Conservative Donnybrook

Back in 2003, Ann Coulter wrote a column exposing the fact that a fellow named Greg Packer had been repeatedly interviewed, at numerous unrelated events, and by multiple news organizations, as a “man on the street:”

Another average individual eager to get Hillary’s book was Greg Packer, who was the centerpiece of The New York Times’ “man on the street” interview about Hillary-mania. After being first in line for an autographed book at the Fifth Avenue Barnes & Noble, Packer gushed to the Times: “I’m a big fan of Hillary and Bill’s. I want to change her mind about running for president. I want to be part of her campaign.”

It was easy for the Times to spell Packer’s name right because he is apparently the entire media’s designated “man on the street” for all articles ever written. He has appeared in news stories more than 100 times as a random member of the public. Packer was quoted on his reaction to military strikes against Iraq; he was quoted at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Veterans Day Parade. He was quoted at not one — but two — New Year’s Eve celebrations at Times Square. He was quoted at the opening of a new “Star Wars” movie, at the opening of an H&M clothing store on Fifth Avenue and at the opening of the viewing stand at Ground Zero. He has been quoted at Yankees games, Mets games, Jets games — even getting tickets for the Brooklyn Cyclones. He was quoted at a Clinton fund-raiser at Alec Baldwin’s house in the Hamptons and the pope’s visit to Giants stadium.

The AP went so far as to ban Packer quotes, although that didn’t keep him out of AP articles for long. And you can still see his name crop up from time to time. It is has evidently proved impossible for the media to cease to be taken in by this guy.

So today, where else does Greg Packer crop up today but in a ABC News story about the 3G iPhone Launch?

Last year, New Yorker Greg Packer was first in line at the same store to pick up the iPhone. This week, he stood out front to cheer on his 3G-buying brethren. “I was here at 5 a.m. on Monday morning last year. The phone was coming out at 6 p.m. that Friday. This was my spot right here,” Packer said, pointing to Simon’s spot. “People brought me food. I was the first person to buy the phone.”

I can’t decide if this guy is a pathetic attention-starved loser, or is just someone with an unusual hobby. But still, it’s fun to spot his name in news articles, it’s like finding Waldo.

the anti-war crowd raised a big stink over the Bush administration’s claim that Iraq was buying yellowcake from Niger? They claimed it never existed, that it was a false pretext to go to war, some even went so far as to claim that Saddam Hussein’s regime was not seeking nuclear armament. Well guess what, we found the yellowcake. It’s funny that this hasn’t been all over the news in the same manner that the Niger/Iraq yellowcake documents were.

This can’t be a good idea. Allowing the Israelis to use U.S. bases in Iraq can only serve to inflame Iraqi passions to the detriment of our servicemen.