On "Hardball" today former ambassador Richard Holbrooke slammed guest-host David Gregory for peddling unfounded GOP talking points about Speaker Pelosi's trip to Syria. Whether it was Pelosi's "shadow presidency" (coined by WaPo neocon Fred Hiatt), or her "miscommunicated Israeli message," Mr. Holbrooke exposed the lies and took a swing at the gullible journalists who have been promoting them.

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"I think this whole thing has been blown out of proportion by a deliberate ambush plan by the opposition -- in this case the Republicans -- and, frankly, exploited by journalists who are just looking for a controversy. There is no issue here. Congressman Wolf, a major Republican, was in the region a few days earlier. Republicans were on her trip. There is no issue. None."

I wonder if Holbrooke caught Gregory's appearance on "Meet the Press" yesterday or if he just got lucky. Either way, he's dead on.

Think Progress has video of Rep Nick Rahall (D-WV) -- who was part of Pelosi's delegation -- confirming that the Speaker spoke to President Bush before leaving for Damascus, and that he raised no objection. If bloggers can so easily sort out fact from fiction, why can't the national "liberal" media? Pathetic.