THE WHITE HOUSE, CNN AND LETTERMAN

It was so funny it seemed too good to believe. I'm talking about a new routine called "George W. Bush Invigorates America's Youth," which made its debut with an hilarious video clip Monday night on "The Late Show With David Letterman." I laughed so hard it broke me up. I wish I could find the clip on the Web to show you. But I can't.

Lisa de Morae's report in yesterday's Washington Post pretty well describes what I saw. (Enlarge the photo.) Among the people standing behind our Maximum Leader during a recent speech he gave in Florida was a chubby "boy of about 12 in a red baseball cap, rugby shirt and chino shorts who is caught on camera yawning uncontrollably, twisting his head from side to side, checking his watch and otherwise looking pretty thoroughly bored, while the other people serving as background ignored him."

"The Late Show" website recounts the video clip in similarly precise detail, though it differed on the boy's age: "Directly behind the President stood a boy of 14 or so bored to tears. While the President spoke, the lad yawned, stretched, yawned some more, checked his watch, took a knee, yawned, and fell asleep standing up near the end. It was a very humorous actual clip we uncovered."

Well, CNN thought so too. The next day, Tuesday, it showed the video clip -- twice -- but then said -- twice -- that it had received a call from the White House claiming the clip was doctored. The clip was such a candid commentary on our Maximum Leader, and so funny, that when I saw it on Monday night I'd wondered myself whether it was doctored.

But, in point of fact, it was the real thing. What's more, CNN now denies it received that call from the White House. And "The Late Show" website notes emphatically, "The boy was at the rally and the boy was standing behind the President." It also asks a reasonable question: "Why would CNN say the White House HAD called if the White House never did?" The site also claims that a reliable Letterman source says "the White House DID call CNN."

Finally, it suggests that "while Condoleeza Rice is testifying in front of the 9/11 Commission, perhaps she can shed some light on this as well. Perhaps the White House truly believes the kid wasn't there due to faulty intelligence." It's good to see Letterman playing in the same league as "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."