...And The Lies

I'm firmly committed to a "hissy fit" strategy about Republicans attacking the very people who have made this country great. But I would be remiss if I didn't continue to provide perspective on how Sarah Palin just stood up there and willingly lied in front of her countrymen last night.

I've already discussed the earmarks and the bridge to nowhere - Palin is as besotted with porkbarrel projects as anyone in Washington. That's how Alaska operates. But let's also note this fiction - that Barack Obama has no record.

In reporting on Gov. Sarah Palin's September 4 speech at the Republican National Convention, numerous print media, including the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Time magazine, the Dallas Morning News, Reuters, and an article and a column by Debra Saunders in the San Francisco Chronicle, uncritically reported Palin's claim that Sen. Barack Obama "is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform -- not even in the state senate," without noting that Obama has played key roles in the passage of reform legislation at both the federal and state levels. For example, Sen. John McCain, a co-sponsor of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, thanked Obama for his work on the bill.

Obama was a lead co-sponsor of that bill (S.2590), which sought to "require full disclosure of all entities and organizations receiving Federal funds" -- an amount that approximately totals $1 trillion in federal grants, contracts, earmarks and loans. While signing the bill into law on September 26, 2006, Bush recognized Obama as a sponsor of the legislation, saying, "I want to thank the bill sponsors, Tom Coburn from Oklahoma, Tom Carper from Delaware, and Barack Obama from Illinois." Moreover, in a press release upon Senate passage of the bill, the bill's primary sponsor, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), referred to the legislation as the "Coburn-Obama Bill." In media reports, the bill has also been referred to as the "Coburn-Obama" legislation or bill.

There are plenty more, too. But it takes some kind of chutzpah for a lady to lie about her own record while claiming her opponent's is non-existent. Of course, lying is all in the Republican family.

GIBSON: Senator, since I've been following politics, every single presidential nominee has said that the first quality they look for in a vice presidential pick is the capability and the readiness to take over as president.

Can you look the country straight in the eye and say Sarah Palin has the qualities and has enough experience to be commander in chief?

MCCAIN: Oh, absolutely. Having been the governor of our largest state, the commander of their National Guard, she was once in charge of their natural resources assets, actually, until she found out there was corruption and she quit and said it had to be fixed.

The "largest state" thing - in landmass, 47th in population - is so absurd it ought not be dignified. But this "she is commander of the Alaska National Guard" is just as juvenile.

Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, the service commander of the Alaska National Guard, told McClatchy that Palin has "no command authority" over the Guard when it comes to national security. The Guard responds to in-state natural disasters and civic emergencies, but Palin hasn't approved any of these activities during her tenure, allowing Campbell to have authority over Guard operations.

Just to be clear, Palin's lack of national security experience, to my mind, is not necessarily a disqualifier for national office. Plenty of capable national candidates have run without direct experience in foreign policy. Few have been as unprepared as Palin, but that need not be a deal breaker.

The problem here is that McCain and his campaign keep lying about this. Instead of crafting a compelling defense for Palin's lack of qualifications, the Republican campaign just creates its own reality.

Exactly.

...I agree with James Fallows, this speech is likely to have played much better in the hall.

UPDATE: The governor's plane never went on eBay. She's a pathological liar.