Did you hear the one about how the president dropped 'Hussein' from his oath of office?

Yes, right wing media, we're laughing. At you. Loudly. So The Washington Times breathlessly reported scandalous news this morning:

Barack H. Obama drops Hussein from the presidential oath

The Barack Hussein Obama of 2009 has been replaced in President Obama's second inaugural celebration by 'Barack H. Obama.'

In taking the oath of office Monday morning before Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Mr. Obama abbreviated his birth name, giving only the initial 'H.'

Matt Drudge instantly jumped on board, announcing to his universe that the president "drops 'Hussein' from the presidential oath." I'm not exactly sure why this was supposed to be a scandal, except maybe they thought it was evidence that our first secret Muslim president was trying to become even more secret.

But aside from the idiocy of hyping the initial claim, there was another little problem. A problem with the facts. Because, in the words of The Washington Times:

UPDATED: The initial post incorrectly stated the president did not use his middle name in taking the oath of office.

Savor that for a moment. "The initial post incorrectly stated the president did not use his middle name in taking the oath of office." In other words, the whole damn thing was wrong. The president did use his middle name. He didn't use his initial. Literally nothing about the claim was accurate. From top to bottom it was false. That would be funny enough, but it gets better, because the truly hilarious part is they are standing by the essential story. Now they say:

Barack H. Obama drops Hussein from inauguration ceremony

The Barack Hussein Obama of 2009 has been replaced in President Obama's second inaugural celebration by 'Barack H. Obama.'

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, referred to the president as Barack H. Obama in his introductory remarks for the public swearing-in ceremony.

So we've gone from the president wouldn't say his own middle name to the president's middle name was dropped from the entire inaugural ceremony because Chuck Schumer at one point in the inauguration used the president's middle initial. And yet the story is still presented just as breathlessly as the original foolishness. Oh, and by the way, the original post can still be found on The Washington Times web site: right here. Clowns.