"KERRY'S CHOICE: Dem picks Gephardt as VP candidate" blared the morning headline, just hours before John Kerry selected John Edwards — not the guy who talks to dead people — as his running mate.

It's a gaffe that would make Jayson Blair blush, but at least there are no serious repercussions, as the Post was merely bragging to have learned something — apparently from a real bozo — that was gonna come out anyway. And did, with accuracy, by all media before the Post.

The bogus cover was taken off the Post's website — without explanation — 'cause people would just stop talking about it if was missing — then replaced with a headline that we can only assume was true. There was an AP story about the screw-up that I found deep within the site's politics section, but that clearly slipped through the cracks of an automated wire feed. The Post took it down, but not before I took a screenshot.

Others have wondered whether the Post's selection of a photo of Kerry and Gephardt seemingly close to romantic embrace reflected a hidden agenda. If you know the Post, you know none of its agenda is hidden. Which I don't have a problem with, even if I think its language is often patronizing and vicious toward liberals, a pool of people that — and this may come as a shock — contains some incredibly intelligent people who are not entirely uninformed and are unworthy of being talked down to. But I respect Rupert Murdoch's right to print whatever kind of paper he wants, stripper and gambling ads and all.

That being said, here are some other Post headlines you might see in the near future:

• Torre Tabs Boston's Lowe as All-Star Starter
• Bush, Cheney Give Fahrenheit 9/11 Two Thumbs Up
• Milano Ties Knot With Webmaster Katcher
• Republican National Convention Affects NYC Traffic Not at All
• Murray State Lands Top Recruit in Nation
• Tourist Served a Buyback at Bourbon Street Bar
• Florida State Goes Entire Season Without Football Player Arrested
• Hot Chicks Line Up for Release of Madden 2005
• Howard Stern Fails to Ask Female Guest if Breasts Are Real
• Carrot Top Show at MSG Sold Out
• Google Restricts Porn Searches From Its Users
• Corey Feldman Wins Oscar for Best Actor
• More Than Three Men Spotted in Oprah Audience
• Americans Celebrate Start of NHL Season

Other News Links:

• The Politics of Pornography — Thomas Oliphant's column in the Boston Globe reads, "Despite the obvious interpretation of this week's decision that content-based criminalization of the Internet is both wrong and foolish, John Ashcroft's relentless pursuit of big government authority over what people read and watch is too shameless to allow for the acknowledgment of defeat."

• Guys Gone Wild DVD Set for July 13 Release — Clear the calendar, girls. Drunken, hairy ass is coming to your living room.

• Italy's 'King of Porn' Retires With 1,300 Films Under His Belt — Rocco Siffredi hangs up the lube. And somewhere an L.A. runaway is in tears, knowing that she'll never get to be No. 1301.

• Michael Moore's Public Service — Paul Krugman writes in The New York Times that "Fahrenheit 9/11 is a tendentious, flawed movie, but it tells essential truths about leaders who exploited a national tragedy for political gain, and the ordinary Americans who paid the price."

• Clothing Stores Crave Burger Chain's Merchandise — White Castle is all the rage, but I could have told you tiresome hipsters that 15 years ago. (Thanks, Art)

• Free Speech: Do Americans Really Believe in It? — The Chicago Tribune reports that two in 10, out of 1,000 polled, believe that negative reporting on the war and critical editorials against a war should not be allowed. I'm not sure these kinds of people know how to read anyway. They might want to start with the Constitution.

• U.S., Israel Will Guard Their Own Athletes at Olympics — Sounds like a smart move to me.

• Why the French Act Isn't Funny Anymore — Charles Krauthammer writes in TIME that "their resistance to helping in Afghanistan and Iraq is now downright dangerous."