Palin again cites Bridge to Nowhere lie; McCain campaign lies about crowd size

From MSNBC's First Read:

Palin has come under fire in recent days for misleadingly saying she told Congress “thanks but no thanks,” refusing an earmark for a bridge to a sparsely inhabited island in her home state. Independent groups and media fact-checkers have said Palin advocated for the federal earmark before opposing it, only ended after Congress had essentially killed it, and kept the $223 million for the appropriation after the project was killed.

Palin had cut the refrain from her speech during her three-day visit to Alaska. But she came back to it today, citing it as an example of earmark reform she and McCain would push for in the White House.

“I told Congress thanks but no thanks to that Bridge to Nowhere -- that if our state wanted to build that bridge, we would build it ourselves," she said....

Nevada Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki said on stage that 10,000 people were in the crowd, but parks officials said the pavilion held only 3,500 people.

The reason McCain has embraced lying as his primary campaign tactic isn't just that he has Karl Rove's deputies at the helm of his campaign. It goes deeper than that. These aren't just Karl Rove's deputies. They're George Bush's staffers. The Bush White House embraced the art of the lie, and the corporate media didn't bat an eye at disseminating Bush's lies far and wide. We are seeing the logical next step in what happens when the media refuses to do its job, refuses to hold politicians accountable. The politicians learn the lesson - you can lie with impunity, and it works. It's not just that McCain's campaign is run by Rovies - it's run by Bushies. McCain sold his honor in order to win an election.