Campbell Brown’s first documentary for CNN, “Campaign Killers: Why Do Negative Ads Work?” premiered Wednesday night after the GOP debate, and is already drawing criticism. Media Matters picked up on Brown’s categorization of the group MoveOn.org as “American insurgents” in her description of their ad against Gen. David Petraeus.

Brown said, “General David Petraeus made his reputation taking on insurgents in Iraq. But when he came to Capitol Hill in September, he was confronted by American insurgents: a liberal anti-war group called MoveOn.org.”

Sure glad the CNN fact checkers were asleep at the wheel on that one, too.

In his marvelous new column/blog Ground Game, Congressional Quarterly’s Eric Pfeiffer notes “the feeling amongst many conservatives that the error of omission was a combination of laziness and inherent bias.”

Does anyone other than conservatives have similar pangs of angst?

Glenn Reynolds did a check and makes this stark observation at Instapundit:

SO I LOOKED AT EDITOR AND PUBLISHER and there’s nothing about the CNN planted-question scandal. There’s one story on the debate, but it’s a puff piece about a cartoonist getting his video in. Then I looked at Poynter and all I could find was this piece on covering the debates. But I’m not seeing anything about the planted-question scandal. I’m not seeing anything at the Columbia Journalism Review site, either. Journalism, cover thyself!

Well, actually I think they are covering . . . .

The only true “wise person” of conventional wisdom willing to tsk tsk CNN I could find is in the Washington Times:

Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center said the YouTube format, puts an additional screening burden on organizers: “I’m always concerned when I don’t know how to judge the person asking the question, and it’s not someone who asks questions for a living.”

Yes, we’re all concerned.  Dare we suggest, perplexed?

Isn’t it wonderful when Democrats can get together with Republicans, Republicans can get together with Democrats, put aside their differences … and lobby?

It’s warm, fuzzy moments like those which make us all tingly about our political system.

Take today’s Washington Post:

Former senator John Breaux announced yesterday that he is leaving the law firm Patton Boggs to form his own lobbying group, fueling speculation that he might join with soon-to-retire senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.), his longtime friend, to create a new K Street powerhouse.

A beautiful story, ain’t it?  But wait, it gets better:

One possibility that drew widespread speculation in downtown D.C. yesterday was that Breaux and Lott could create a father-son business. Lott’s son Chester, like Breaux’s son, has been a lobbyist, and the families are known to be close. Breaux once told reporters that he and Lott took their sons to a Kiss concert years ago.

They bonded at a Kiss concert?  Outstanding.  Talk about Calling Dr. Love!
Might we be so bold as to suggest a pattern for Lott/Breaux & Associates letterhead?

A loyal reader notes this story …

Democrat John Edwards voiced his support Tuesday for striking television writers, telling a boisterous rally that he would work to protect the rights of union members if elected president next year.

“Stay strong, stay together,” Edwards implored members of the Writers Guild of America, whose strike has entered its fourth week. “It’s about making sure these big corporations, these big media conglomerates don’t step on your rights — that you have a real opportunity to share in the work that you’ve been producing.”

… and alertly wonders,  “Who wrote his speech?”

In an exclusive interview with C-SPAN for the network’s 12 week history series, “Presidential Libraries: History Uncovered,” former President Bill Clinton speaks candidly — starkly, even — about his views on the releasing of presidential records:

“Obviously, I’m not trying to cover anything up.  I’m trying to get this stuff out.  But I’m sympathetic with the Archives.  They have a limited number of resources.  And they do have rules for going through all this stuff that make sense.

“Essentially what’s happened is that some members of the press and people in the political community who are on the other side of Hillary – which they have every right to be – are taking the position that, because she’s running for president, all the rules should be suspended and they should get what they want, and they should get it now, whether we go through the regular processes of the Archives or not, and whether we treat people on a first-come, first-served basis or not.”

The interview, which was recorded at the Clinton Presidential Library on Monday, November 26, 2007, is scheduled to air Friday November 30 at 8:00 PM as part of C-SPAN’s Presidential Library Series.

From the Cleveland Plain-Dealer’s Openers political blog:

After last night’s GOP presidential debate, a Dennis Kucinich fan named Davis Fleetwood queried Texas Rep. Ron Paul about Kucinich’s recent suggestion in New Hampshire that they run as a joint ticket. Paul called such talk “premature” and added “We’re just getting going.”

In other words, Fleetwood: Don’t stop thinkin’ about tomorrow.

A rare night out for Extreme Mortman yesterday as we joined the steadfastly magnificent folks at Reason magazine to hear “Confessions of a Political Hit Man: An Evening with Roger Stone.”

We found the literary libertarian company pleasing — and Roger Stone even more pleasing still.

Two Stone quips worked their way onto our notepad:
Stone said he had lunch at the Washington Palm restaurant: “Glad to see that the steak knife is no longer sticking out of my caricature.”

Ba-dum!

And: “Nick [Gillespie, Reason’s top libertarian] asked me to speak for three minutes.  I can’t clear my throat in three minutes.”

Ba-dum!

That line, by the way, was much funnier than Jack Kemp’s opening line in the 1996 VP debate:   “Wow, in 90 seconds? I can’t clear my throat in 90 seconds.”  Kemp of course followed with this: “Bob Dole and myself do not see Al Gore and Bill Clinton as our enemy. We see them as our opponents.”
You’ll never hear that from Roger Stone.