Big Lies, Small Lies

Barack Obama lied about his plan for ending the war in Iraq. He did this in order to outflank Hillary Clinton and deprive her of the Democratic nomination. He did this with the full knowledge that his proposal was unrealistic and irresponsible, and that he would move to a no-plan position on Iraq once he had the nomination. Consider Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic.

I'm in two minds whether John McCain has lost his mind or never had a soul. But I have to say I am surprised by the barrage of lies and distractions his campaign is throwing out. The farce of the Palin candidacy is one such distraction - but the lies about sex education, the lies about Palin's pork record, the lies about "tiny" Iran, the lies about the lipstick-pig nonsense, the lies about the bridge to nowhere, the lies about the oil pipeline ... I mean, what is going on?

Why is it that Democrats are so appalled by John McCain's silly TV commercials, but they don't mind having been played for fools by Barack, who not only deceived them on Iraq, but on many other foundational issues as well?

Some believe this is just GOP hardball. But it actually isn't. They're usually not this stupid. If you are going to broadcast a series of outrageous, demonstrable lies to smear your opponent, you tend to to that in the last two weeks of a campaign, so the lies can actually stick before they are debunked. But in September?

How can it be that John McCain is the devil, but Barack remains an angel to those he so maliciously pulled a classic bait and switch on?

I know many people believe that the American people - especially the under-informed swing voters - are too dumb to know when they are being lied to. But these lies are so obvious that this cannot be true. And the sheer viciousness of the personal attacks on Obama make Rove's attack on McCain in 2000 seem mild.

Aren't Barack's lies plainly visible, even to liberals - who think intellect is all that matters, but when it comes to politics seem unable to make use of it?