A Brand You Can Trust

You know what made Roadrunner cartoons so funny?

You always knew the coyote was going to meet with disaster. No matter what Acme products he employed, they always landed him in exactly the wrong spot--just before the anvil landed.

For reliability, Redstate is compiling a record that rivals that of the Acme Corp.

Example? Of course.

Redstate had kept its distance from the "Jamilgate" saga--admirably so--until just a couple of days ago.

Redstate writer Charles Bird on January 2:

"Jamil Hussein has appeared as an AP source in 60± news stories. The most spectacular item was the one about four mosques being destroyed and six Sunnis being burned alive. As it turns out, at worst, one mosque was destroyed and there is no evidence that anyone was murdered via torching.

"When challenged on the veracity of the story, AP editors went on the offensive and attacked those who questioned its sources, playing the typical motive-impugning game that we see all too often from the hardline Liberal-Left. Apparently, to AP, the motives of government sources are always in question yet the motives of its own sources are pure as the driven snow. AP executive editor Kathleen Carroll still stands by Jamil Hussein, even though the man cannot be located anywhere, and even though both Iraqi and American government officials deny that Jamil Hussein is a police captain or spokesman for the Iraqi police." (emphasis added)

You just know what happens next, don't you?

Here comes the anvil:

BAGHDAD (AP) -- The Interior Ministry acknowledged Thursday that an Iraqi police officer whose existence had been denied by the Iraqis and the U.S. military is in fact an active member of the force, and said he now faces arrest for speaking to the media.

Ministry spokesman Brig. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, who had previously denied there was any such police employee as Capt. Jamil Hussein, said in an interview that Hussein is an officer assigned to the Khadra police station, as had been reported by The Associated Press.

There was no word on why it took so long to find Mr. Hussein, and no word on when the error was discovered.

Also, no word on whether Mr. Bird is out painting fake tunnels on the side of cliffs near AP headquarters.