President Bush on Friday wished Bill Clinton "best wishes for a swift and speedy recovery."

"He's is in our thoughts and prayers," Bush said at a campaign rally.

Bush's audience of thousands in West Allis, Wis., booed. Bush did nothing to stop them.

Or did they?. Many of the Bush faithful are up in arms, and letting loose a barrage of negative feedback against the AP news organization that apparently was the source of the story.

One individual has posted an audio clip.

Sounds like there were a chorus of boos amidst the cheering. At any rate, an audio recording isn't going to be gospel, as the audio could conceivably be totally different (or inaudible) at different microphone spots.

But I'm curious if the avalanche of bias cries is going to dictate AP retractions and/or apologies. It would surely show the power of this internet deal, even if it was an unjustified pullback. That is, supporters of the president, don't wish to be seen in a negative light, even if it's the truth. Again, it sounded like there was a smattering of boos – I can't fathom folks crying "oooh" that loudly in response to such a statement. And it's hard to believe an AP reporter made the whole story up, in front of an entire audience. YMMV.

Then again, recent journalistic tidings have produced the likes of Jayson Blair and Stephen Glass so anything's possible…

04-09-93 18:15 Update

The AP story has morphed into a kinder, more gentler piece:

The crowd reacted with applause and with some "ooohs," apparently surprised by the news that Clinton was ill.

Here's another AP version of the same story that is slightly different from the previous two.

Many in Bush's audience booed when Clinton's name was mentioned. The president made no comment on that and continued with his rally speech.

Orwell would be proud.

Some versions of the story still remain unchanged, thus far.