Palin's Body of Lies

Sarah Palin's credibility, never her strong-suit, has suffered a fresh blow with the release of the 263-page Alaskan lawmakers' report detailing her body of lies. The report shows unequivocally that Palin has been fibbing about her unrelenting efforts to derail the career of her former brother-in-law. The best defense that the GOP could probably mount is to argue that it is precisely the qualities Palin has displayed in hounding her ex-relative -- vindictiveness and sheer nastiness -- that are the very qualities that would, should she ascend to the presidency itself, allow her to acquit herself well in staring down the world's bad guys. But no doubt many conservatives will argue that the report itself is biased (any document or article that reaches a conclusion that conservatives don't like now constitutes "bias") and being pumped up by a liberal media elite intent on blemishing the GOP's Alaskan beauty queen.

The truth is, however, that Palin's behavior in her Troopergate affair was not an aberration. It is of a piece with her behavior on the campaign trail, where she has demagogically been whipping up a climate of hatred toward Barack Obama. Palin is a serial abuser and Obama her latest target.
This is scary stuff. John McCain has belatedly made a few moves toward backing off from Palin's vitriol, calling Obama a "decent" man. Big deal. It's McCain who has behaved indecently. He is on course to lose not only the election, but also whatever remains of his reputation.