"The Governor's not a liar."

The source of that succinct quote? Bill McAllister, Palin's former press secretary. The quote came from an article in the Anchorage Daily News on August 31, 2008, as reporter Kyle Hopkins tried to summarize the current "Baby Drama."

McAllister was an Anchorage TV reporter before working for Palin. He said Palin once approached him - before people knew she was pregnant - assuming he'd been hearing rumors.

"She said it's not true about Bristol," McAllister said.

At the time, the rumor would have been that Palin's daughter was pregnant.

How does McAllister know it's not true?

"The governor's not a liar....

Here, specifically, Gov. Palin is speaking directly to the rumors that Bristol had been pregnant and was Trig's mother (which - to digress - I have always wondered about Sarah Palin's thought process here, since in general it's a REAL bad idea to answer a question no one has asked, and McAllister was clear - Palin had approached him...). However, in general this has been an almost universal response to allegations that there might be "something" to the baby story. It's the fallback position, the ace in the hole. Can't explain why we have scores of pictures on which she doesn't look pregnant at all?

Sarah Palin is Trig's mom because Sarah Palin wouldn't lie.

Or how about: Can't explain how a stage of pregnancy that can only described as quite large on one set of photos was nevertheless described by flight attendants not even a week later as: not apparent from observation.

Sarah Palin is Trig's mom because Sarah Palin wouldn't lie.

Or how about: Why has no birth certificate ever been released? Why was the only "official" statement ever released by Cathy Baldwin Johnson a lame piece of crap put out by the campaign less than two hours before midnight on the last day of the election?

Sarah Palin is Trig's mom because Sarah Palin wouldn't lie.

Except she is a liar. I think this is so well-established now that no one can or will even attempt to call me on this.

With Palin's resignation - now ten days ago - some of the more glaring examples had been put on the back burner, but in the week period prior to her resignation she'd been called on the carpet, twice, for what could only be called "whoppers." And not only do these lies show a basic disregard for the truth, reports of them show a bizarrely blase attitude towards the truth once she was confronted. In both cases, Gov. Palin persisted in wanting to stick with the lie, even when she was informed by the campaign that they knew what was really going on.

The first has been widely reported: CBS has released emails between Palin and campaign staffers. Her supporters haven't really been willing to discuss this one; mention is oddly absent from C4P and some of the other pro Palin sites. Why, you ask? Well, in this case we have the actual email. We have Palin's written words, basically telling a big fat honkin' fib. No wigglin' out of this one, folks.

This exchange involved Todd's involvement in Alaska's "Independence Party," or AIP for short. (The AIP's basic raison d'etre is to encourage Alaska to secede from the Union. Period. Although I guess most Alaskans can be pretty cool about this (and, to be fair, apparently there WAS a bit of skulduggery back fifty years ago when the original vote went down, which a lot of good folks in Alaska have never forgotten), in the lower 48, the whole idea is a bit, as my kids say, "sketch." And down here south of the Mason-Dixon line, while all too many might still harbor some secret support for our comrades up north, here's a little tip for y'all: secession didn't work out too well for us. In fact, to be perfectly frank, it worked out right poorly.)

Apparently, Palin had seen a critical CNN report on TV one morning, and then later in the day there was a heckler and a sign or two at a rally. She shot off an email demanding that the campaign do something about it, a suggestion that was rebuffed: it was a non-issue. Why attract attention to something that wasn't really getting much press? In addition, this was all happening on the day of the final debate, a day in which the campaign planned to launch their "big weapon:" Joe the Plumber. So obviously they didn't want anything to distract from that hotly-anticipated moment.

However, that response didn't satisfy Ms. Barracuda, who shot back another email again insisting that something be done - and at this point tried to fudge the story in order to get her way. Todd, you see, wasn't really a member of the AIP for seven years - he'd just checked the wrong box. I mean, that's plausible, right? Could happen to anyone. He thought he was checking a box which said he was "independent" (i.e., unaffiliated with a political party) instead of a member of the Alaskan Independence Party.

Except it was a complete fabrication. According to multiple sources, the box which Todd checked SAYS "Alaskan Independence Party," not, for example, "Independent" or something similar which would be easy to confuse. The campaign staffer who wrote back to Palin stated baldly that "Todd was a member for seven years. If this is incorrect we need to understand the discrepancy. The statement you are suggesting be released would be inaccurate."

At this point, Palin dropped the exchange, and no more was said. Todd remained a secessionist, and Palin remained a ... well, you know.

The second incident was strikingly similar. However, reports of this incident contain a little "Easter Egg" that so far I have seen no one else comment on.

In order to appear in tune with every-day folk, Palin - early in the campaign - told at least one interviewer that she and Todd had not had health insurance early in their marriage. During debate prep, she brought this up again, wanting to practice it as a debating point. However, the campaign then checked with Todd who set the record straight: they'd always had catastrophic insurance. What IS catastrophic insurance? It's regular insurance just with a really high deductible.

When confronted, initially, according to Vanity Fair, Palin stuck to her guns. Catastrophic insurance wasn't "real" insurance, and therefore didn't need to be revealed.

This slippery slope tale is similar to the first story regarding the AIP. Caught in a lie? No problem. Just keep lying - with a handy little rationalization at the ready in case you're called on it.

But what I find really interesting, what jumped off the page at me (and so far I have seen no one else comment on this) is the fact that someone in the campaign, after being told something by Sarah, went and DOUBLE CHECKED WITH TODD. I mean, how 1950s. "Let's just ask your husband, dear, shall we?" I mean, WTF? Am I the only one who finds this really really odd?

Read between the lines here: By the time of Palin's debate (first week in October), the campaign was already so concerned about her truthfulness and reliability, that a simple statement ("We didn't have insurance when we were first married,") which should have been able to be taken at face value, was fact-checked WITH HER HUSBAND. They must have had profoundly serious doubts about her.

Yet, to the outside observer, it was business as usual and smiley faces and glad hands: the Republican Party and John McCain continued to reassure the American people that this person whom they had apparently stopped trusting on even very simple statements was someone that we should still consider a credible candidate for vice president, qualified and ready to take over should something happen to McCain.

And now - since the resignation - yet another obfuscation. It's been covered so many places, (Huffington Post for starters) that I will rehash only briefly. In short, one argument Gov. Palin made for resigning was that all the ethics investigations were costing the citizens of Alaska money. According to Palin, money was being taken away from: troopers and roads and teachers and fish research.

OK, when you stop laughing about that improbable list, read on.

The fact is, it's completely false. State of Alaska Department of Law attorneys and employees are paid a salary. They get their pay checks whether they are dealing with Sarah Palin's ethics complaints, consumer protection issues, mine rulings, or even if they are sitting at their desks with their thumbs up their rumps playing World of Warcraft.

So while it is fair to say that these lawyers are spending their time on ethics complaints instead of something else (possibly in Alaska's better interests), it is patently false that these ethics complaints are diverting funds from troopers or roads or fish research.

So tell me again how we know Trig is Sarah's...