And Al Gore Was the Liar?

Apparently, the new standard is that the lies don't even have to be remotely feasible, just pronounceable.

President Bush's campaign -- expected to dwarf Democratic hopefuls by raising $200 million or more for the primaries, with no GOP rival -- is appealing for donations by portraying Bush as a fund-raising underdog who won't have enough cash to defend himself against Democratic attacks.

"Democrats and their allies will have more money to spend attacking the president during the nomination battle than we will have to defend him," campaign chairman Marc Racicot wrote in the fund-raising e-mail sent Wednesday night. "If you need more convincing the president needs your help, consider what the Democrats are saying. The race is just starting, but their rhetoric is already red-hot." (emphasis added)

Okay, the notion that the man who has broken every single fundraising record there is, who belongs to the party with a massive fundraising advantage to begin with, could possibly have less money than the Democrats is crazy enough. Between the middle of May and the end of June, Bush raised $35 million; the nearest democrat, John Kerry, raised $16 million from January to June.

But hey, we all know the GOP is fabulously bad with numbers, so that's no surprise. This however, is something new: if your opponent won't lie about you, then just make up the craziest shit you possibly can and accuse them of saying it anyhow.

Racicot's e-mail attributes quotes to several Democratic presidential hopefuls criticizing Bush. Among them, Racicot says former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean stated that Bush might suspend the 2004 election, called Bush "reckless" and "despicable," compared him to the Taliban and said Bush was trying to destroy Social Security, Medicare, public schools and public services. "This ugly, overheated rhetoric shows Democrats will say anything and stop at nothing to defeat this president," Racicot wrote. (emphasis added)

Asked if the comments attributed to Dean were accurate, Dean spokeswoman Tricia Enright was incredulous. "Compared him to the Taliban? Absolutely not. Suspend the 2004 election? What is that about?" Enright asked. "He said his (Bush's) tax policies were reckless. Obviously all this was taken out of context."

Taken out of context? Sounds to me like it was made up out of whole cloth. Now that the rules are clear, I guess I can go ahead and reveal that just last week I heard Dick Cheney say that he had photos of Richard Gephardt banging high schoolers at a kegger with the Church of Satan and that Joe Lieberman drinks the blood of Gentile babies. Yep, he said it right on Oprah.