After Hundreds of Complaints, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Finally Apologizes

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Bad Press, Eh?

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has decided a racially-tinged attack by one of its commentators on Sarah Palin was not such a good idea after all. Heather Mallick said in a September 5 column that Republican men were sexual inadequates and that Palin was a toned-down version of a porn actress. She then said Palin "added nothing to the ticket that the Republicans didn't already have sewn up, the white trash vote."

The CBC initially stood by Mallick, but after more than 300 reader complaints — and criticism from both Canadian and U.S. media — the CBC is now apologizing. The corporation's ombudsman said Mallick's assertions were not fact-based, and CBC's publisher John Cruickshank says "we erred in our judgment... Mallick's column is a classic piece of political invective. It is viciously personal, grossly hyperbolic and intensely partisan."

Meanwhile, Mallick has never apologized for her column and lauded the CBC for its initial support.

Censor Squad?

A St. Louis TV station reports a group known as the Barack Obama Truth Squad is coming under fire because a number of state prosecutors and sheriffs have joined and may crack down on free speech. KMOV-TV says the group was set up to respond to advertisements and statements about Obama it considers misleading and possible violations of the state's ethics laws.

Missouri Republican Governor Matt Blunt says, "What Senator Obama and his helpers are doing is scandalous... the only conceivable purpose... is to frighten people away from expressing themselves, to chill free and open debate." And the conservative Americans Issues Project says Obama is carrying out a campaign of what it calls "legal intimidation."

Meanwhile, KMOV-TV has been inundated with calls from angry viewers as far away as New York and Florida. The station reports many are expressing concern that people could be prosecuted for stating their political views.

Inside Job

Connecticut Democrats are circulating a resolution to censure Senator Joe Lieberman because he supports Republican John McCain. The state party's central committee will send copies of the resolution to every Democratic town committee in the state. Although the resolution will not be considered until after election day, it will ask Lieberman to quit the Democratic Party.

Audrey Blondin, one of two committee members sponsoring the resolution said, "Our point is not that Joe should in some way be prohibited from supporting McCain or speaking at the National Republican Convention. The issue is, he's a Democrat. And Joe, in our opinion, needs to reconsider membership in our party."

Lieberman caucuses with Senate Democrats, although he ran as an Independent in 2006 after Democrats refused to renominate him.

Body of Lies

A group of Iranian students has unveiled a book of caricatures and satirical writings about what it calls the "fiction" of the holocaust. The book was released to mark Iran's annual Quds Day parade Friday — a day that highlights Iranian support of Palestinians. The book release was held at Tehran's Palestine Square and in the presence of Iran's education minister.

The cover of the book depicts a Jew with a crooked nose drawing outlines of dead bodies on the ground. Cartoons on the inside show an Israeli patient on life support and breathing Zyklon B — the poisonous gas used in Nazi extermination chambers. Another depicts Jewish prisoners entering a furnace in a Nazi camp and leaving as gun-wielding terrorists from the other side.

— FOX News Channel's Zachary Kenworthy contributed to this report.