ODD

Word is going around on the Intertubes (see, e.g., this, this, this, and this) that Jay Leno wrote an op-ed that begins,

The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right?

The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the president. In essence 2/3s of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change.

So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What we are so unhappy about?''

The essay does have somewhat Leno-esque passages:

Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.

Then it eventually lands here:

I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks?

Doesn't sound like Leno. Did he actually write this?

No. The author was Craig R. Smith, WorldNetDaily columnist and coauthor of a book with Jerome Corsi, the guy who wrote the Swift Boat book.

I don't know how these things get ascribed to people who had nothing to do with them -- maybe it was a calculated act (somebody decided to slap a seemingly nonpartisan guy's name on a piece of wingnuttery and start spamming it), or maybe it's just the way these things go (recall, for instance, Kurt Vonnegut had nothing to do with that "wear sunscreen" thing). In any case, if someone e-mails it to you, just delete it, and block the sender.