I don’t know if you guys all heard this today, but apparently Letterman aired a video clip of Bush giving a speech at a fundraising event. The funny thing about the clip is this young kid standing behind and to Bush’s right who is absolutely bored out of his mind and unable to hide it. He checks his watch. He starts nodding off. He starts shaking body parts to stay awake. All in all, it’s pretty funny.

Well, CNN aired it the next day. Then they claimed that the White House called them and told them it was a completely faked video. Then CNN said that the White House only said that the kid was there, but off to the side. Letterman then ripped CNN and the White House for being liars, insisting that the video was authentic.

Well, now you can see for yourself. Overspun has links to the video. More commentary can be found around the web at Atrios and other places.

Update: This from Atrios:

Cool Kid

I have to admit I felt a bit sorry for the kid on the Letterman clip. I was a bit worried his 15 minutes might be a bit traumatic. But, apparently he has a sense of humor:

Reached Wednesday, Crotty was more than a bit anxious about the incident.

“I accept full responsibility for that,” the forlorn father said. “His mother was out of town, and I let him stay up too late. I should have prepped him better.”

Prepped him? Come on, chairman. He’s a 12-year-old, not Karl Rove. He did what 12-year-olds do during long political speeches — in this case, 42 minutes. They get bored and fidgety.

Actually, Tyler has had a birthday since the event. As of last week, he’s 13. (Happy birthday, pal.)

Dad, who is among the elite Bush backers to achieve “Pioneer” status for raising more than $100,000 for the president’s re-election efforts, loosened up as our conversation went on.

“It was a funny bit,” he conceded.

And when Tyler finally saw the tape, Crotty said, “he laughed so hard he almost cried.”

Ooops. Never mind. The White House just called and insisted this whole incident didn’t happen. As a good journalist, I must believe them unquestioningly. [Eschaton]