James Delingpole worked very, very, very hard to come up with 365 Ways to Drive a Liberal Crazy for his book, delving into the cream of right-wing e-mail spam to come up with “quotes” about the nutsy liberals he despises. Al Gore seems to be Delingpole’s favorite, the object of a fixation that crosses into delusion. Delingpole has dreamed up one false quote in which Al Gore supposedly declared that zebras have spots. Another time Delingpole misattributed a snobby quote about mistakes to Al Gore, when actually Dan Quayle was the speaker.

James Delingpole must have thought he hit paydirt when his Aunt Mabel sent him that “list of Al Gore quotes,” because he’s cut-and-pasted it into his book again. Some time in October of this year, Delingpole will send out a promotional e-mail in which he asks you to buy his book and shares his 283rd Way to Drive a Liberal Crazy:

283. Quote the Wisdom of Al Gore: “Democrats understand the importance of bondage between a mother and a child.”

Oooh! How pervy. It would have that perfect little zing if Al Gore had actually said it. But he didn’t say it.

If James Delingpole had taken the time to find the source of his quote, he would have come across the video you see below, which in the eighth minute shows Republican Vice Presidential candidate Dan Quayle saying the following while on the campaign trail in 1988:

“We understand the importance of having the bondage between the parent and the child.”

This isn’t James Delingpole’s first book, which might be some kind of excuse. No, he’s written others, including the troublingly titled How to Be Right. He should have learned how to check a fact by now, but apparently he just doesn’t care about reality. I tell you, the resemblance is uncanny. James Delingpole is our generation’s Quayle, and America’s right wing loves him for it: according to the book’s dust jacket, 365 Ways to Drive a Liberal Crazy has been made a main selection of the Conservative Book Club.