No, it's 'Osama,' not 'Obama bin Laden'

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barack Obama's name has been mangled plenty of times, though not always in the presence of 1,200 news executives and TV cameras.

It happened Monday at The Associated Press's Annual Luncheon, where the Democratic presidential candidate spoke and took questions. Dean Singleton, chairman of the AP's board of directors and head of Denver-based MediaNews Group -- not to mention head of the company that publishes this newspaper -- slipped when asking the senator if he could envision sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, where "Obama bin Laden is still at large."

Obama gave a quizzical look and said, "I think that was Osama bin Laden." Singleton quickly replied, "If I did that, I'm so sorry."

"No, no, no," the senator said. He called it "part of the exercise that I've been going through over the last 15 months, which is why it's pretty impressive I'm still standing here." The crowd laughed and gave him a sympathetic round of applause.

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