Petrelis Files

WPost's Howard Kurtz's "Goat" Mistake

I grant you that in the big journalistic scheme of things, Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz's minor mistake today on the name of the book the president was reading to children, "The Pet Goat," is small potatoes.

From his column today about White House chief of staff Andrew Card stepping down yesterday:

In fact, he may be most famous for that scene from the Michael Moore movie; television kept replaying the footage of Card interrupting Bush's reading of "My Pet Goat" to tell him about the 9/11 attacks.

Many of us, myself included, refer incorrectly to the title of the book that gained international attention on September 11.

The best way to remember the true name of the book might be to read this review of it from the Washington Post of July 18, 2004, which ended with this dig at Dubya:

It should come as no surprise that the president chose to stick around for the end to this riveting story. Only the petty or small-minded could fault him for it. After all, there is much to learn from literature.

If you're interested in reading the text of "The Pet Goat," click here.