Truthiness Will Tell

Mark Twain once quipped (he was nothing if not a skilled quipper) that a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes. This year’s presidential election sure seems to be proving that adage.

A recent Washington Post survey found that 51 percent of respondents believe Barack Obama would raise taxes — despite the fact his tax plan exempts Americans who earn less than $250,000 annually (which I bet — call me crazy — includes most of us).

Then there’s the bizarre but brilliantly insidious fact that McCain’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, continues insisting on the campaign trail that she scrapped the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere.” Her claim has already been widely discredited – Palin supported the pork barrel project and only changed tune after it had become a national laughingstock (Alaska kept the $220 million-plus it had received from the feds for it) — but that hasn’t impacted her stump speech.

Similarly, both McCain and Palin continue to crow that the governor sold the state’s “luxury” airplane on eBay and made a profit. Well, it’s sorta true — in the sense that the plane didn’t sell on eBay and ultimately was sold at a loss.

It all leads me back to the incontrovertible fact that Stephen Colbert, of Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report” is a bona fide genius and perhaps the most insightful social commentator of his generation.