*sigh* here we go again...

The Twelve Lies Of Sarah Palin

"These are not hyperbolic claims or rhetorical excess. They are assertions of fact that are demonstrably untrue and remain uncorrected. Every single one of the lies I documented holds up after several news cycles have had a chance to vet them even further... So for the record, let it be known that the candidate for vice-president for the GOP is a compulsive, repetitive, demonstrable liar."

The things that are true are about the past. The things we want to be true are about the future. She's looking forward. We can change the things that were true in the past into things that we want to be true in the future. That's real change!

this should settle it

Sarah Palin Isn't Not Not Dis-Un-Lying About Banning Books

This statement, by McCain spokesman Brian Rogers, looks a lot more forceful:

* "The fact is that as Mayor, Palin never asked anyone to ban a book and not one book was ever banned, period."

That's true, as far as it goes, but look at it again. Fans of Jesuitical hair-splitting might think the wiggle room here comes from the distinction between asking someone whether you can ask them to do something and asking them to do it. But that's not it.

Ignore "period." Look at the place where he might have said "dependent clause." The important words are:

* "The fact is that as Mayor,"

Sarah Palin never asked anyone to ban a book as Mayor. As Mayor -- of a Wal-Mart and a snowmobile trail -- she was only interested in censorship in general.

As the New York Times reported this weekend, she only pushed to ban books by name when she was on the city council.

I hope that clears up everything.
. . .

Brian Rogers kind of reminds me of something John McCain said during the national pig/lipstick crisis last week:

* "Senator Obama chooses his words very carefully, okay? He shouldn't have said it. He shouldn't have said it. He chooses his words very carefully."

He's right. You've got to despise people who act like that.

isn't staycationing a travel expense?

WASHINGTON - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has charged her state a daily allowance, normally used for official travel, for more than 300 nights spent at her home, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

An analysis of travel statements filed by the governor, now John McCain's Republican running mate, shows she claimed the per diem allowance on 312 occasions when she was home in Wasilla and that she billed taxpayers $43,490 for travel by her husband and children.

Why can't we just have a nice narrative without all the fact-mongers jumping in?

Lies to Nowhere

As The New Republic's Brad Plumer first noted, Palin "was fine with the bridge in principle, never had a problem with the earmarks, bristled at all the mockery, and only gave up on the project when it was clear that federal support wasn't forthcoming." "We need to come to the defense of Southeast Alaska when proposals are on the table like the bridge," Palin said in August 2006, "and not allow the spinmeisters to turn this project or any other into something that's so negative." In fact, not only did Palin support the project while running for governor in 2006, but when she finally redirected funds away from the bridge, she lamented the fact that Congress had "little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island." Afterwards, Palin "did not return the federal money. She just allocated it elsewhere."

The McCain campaign jumped back with spokesman Brian Rogers calling the attacks "hysterical."

Yes...