GEORGIE ANN GEYER WEASELS: Reader Bill Rudersdorf notes that Georgie Ann Geyer’s latest column has a disclaimer at the bottom:

EDITOR’S NOTE: In Georgie Anne Geyer’s column dated for release May 9, 2002, she included a quote from Ariel Sharon, “I control America.” This quote was widely reported in the Palestinian press but cannot be confirmed in independent sources. Miss Geyer and Universal Press Syndicate regret not having attributed the quote more specifically. — UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE

“I thought she was smarter than that,” writes Rudersdorf. Yes, relying on the famously unreliable Palestinian newspapers for a Sharon quote certainly counts as not-smart. In fact, didn’t Holger Jensen do something similar? And didn’t he make a far more handsome apology than this? And didn’t he lose his column anyway?

Just asking.