I can't believe what I just saw on CNN. They started by covering McCain's apology today for Bill Cunningham's insane and devious anti-Obama slurs at the McCain rally. And then, just in case we missed those slurs -- and CNN agrees they are awful and regrettable slurs -- they played the clip of them and let it run, uninterrupted, for about two minutes.

Then they brought a special guest on to discuss the flap. Can you guess who it was?

It was fucking Bill Cunningham!

And they let Cunningham go on for about another 5 minutes about how Obama was a "proud Muslim" and so on and so forth. Some of the hard-hitting questions the anchor asked Cunningham including something to the effect of (paraphrasing), "Now, you also say Obama is corrupt. Can you tell us a little more about that?"

Then they played some clips of Bob Kerrey at a Clinton rally disingenuously claiming that it was really neat and wonderful that "Barack Hussein Obama" attended a "secular madrassa."

Finally, Candy Crowley et. al. were trotted out to praise John McCain for his forthright and undoubtedly sincere repudiation of those awful remarks. Then Candy Crowley claimed that, regrettable though it may be, there is nothing CNN can do to stop this kind of rhetoric. Crowley said, and I think this is an exact quote, "If Obama's the nominee, then this kind of talk is just going to be out there, all the way to the general election. It'll just be out there."

WTF?! "Out there"?! It wasn't "out there," it was on your own network!

I had to turn off the television after this but presumably they're still talking about it. Maybe they're now showing the turban photo and morphing it with a Bin Laden photo and regretting how regrettable it is that those kinds of images keep being broadcasted by cable news networks.

We are officially through the looking glass. Again.