In an interview with David Letterman on Wednesday night, Letterman picked up where traditional journalists left off, posing a patently ridiculous questions about the lipstick cliche:

Letterman: Let me ask you a question here: Have you ever actually put lipstick on pig?

Obama: The answer would be no. But I think it might be fun to try …. This is sorta silly season in politics. Not that there’s a non-silly season, but it gets sillier. It’s a common expression in at least Illinois. I don’t know about in NYC. I don’t know what you put lipstick on here. (laughter) In Illinois, the expression connotes the idea that if you have a bad idea — in this case I was talking about McCain’s economic plans — calling them change, calling them something different doesn’t make them better. Hence lipstick on a pig is still a pig.

Keep in mind, that technically had I meant it this way, she would be the lipstick … The policies of John Mccain would be the pig.

I actually heard a reporter offer this same deconstruction of the analogy on the bus yesterday. But it’s pretty low on the list of reasons why this false attack should never have been seriously covered in the first place.

The real joke, as Obama might say, is on the American people.