Trifecta

by folkbum

We all know that the Republican ticket of McCain-Palin lies (the jet lie, the bridge lie, the taxes lie, and on and on). We all know that they they steal, such as using the music of Jackson Browne and Heart against the expressed wishes (and politics!) of the artists. We all know that they question Democrats' patriotism pretty much every time they open their mouths.

But today we got the trifecta--lying, theft, and questioning patriotism all at once:

Days before September 11, on the same morning that John McCain and Barack Obama released a joint statement pledging to avoid politics in light of the anniversary of the terrorist attacks, McCain's campaign accused Democrats of throwing away 12,000 American flags.

"The campaign says the flags were recovered from Invesco Field after the Democrats concluded their convention there," Fox News reported, "and they are going to be used as part of the warm-up ceremonies before McCain takes the stage" for a rally in Colorado Springs, Col.

But according to a senior official involved in organizing the Democratic convention, the McCain camp is simply lying about the flags.

"All of the flags at Invesco were picked up and put in bags and into storage, along with the unused flags and campaign signs. The flags were going to be donated, and the signs were going to be sent out to be used elsewhere," the official said.

Amazing, isn't it? The McCain campaign stole the Obama campaign's flags, lied about where they came from and what Obama's campaign was going to do with them, and by doing so implied that Obama hates the flag and American.

That is shameless. More than shameless, really--base, crass, and criminal. But then again, this is your modern Republican Party. Congrats, my conservative readers--you're about to vote for a ticket with worse ethics than Nixon or your average carjacker.

UPDATED to add that the FOXNews reporter running with this story is Carl Cameron, who famously was reprimanded for just making stuff up about John Kerry in 2004.