The art of pathological lying

Yeah, I have plenty of problems with Sarah Palin, as I have previously noted, but could she at least have the decency to tell the truth? Her most egregious lie has been this line in her stump speech:

I told Congress, “Thanks, but no thanks for that Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska.” If we wanted that bridge, we’d build it ourselves.

That's bullshit. It's been noted by one of the major Alaska dailies, the Washington Post, the New York Times, ABC News, and just about every media outlet with a thinking brain somewhere in the news department that Palin is being less than truthful about this, which was first mentioned in her initial stump speech in Dayton, Ohio (for what it's worth, it seems like she's given the exact same speech over and over again on the trail - probably because she doesn't know enough about national politics to speak on her own).

What's audacious is that she's repeated the lie 27 times. That is an awful lot of times to repeat the same falsehood over and over with a straight face, and especially after it has become widely disproven. Have some decency and 'fess up to your support, Governor.

The way things are vs. the way I wish they were

Pardon the Fall Out Boy-esque title, but I feel like musing about life right now.

Today is my last day of 'freedom', so to speak. That's not to say that work is like being stripped of your essential rights, but there won't be a day now - whether I'm at the desk, at home, on vacation, or anywhere else I am - that passes when I can be free of any obligation other than to enjoy myself. That being said, I do look forward to starting. It's a mix of excitement - I highly enjoyed working on my desk last summer, and I anticipate it being just as good, but with more responsibility. At the same time, the metrics by which I'll be judged are much more subjective. As someone on the bottom of the food chain, it's hard to claim that I will be driving desk performance as my colleagues will be - which is really the only quantitative metric around. No grades, no curve, nothing. While I have had my qualms about college in the past, the one thing I will give much credit to it for is that it prepared me for the work environment.

In the end, I think I'll be good to go. The learning curve will be steep, to be sure, but I'm confident that I should overcome it.

The second part to ponder is personal. My girlfriend and I have been together for about nine months, and as I've told her many a time, her being in my life has been the best thing that's happened to me. That being said, I've wondered how it's possible to be the best boyfriend you can be when you're a secondary part of her everyday life - not out of any fault of your own other than distance. And with work starting, the communication we have will likely be reduced to a phone call at night, at most. At some point, it may even be a string of days or a week that goes by without any contact at all. I love her dearly, but coping with talking with her sporadically and seeing her even less will be a test of commitment and the strength of our relationship.

We shall see what happens.

Up north, they are laughing at us

From what I've been told, Canadians have an even lower opinion of America after the selection of Alaskan governor Sarah Palin to the Republican ticket. In all honesty, anyone who thinks she's qualified to be vice president, let alone president, is a complete joke. She's a religious fundamentalist in the mold of the wackiest out there, and she's a pathological liar (just check out her continuous claims about the 'Bridge to Nowhere', just to name the biggest one).

I don't blame them. And the fact that the tracking polls now show John McCain even or slightly ahead of Barack Obama after the selection doesn't speak well to the intelligence of the American population at large. That the GOP could get away with such a blatant, cynical pick for a running mate - and show that it would work - is pathetic.

For once in this century, can't America get it right on the presidential level? Just once? That's all I'm asking.

It's lonely being online

Not many people online anymore. It used to be my main mode of communication, but no one's on much these days. I guess I won't really be able to say that once I start work on the desk, which is later on this week.

Just a late-night observation.