Michael Tomasky asks a simple question:
How do you fight these people? I don't really think anyone, particularly the Obama campaign, has quite figured that out yet. It is absolutely stunning the role that dishonesty has played in the McCain campaign. These people just continue to lie. Even after they've been caught. It's utterly baffling! The obvious example is Palin and her lies regarding the Bridge to Nowhere and earmarks. However, it doesn't end there. Most of you have no doubt heard of the
Fed's bailout of AIG. Everyone that is currently reading these words, is now a partial owner of AIG, as the taxpayers now own 80% of the insurance giant. Congrats...I guess. Of course as Tomasky points out, McCain (in light of this news) is talking about the need to fight corporate greed and enact a new, stronger regulatory framework. Unfortunately for McCain, he's always opposed regulation in the past. In fact the best label for his economic perspective (as limited as that may be) is that of a radical deregulator. Thankfully, the apparently revitalized
Washington Post, has a
front page story (brought to my attention by the Tomasky post) that details McCain's long held antipathy for government regulation of business. However, the McCain campaign is out again today, lying. They're claiming that McCain has always been a strong proponent of regulaton. Surprised? You shouldn't be! This is how the McCain campaign operates. Tomasky sums up the situation appropriately:
Imagine this happening in your own life. You knew your spouse was cheating, and she or he kept on denying it and called you despicable. Imagine that in a court of law, a plaintiff or defendant's attorney could lie, get caught, lie again and then get at least some members of the jury to believe that the allegations that he lied were just an elitist plot. That in business, one party could break a contract, lie about it, lie about having lied about it, charge that the other party's willingness to stand by the original terms of the contract showed only that the other party was weak and inflexible -- and still come out of the deal smelling sweet.
I couldn't of said it better myself. Thankfully, the media finally seems to be jumping off the St. McCain bandwagon. While the reporting of the McCain campaign's lies were initially just popping up in individual stories, it now seems that the MSM is beginning to create a narrative focusing on the campaign's outright dishonesty. However, it's aggravating that the MSM seems to be hesitant to utilize the word
lie. When an individual makes a statement they know to be false. That's called a lie. It's spelled L - I - E. The present tense of the verb
lie, is
lying. Since the McCain campaign is actively and knowingly engaging in deception, they are lying. See MSM, it's easy! Anyways, I digress. While the MSM certainly plays a role, the onus is on John McCain, Sarah Palin, and their campaign. This overt reliance on the lie is unprecedented in a political campaign. While elements of the Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II campaigns were deplorable; none of them really ever continued to lie after having been caught. John McCain is so bereft of honor and dignity that he outright refuses to stop. I used to hate John McCain, now I just pity him.
Photo courtesy of Flickr user captainleadbottom, September 9, 2008.
