For over a year now, I've been getting TruthOut's steaming crapfests dumped in my e-mail box at least once a day. Some joker thought it would be fun to sign me up to their mailing list, and those imbeciles apparently can't imagine that anyone would NOT want their turds because they don't bother to verify subscriptions.

No, I've never been asked to be taken off their list. My position (and it's shared by many) is that 1) you should never ask to be taken off any list you never asked to be on; and B) if they want me to help them clean up their e-mail list, they can pay me.

It's been fun, on the rare occasions they send out their beg letters. Occasionally, when I'm feeling particularly vindictive, I'll call them up and offer them a hefty donation -- as soon as Karl Rove is indicted.

That's usually when they hang up on me.

Well, earlier this week the turd they dumped in my inbox had a rather unusual waft to it. I hereby reprint it in its entirety:

To Our Readership and Friends,

Jason Leopold is no longer employed by Truthout.

Jason is a truly gifted reporter, and his efforts on behalf of Truthout
have been greatly appreciated.

There may be some speculation that this announcement is connected in
some way to Truthout's reporting of the Karl Rove indictment matter. It
is not. At the time of our reporting on the Rove matter we stood by the
factual accuracy of our reports, and we stand by them now.

We sincerely wish Jason the best of luck.

Marc Ash, Executive Director - t r u t h o u t
director@truthout.org

(Yes, they really do spell out their name with those oh-so-pretentious spaces between each letter. And no, they don't see the humor when you ask them why they're so proud of being out of truth.)

Yes, almost two years after they breathlessly reported that Karl Rove had been secretly indicted, they still stand by those reports. Never mind that the grand jury itself has said they did no such thing, no matter that the grand jury has been dismissed, no matter that Rove instead resigned at his own discretion, they still stand by those reports.

Well, I was worried about Jason. How will he ever recover from this tremendous fall from such lofty heights?

Well, I think I've found out.

Jason, I suspect, found a new job fairly quickly. In fact, I think I know where. It's nowhere as prestigious as TruthOut. In fact, it's a hell of a step down on credibility and respect and prestige, and he must really need the money to prostitute his credibility to take it, but these days a job's a job.

I would not be a surprised if he has ended up at the New York Times, covering John McCain's alleged "improper relationship" with a lobbyist.

Hey, the facts hang together. The report has all Jason's hallmarks. The mysterious unnamed sources, the vague accusations, the absolute lack of substance, and the fulfillment of the far left's most fabulous fantasies (OK, I'll take it easy on the alliteration). The story is a blue dress of reporting, and it doesn't take the FBI labs to see Jason's DNA.

In fact, I have all kinds of proof for it. I have eighty-three disgruntled former New York Times interns and 347 ex-TruthOut volunteers who have all told me, on condition of anonymity, that Jason often spoke wistfully of working for the Gray Lady, that the New York Times editors spoke lovingly of his work, and both Jason and the editors would go to bed and fantasize about catching John McCain in something truly scandalous.

If that isn't absolute iron-clad proof of the story, then you obviously haven't read the Times story on McCain's alleged "affair."