Tedd Olson Gets Matt Cooper's Blessing

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Ringing Endorsement

Former Time magazine reporter and self-described liberal Matt Cooper is sticking up for rumored attorney general candidate Ted Olson, who has drawn criticism from Democrats even though he has not yet been nominated.

Cooper writes on CondeNast Portfolio.com that Olson, "is incredibly well qualified, maybe the best qualified person, to take the job under a Republican president."

Cooper says Olson was once his attorney and describes him as right wing, but not reflexively so.

He says President Bush, "has a right to appoint who he wants if they're within parameters of integrity and competence. Olson more than meets those standards." He writes if Democrats reject Olson, they would be setting a bad precedent for future Democratic presidents.

Telling Stories

ABC News is launching a second investigation into a former consultant who allegedly faked interviews with several prominent figures. Alexis Debat was fired earlier this year after the network learned his claim of getting a Ph.D from the Sorbonne in France turned out to be false.

Now ABC has revealed that interviews with Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Bill Gates and many others that appeared in a French magazine under Debat's byline apparently never took place.

Debat had worked for ABC since shortly after the 9/11 attacks. He also has been quoted by other media — including the Associated Press.

9/11 Comments

Massachusetts Democratic Governor Deval Patrick is refusing to apologize for comments that offended many people during Tuesday's 9/11 memorial in Boston.

Patrick characterized the terrorist attack as "mean and nasty and bitter" he then went on to say, "but it was also about the failure of human beings to understand each other and learn to love each other."

The Boston Globe reports Republican congressional candidate Jim Ogonowski, whose brother was a pilot on one of the planes that hit the World Trade Center, called Patrick's comments "completely inappropriate."

Patrick told radio listeners Thursday that the U.S. bears no fault for the 9/11 attacks, but that he sees no reason to apologize for his remarks.

Repeating History

An eighth-grade history teacher in Chico, California thought it would be a good idea to send home with his students a letter featuring a modern-day take on the Declaration of Independence.

A Chico newspaper reports the letter was addressed to President Bush and basically declared the parents' intentions to renounce their citizenship — as the American colonists had done with Britain. But the teacher did not send any explanation with the letter and several parents took it seriously. Some were outraged. But a few signed the letter and returned it to the teacher.

The head of the school system says the teacher now realizes he should have made his point a little differently and has sent home a second letter with students explaining the situation.

—FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.