McCain Lies Too Much For Karl Rove

Senator John McCain has come under increasing fire for the increasingly lopsided fact-to-lie ratio in his political ads. He may have won the World Series of Slime today, however, with this endorsement from the Yoda of dirty politics. From Fox News Sunday:

WALLACE: Alright, for fair game, what does McCain do that goes one step too far?

ROVE: McCain has similarly gone one step too far, attributing to Obama things that are, you know, beyond the 100% truth test.

Even a faint rebuke from Rove is biblical in proportion down in the political mud pit. However, there have been some pretty good scorecards turned in by the other judges, those high-BS-threshold referees in the press.

St. Petersburg Times (Editorial): McCain's straight talk has become a toxic mix of lies and double-speak.

Jay Bookman, AJC: The volume and audacity of lies pouring from the McCain campaign is startling and even historic...That's really something, lying straight out about a FactCheck group, knowing that you're going to get caught but not giving a damn about it.

My favorite is from Tim's Joe Klein:

Back in 2000, after John McCain lost his mostly honorable campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, he went about apologizing to journalists--including me--for his most obvious mis-step: his support for keeping the confederate flag on the state house.

Now he is responsible for one of the sleaziest ads I've ever seen in presidential politics, so sleazy that I won't abet its spread by linking to it, but here's the McClatchy fact check.

I just can't wait for the moment when John McCain--contrite and suddenly honorable again in victory or defeat--talks about how things got a little out of control in the passion of the moment. Talk about putting lipstick on a pig.

The sad fact is, though, that the whole point of a smear is that the more you try to wipe it away, the more you spread its residue. McCain can sacrifice his honor. His base cheers him for it, his opponents jeer, but the watercooler set doesn't read FactCheck.org.

I should get some Revlon stock. This is gonna take a lot of lipstick.