Remember when NPR reported that Gabrielle Giffords died, and every person on teevee assumed his or her saddest voice and said, "We can now confirm that Congressman Gabrielle Giffords has died"? Yeah, her husband saw that too. And his children. Whoops.
On board a friend's private plane rushing him and his family to his wife's side, Kelly watched television reports erroneously declare that Giffords had lost her life in the shooting in a Safeway parking lot in Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday, Jan. 8.
"The kids ... Claudia and Claire start crying. My mother, you know ... I think she almost screamed. And I just, you know, walked into the bathroom, and you know, broke down," Kelly, an astronaut, told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an exclusive interview. "To hear that she died is just, it's devastating for me."
Good work, everyone! Peabodys all around. CNN gets extra credit for stupidly putting up a photo of some kid they claimed was Jared Loughner but wasn't him, and then continuing to put it up after they said they figured out it wasn't him. And this was after they fired Rick Sanchez.
This is the ultimate prank, by the way: Enlisting America's news organizations to tell your spouse and kids you've died. Just find someone to pass the information along to the media, and they'll announce it, no questions asked. Those guys will fall for anything. [ ABC News ]
I'm sure she'll apologize, because that's what victims are supposed to do. Harry Whittington told me so.
Merriam-Webster also says "literally" can mean "figuratively."
They list "flustrated," and within a year will probably list "refudiate," too.
I feel strongly that the Wonkette style-book should hold to a higher standard. Misspellings and improper punctuation have no place here.