MSNBC punked by phony McCain advisor

If Sarah Palin really ever described Africa as a country rather than a continent- which she denies, but which Fox News, MSNBC, the Los Angeles Times, the New Republic, Jay Leno, among others, maintain- the identity of the source remains a mystery.

MSNBC anchor David Shuster reported Monday that the source of the story, McCain policy adviser Martin Eisenstadt, a senior fellow at the Harding Institute of Freedom and Democracy, had claimed credit for the story in his blog.

The trouble is that nobody named Martin Eisenstadt ever worked for the McCain campaign, and there is no Harding Institute of Freedom and Democracy.

The Institute does have a website, for all that- and Eisenstadt does have a blog. It turns out that "Eisenstadt" is actually Eitan Gorlin, a film maker who, along with a friend named Dan Mirvish, pulled the deception off as a publicity stunt for an idea they have for a TV series based on "Eisenstadt."

"Eisenstadt's" blog has been feeding not only other blogs but the mainstream media wholly fictitious tidbits for months. We poor, dumb bloggers may have an excuse.

MSNBC and the others don't.

MSNBC, at least, has retracted the story.

HT: Real Clear Politics,
Drudge

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