Clintonian glib, courtesy of Obama

William Jefferson Clinton acquired a well-deserved reputation for expertly parsing his language in order to mislead listeners.

Keep an eye on Barack Obama. Religion writer Cathleen Falsani recently published the full transcript of an interview she originally had published in The Chicago Sun-Times:

FALSANI
Do you still attend Trinity?

OBAMA:
Yep. Every week. 11 oclock service.

Ever been there? Good service.

I actually wrote a book called Dreams from My Father, it's kind of a meditation on race. There's a whole chapter on the church in that, and my first visits to Trinity.

The interview was conducted in 2004. As noted at CNS News, this account appears to contradict statements Obama made to Newsweek while trying to distance himself from the controversial Rev. Wright.

Apparently Ed Laskey noticed the descrepancy right away, even without the entire interview being published.

This latest Obama spin does not square with a more honest portrayal he himself gave in a 2004 interview where he stated that he "regularly attended weekly services at Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ" and indicated that had been his regular schedule since joining the church 16 years before (1988). He did not indicate any scheduling problems or absences back in 2004, no scapegoating of his daughter. Now he has to deal with Pastor Wright controversy and he just dreams up a different history-and Newsweek helps him along.

He is shameless-and Newsweek is increasingly becoming so. Does the magazine even bother fact-checking?

What? And risk harming "The One"?