Washington Post Blasts Speaker Pelosi's Visit to Syria

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Editorially Speaking

The Washington Post's editorial board came down hard on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her discussions with Syria's president Wednesday.

The Post editorial was headlined: "Pratfall in Damascus — Nancy Pelosi's foolish shuttle diplomacy." It recaps the speaker's contention that Israel's prime minister told her Israel was ready for peace talks — and contains Israel's immediate response that she was given no such message.

But The Post editorial writers must have found out about that part of the story somewhere other than their own paper. The Post's main story contains nothing about Israel's disavowing the Pelosi statement — or about what the editorial called Pelosi's misrepresentation of Israel's position.

"Crime Scene"

The left-wing blogosphere was abuzz earlier this week over a photo of White House adviser Karl Rove taken in a Chattanooga restaurant in February. Rove is seen carrying a folder with the word COPTIX on it — the name of a Chattanooga graphic design and web development company.

The "Wonkette" site called the picture "a crime scene" and said: "This proves without a doubt that Karl Rove is illegally running all the White House e-mail through a private company instead of the White House government servers which belong to the American people."

It also referred to the administration's "double-secret private communication system." Daily Kos headlined: "Rove Personally Connected to E-mail Scandal" and said the picture "may help establish a timeline or provide ammunition for a subpoena."

But it turns out the photo was an April Fool's Day joke. Here's the original on the right. There is no folder in Rove's hand. Coptix Executive Vice President Josiah Roe says it was an "experiment" to illustrate how misinformation can filter upward and outward. He says all the bloggers failed to realize it was April Fool's Day weekend. They also failed to notice the tip-off — that the image on the TV set in the corner was also fake — from the 1970's TV show "Land of the Lost."

Al Qaeda Crippled?

Reuters has determined that the U.S. has succeeded in crippling Al Qaeda's ability to carry out major attacks on American soil — writing that intelligence officials feel the group would have a hard time staging another 9/11.

And while that would seem to be good news, Reuters also writes that the success has come, "at a political and economic cost that could leave the country more vulnerable in years to come."

It says experts warn the president's achievements in the War on Terror could be undercut by security costs, strain on the military and resentment from abroad.

Kim's Birthday Bash

A German rabbit breeder says he suspects the 12 giant rabbits he sent to help North Korea begin a breeding program to feed its hungry population were actually eaten during a party for Kim Jung II.

Karl Szmolinsky says a scheduled trip to check on the program was canceled — and he believes it's because the rabbits were on the menu at Kim's 65th birthday banquet in February. North Korea denies this. But Szmolinsky says he will not sell any more of his huge, dog-sized rabbits to the North Koreans.

—FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.