Sometimes it's not the big lies but rather the small lies that present one with an opportunity to understand the depth to which a person's political persona itself is based on evasions of the truth, and the lengths to which that person will go to avoid responsibility for his or her actions. An interview that Gov. Sarah Palin participated in with the Alaskan media on Sunday afternoon provides a stellar example of the lengths to which this alleged Christian woman will go to evade the truth, retreat from reality, and deny responsibility for her behavior. If Gov. Palin becomes vice president, this disturbing pattern of lying may have even greater negative consequences for our nation than we have suffered under Dick Cheney for the past eight years.
Below is a partial transcript of a recently concluded interview by the Alaska news media today as Gov. Palin was traveling between campaign events in Pennsylvania. Please note her response to a question on her campaign calling the former public safety commissioner Walt Monegan a "rogue," and how she tries to spin this to mean that calling Monegan a "rogue" is not in any way negative:
Question: "A lot of people have voiced concerns about what they call 'attacks of good people.'"
Palin: "Well I haven't heard of any attacks on good people in Alaska from our campaign."
Question: "What about calling Monegan a rogue?"
Palin: "Rogue isn't a negative term when you consider that in a cabinet you need a team effort going forward with a governor's agenda. Our agenda has been to find efficiencies in every department. And make sure that we are serving the people of Alaska."
I mean, have you ever seen anything like this? The interview itself comes in response to a (mostly Republican) bipartisan finding in the state legislature that Gov. Palin abused her executive authority and violated state ethics rules. She says in reply to the legislative finding that she did not do so. No justification for her conclusion other than her own word that she did not violate state ethics rules. In other words, Gov. Palin did not do anything wrong simply because she says she did not, end of argument.
What is more important than her blanket denial is the fact that Palin is then specifically asked about calling someone a rogue, to which she replies, without batting an eyelash, that such a term is not a pejorative. When is calling someone a rogue not calling someone a rogue? Apparently when Sarah Palin calls someone a rogue. The governor of Alaska could simply have responded to the reporter's question by stating something like "well, you know, things are said in a campaign that get out of hand" or something like that to distance herself and her campaign from the use of such terms. Instead Gov. Palin looks the reporters in the eyes and says that "rogue" is not a negative term! In other words, simply deny what is apparent to everyone in the room, and then move on.
The study of lying about issues both large and small without pause or remorse is fast becoming known as Palintology. However, for those of us who still live in the reality-based community, here is the definition of a rogue (noun):
rogue (rg)
n.
- An unprincipled, deceitful, and unreliable person; a scoundrel or rascal.
- One who is playfully mischievous; a scamp.
- A wandering beggar; a vagrant.
- A vicious and solitary animal, especially an elephant that has separated itself from its herd.
- An organism, especially a plant, that shows an undesirable variation from a standard.
Now, explain to me how by any definition rogue is not only a negative term, but an extremely negative term? By virtue of the fact that Gov. Palin will effortlessly lie about small items as well as the many major lies that have been documented in the last month, this disturbing and largely uninterrupted pattern is a very telling symptom of the depth and pervasiveness of her lying to the public -- to both create a positive impression for herself and evade the real-life consequences of her behavior. Gov. Palin's almost compulsive need to lie is a very disturbing finding, and most of us did not even know her a little over a month ago!
Progressives have many reasons to fear a Palin/McCain administration on the issues that matter to America in 2008 and for our future. But in a little over one month of knowing Sarah Palin since John McCain unveiled her at the end of August, we now know how effortlessly, how brazenly she lies about not only major policy issues, but also small issues such as denying that calling someone a "rogue" is using a negative term against that person. It is the repeated pattern of these small lies that are as disturbing, if not more disturbing that the fact that Gov. Palin will lie about big issues as well. The fact that Gov. Palin lies so frequently, almost compulsively, from the big issues to the small, is not only telling about her as a person and a politician, but this repeated pattern of behavior may have more negative consequences for our nation than many of her policy positions themselves. The many documented instances of Gov. Palin's lies on matters big and small should make us all very concerned, I might even use the term alarmed, in considering the possibility that she may be the next vice president of the United States.