Wiener of the Week

The only tough part about choosing the WotW this week is deciding which group of assclowns involved in this story should be the recipient.

CNN had some explaining to do on the air Friday morning, following its earlier report that the Coast Guard “tried to prevent a boat from entering a security zone on the Potomac River,” and that shots were fired not far from where President Obama commemorated the attacks on Sept. 11.

The network caused a stir on Twitter with the following: "BREAKING NEWS: Suspicious boat in river near Obama in DC. Police scanner reports of shots fired. Circumstances unclear."

It turns out the Coast Guard was involved in a training exercise.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN's homeland security correspondent, went on the air after to explain why the network reported on shots being fired.

"We saw things happening on the water," she said. "We could see boats racing around. And we were listening to Coast Guard radio traffic."

Meserve said she heard on the Coast Guard radio that 10 rounds had been fired.

CNN had based its initial story on reports from police scanners that shots had been fired, but had no independent confirmation.

Wait - it gets better.

White House spokesclown Robert Gibbs had the cajones to chastize CNN, notwithstanding CNN's lack of any prior knowledge of what was going on.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs chastised CNN Friday morning for its reporting on a Coast Guard training exercise on the Potomac River, which suggested a security incident was in progress in the nation's capital.

"Before we report things like this, checking would be good," Gibbs said.

Responding directly to a CNN reporter's question about whether the public should have been notified about a training exercise, Gibbs was harshly sarcastic: "If anybody was unnecessarily alarmed based on erroneous reporting that denoted that shots had been fired, I think everybody is apologetic about that."

Jeez! What a tool!

So who gets the award? The Coast Guard, for running a live fire drill on the Potomac River, spitting distance from the Pentagon, on 9-f'ing-11? The government spokesmouths, for not alerting the press in advance of the live fire drill? Or CNN, for going off half-cocked with an incendiary story without any idea of what was happening, and doing it on 9-f'ing-11?

You're welcome to opine, but I'm content to give it to "all of the above". Congratulations, tools! You're the Wiener of the Week!