Here’s yet another example of how Republicans across the country are becoming just a little unbalanced over the victory of Sen.-elect Al Franken.
Last week, soon after Franken’s win became official, Cincinnati Enquirer columnist Peter Bronson put up a blog post that included a curious photo of Franken in an adult diaper, wearing bunny ears and holding a teddy bear. Bronson suggested Republicans use this photo for an ad, with the heading: “Is this who you want making decisions about your health care?”
The thing is, though, the photo is a fake. It was doctored up by the Ohio Republican Party back in 2006, in an attempt to attack Democrat Sherrod Brown for campaigning with Franken in Brown’s Senate race, using Franken’s face from a 2004 AP file photo of him at his radio show desk. And the Enquirer itself reported this at the time. In an indication of just how successful the attack was, Brown easily won the race.
Funny thing: The title of Bronson’s blog is “Bronson is Always Right.” I’ll also say that I have something in common with Republicans, in that I kind of wish this photo were real — but probably for a much different reason than they do.
Late Update:: The Enquirer has now replaced the photo, with a pic of Franken in the role of Stuart Smalley. “Note: This picture replaces an earlier one that was photoshopped (Franken in a diaper),” the editorial note says. “We don’t knowingly use false pictures.”
Late Late Update: The Enquirer now appears to have taken the whole post down — the link above resolves to the main page of Bronson’s blog. Bronson — who is always right, of course — has put up a new blog post (for now) admitting that the diaper photo isn’t real, and explaining that he replaced it with a Stuart Smalley pic. This new post, in which he admits his own error, is entitled “Changing Al Franken’s diaper.”
