Updated: Right-wing attack poodles try to take down another CNN reporter …

In his post about St. John McCain's recent jaunt to Baghdad, below, Evan touched on the report that CNN's Michael Ware laughed at McCain during his Green Zone press conference. "Heckled" is how the right-wing noise machine characterized it.

(Last week, Warre ridiculed McCain's assertion that you could shoot Mentos commercials on the streets of Baghdad without any trouble.)

The report's difficult to believe on its face -- a seasoned pro like Ware being that disrespectful, that unprofessional in a public presser?

And it shouldn't be believed. The incident -- widely reported by the right-wing noise machine as one of "heckling" -- appears to be wholly fabricated. It started with Drudge, and it's working its way around the intertubes now. This diary at Kos has some of the lowlights of the story's development …

Drudge got the ball rolling with the usual third-party report by an un-named military source …

During a live press conference in Baghdad, Senators McCain and Graham were heckled by CNN reporter Michael Ware. An official at the press conference called Ware's conduct "outrageous," saying, "here you have two United States Senators in Bagdad giving first-hand reports while Ware is laughing and mocking their comments. I've never witnessed such disrespect. This guy is an activist not a reporter."