Would Lincoln Lie to Your Face?

According to Dante Alighieri, the Eighth Circle of Hell is reserved for liars and frauds, those knowingly guilty of treachery, including corrupt politicians.

First and foremast in that hell are political liars of all forms. And this week's Republican National Convention gave us easily the largest, sickest, most twisted display yet of how large and brazenly insulting the new crop of lying politicians and political wonks striving to join those ranks truly is.

No clearer example of that type of straight in-your-face lying can be found than in Peggy Noonan's admission on MSNBC. Noonan, a conservative Republican writer for the Wall Street Journal, was being interviewed along with Mike Murphy by MSNBC's Chuck Todd regarding Sarah Palin. While the cameras were on Noonan bloviated on and on about how qualified and strong a Vice Presidential candidate and choice Palin was, how intelligent yet charming, how this was a stroke of genius by the McCain camp. Yet the second the cameras were off (but not her microphone unfortunately for her) she flatly admitted to Todd and Murphy that "its over" that McCain can't win because his VP choice was "no" not qualified. Let's be very clear: she sat there, looked into the camera, and intentionally lied to the entire country on camera. She intentionally tried to deceive every man woman and child with respect to the most important decision any American can make. And she did it because the GOP is paying her to do it. This sick, twisted excuse for a human being lied to our faces, insulting the intelligence of each of us in the process, to try and affect an election by helping her lying corrupt financial backers. Noonan, the Eighth Circle awaits lady. . .

The other lies of the Republican convention and each of the speakers who appeared are no less brazen for their in-your-face nature. Their lies, combined with a pliant news media who have long since given up their position as the "Fourth Branch of Government" acting as the objective "truth" referee for Americans, allows the GOP to get away with openly lying to the American public with impunity.

Unfortunately for the Republican party, I haven't been bought off yet (although I do have an account in the Caymans waiting if anyone wants to try). Accordingly, I am one of the few that will give you a succinct, easy to follow "cheat-sheet", pun intended, regarding the most obvious and easily verifiable lies spoken straight to us at the convention this week.


LIE: Governor Palin opposed the "Bridge to nowhere".
FACT: Palin actually campaigned for election in favor of the bridge and only re-directed the funds once the Federal Government had shut down the operation and taken away the funds.

LIE: Governor Palin never raised taxes.
FACT: Palin created the first ever sales tax on all forms of goods and services in Wassila, a highly regressive tax, in order to move off of property taxes. Incidentally, she left Wassila $26 Million in debt as a result.

LIE: Governor Palin opposed ear-marks spending
FACT: As Mayor of a city of only 6,000 Palin hired a Washington D.C. lobbyist to help obtain over $27 million dollars in funds for her town. That's $4,500 per person by my calculations; who says Republicans don't like welfare???

LIE: Governor Palin fired the Governor's "chef".
FACT: She just moved her to another job.

LIE: In her acceptance speech Palin said that as the mother of a "special needs" child she would help other special needs parents and families.
FACT: Palin slashed special needs programs in Alaska as governor.

LIE: Palin didn't take lobbyist money.
FACT: Fully 10% of Palin's campaign contributions came from BP, the oil company, and her campaign party was also sponsored by BP.

LIE: Barack Obama's tax plan will raise taxes on the middle class and poor.
FACT: Obama's tax plan reduces taxes on the lower middles class and poor, and only raises them on the top few percent in America. Incidentally, his plan is there for all to read on his website.

LIE: Barack Obama is Muslim.
FACT: Obama is a Christian and has been his entire life. He once went to a Christian school in Indonesia which the Republicans called a Muslim "madrasa." CNN went there, checked all the records, it never was.

LIE: Barack Obama was vacationing in an exclusive resort in Hawaii this summer.
FACT: Obama is from Hawaii, he was staying with a long-time friend who owns a beach home.

LIE: Sarah Palin challenged the corruption of Alaska politicians, even Republicans, including Senator Ted Stevens.
FACT: Palin was the head of Steven's Political Action Committee (PAC).

LIE: Sarah Palin is the most popular governor in America with over 80% approval ratings.
FACT: Palin's approval has dropped by over 20% in less than a year.

LIE: Sarah Palin: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have "gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers."
FACT: Until today's bail-out, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were not owned by the taxpayers, they were private companies. (this is really too easy)

LIE: McCain and GOP: Drilling for Oil will lower gas prices.
FACT: The US owns less than 2% of the world's oil reserves, cannot get to the oil by drilling within less than 5-10 years, and without nationalizing those companies will not keep it only for the U.S. market. Possible impact after 10 years: $0.01/gallon. . ."Maybe" on a $4.00 plus gallon of gas.

LIE: McCain's energy plan calls for energy independence within 10 years and pays for it only by cutting "wasteful" Congressional earmarks.
FACT: Every ten year energy independence plan proposed would cost roughly a trillion dollars over ten years ($100BN/year); earmarks for all of 2008 were $18 Billion. Good luck with that.


Ladies and gentlemen, I could go on with these simple examples for hours. And I encourage all of my readers to go look these up to confirm their veracity. If I'm wrong anywhere, call me out and I'll publicly retract that Lie and apologize for it. But you won't find me wrong.

What you will find, if you look at the facts, is a sickening cancer in American politics that has the potential to destroy the very fabric of our country. What you will find is a group of highly paid, soul-less individuals lying to your face to protect and benefit their masters because that's what they're paid for. It's frankly no different than any actor or actress in Hollywood playing a role: they're getting paid to look into the camera and say something they know is not true because they're paid for it. Contrary to popular conversation, it is they that are the "elite." And they will continue to be paid and lie because their financial benefactors make billions by keeping the status quo as is. A status quo that rewards useless war, corporate corruption, doesn't tax infinite corporate profits, and then takes it out on the middle class and poor. But I digress. . .

My colleague and I usually agree that the obvious corrupt Republican politician (Karl Rove and Dick Cheney spring to mind immediately) is clearly on his/her way to the ignominious Eighth Circle of Hell; we actually disagree somewhat on where Sarah Palin would fit in (and yes, this IS actually what we discuss when the beer and Sunday NFL package run out). My friend points out that she is boldly and blindly lying to the entire country; her lies are in fact very easy to see as we've pointed out above. I, however, actually believe she's too stupid to actually realize the talking-points she's being given by the Rove-now-McCain handlers are lies; I don't think she can even get her small mind around the inconsistencies.

Tomato, "tomato" some might say. To a degree, I agree. What truly sickens me is this. The Republican party was started by Abraham Lincoln. "Honest Abe" as he was known. And yet this is what they've become: a party of knowingly corrupt liars, lying and corrupting the political system in order to benefit those among us who need the least of help from the government. Lying to shield a minor few from donating even the slightest bit to mankind for their fortunes. I apologize to my readers that I cannot myself put into words anything that could possibly do justice to the great orator that was Abraham Lincoln, but at least I'm not betraying his ideals. . . . . .