Sorry, I'm on my break. Please call back in two hours.

It was a completely legitimate campaign ad -- urgent in fact -- having nothing to do with Cleland's patriotism, but rather addressing his voting record (and, I would add, his sanity).

And yet, on MSNBC'S "Countdown" the host and guests vented their spleens at the ad all over again this year, during Chambliss' runoff re-election.

On Nov. 7, Olbermann called it "one of the most shameful moments in the history of American politics." His equally screechy guest Craig Crawford exclaimed: "I was horrified by what Chambliss did to (Cleland) in that campaign!"

On the Dec. 1 "Countdown," Margaret Carlson said: "I don't think enough attention can ever be paid to the ads that were run against Max Cleland. I'm waiting to hear if Chambliss apologizes for that someday."

At least liberals no longer lyingly claim Cleland lost his limbs because of a Viet Cong grenade. So there is that small victory. Soon, perhaps they'll learn to stop eating harmful bacteria.

Someday, I could stop writing new columns altogether and could just repost columns and book excerpts I've already written disproving the same yarns liberals spin over and over again.

******

CORRECTION

Although I am usually stunningly error-free, due to the obvious urgency of getting my next book out as soon as possible after the election, the recession necessitating a proofreader from Bangalore and the sun being in my eyes, there are some minor editing errors in the first printing of "Guilty: Liberal 'Victims' and Their Assault on America." (Out next week!) This will make the first edition something of a collector's item, rather like postage stamps with an upside-down airplane.

One error requires advance warning. On Page 89 of my new book, Frank Rich is quoted as referring to a "barrage of McCarthyesque guilt-by-association charges against [the media's] candidate, portraying him as a fellow traveler of bomb-throwing, America-hating, flag-denigrating terrorists."

Due to an editing error, the brackets around "the media's" in the above quote were left out, making Rich sound like me. I regret the error, and if Rich doesn't think it's an improvement, I apologize to him.