AN INVITATION HE COULDN'T REFUSE...HIS OWN

Priceless.

Even though he hosted Dem hopeful Howard Dean in Plains, Georgia on Sunday, former President Jimmy Carter annoyed Dean's senior advisers when he claimed that Dean was not invited!

"He called me on the phone and said he'd like to worship with me," Carter explained. "I did not invite him, but I'm glad he came."

Carter said he has also visited with retired Gen. Wesley Clark, and hopes he will again.

The embarrassing Dean moment came after Dean was pressed in recent interviews on why he would leave Iowa at a crunch time.

Dean said he could not turn down an invitation to appear with a former president he admires, the WASHINGTON POST reports on Monday. But when a visitor to the Marantha church thanked Carter for inviting Dean, Carter quickly interjected, "I did not invite him!"