NEW THEORY: “You can almost hear Jon Lovitz doing his Tommy Flanagan bit: ‘Yeah, yeah. They’re not forgeries, they’re, uhhhhh . . . replicas! Yeah, replicas — that’s the ticket!'”

UPDATE: Reader Houston Foppiano emails:

Rather’s New York Observer interview, where he seems to be utterly frustrated by the fact that people are focusing on the authenticity of the documents, rather than their “content,” reminds me of possibly my all time favorite episode of the Simpsons – “Homer’s Enemy.” If you will remember, Frank Grimes becomes increasingly obsessed with the fact that no one seems to be bothered by Homer’s incompetence at the nuclear plant, and tries to set him up by tricking him into entering the “build a model nuclear plant contest” meant to be entered by children. When Homer enters – and wins – and no one seems to mind that he’s competing against children. Grimey loses it and goes nuts, ultimately grabbing exposed power cables and getting fried.

Rather is heading down this path whether he was responsible for the original deceit of the documents or not. He can’t understand why no one is getting upset about his “blockbuster” story that Bush might not have met all his ANG requirements, and it’s making him crazy. He has completely missed the point that most people already assume Bush got preferential treatment, and was not the most repsponsible person in his youth – AND THEY DON’T CARE. They’ve already put that into their voting calculus, and if it didn’t hurt Bush when he was relatively unknown in 2000, it certainly ain’t gonna after he’s been Commander in Chief for four years. Why someone would put their credibility and career on the line to make this politically insignificant point continues to baffle me.

Me, too.