Nedra Pickler takes on Bill Richardson

AP writer Nedra Pickler long has been known (scroll down) for writing absolute dreck that props up GOP stooges and denigrates Democrats. Today she's unsheathed her red pen to go after New Mexico governor and Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson.

In a speech today in Baltimore, Richardson, who will be the guest on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart tonight, warned that more attention must be paid to al-Qaeda and less to Iraq, especially with a looming threat that the terrorist network could gain access to nuclear weapons.

But check out who Nedra cited, apparently without provocation:

Asked why he doesn't support a nuclear-free world like former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and other Cold War leaders have promoted, Richardson replied, "I'm a pragmatist."

"I believe what the world needs to do is nuclear arms reductions," Richardson said. He recalled that it didn't work when President Reagan and Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev agreed in 1986 to renounce all nuclear weapons "for about 10 minutes."

Richardson worked on securing Russian nuclear weapons when he was energy secretary in the Clinton administration. But he accused the Bush administration of underfunding their programs.

"Meanwhile, we are spending $10 billion a month on Iraq," he said. "Of the many ways in which the Iraq war has distracted us from our real national security needs, this is the most dangerous."

No word on whether Nedra gets an extra-special bonus for mentioning Kissinger in her article. But it wouldn't surprise me.