Strauss 101: There is No Lie So Outrageous that it Shouldn't be Told

Presidential adivsor Stephen Hadley has this to say:
"Allegations now that the President somehow manipulated intelligence, somehow misled the American people, are flat wrong."

The Bush Administration--with good reason--is so conviced we aren't paying attention that the lies are getting more and more transparently false. Who's going to notice? The people who think Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden are the same guy? Probably not.

Hadley's statement proceeds under the cynical assumption that the bigger the lie, the greater the chance that it will be believed. And no one wants to call the bluff. It's like Celebrity Poker Showdown with real lives at stake. Now that's great television.