Here's a broad question: Why do politicians lie repeatedly make statements which can be proven as objectively false, right out in the open where people can debunk them?

I'm not talking about accidental confusion about geography or chronology -- I'm talking about the repetition of falsehoods.

Scene: A school's auditorium, outfitted with voting machines. A long line trails from row of machines. A group of people in the line are wearing "Hillary is 44" t-shirts. A couple enters and approaches a poll worker sitting at a table.

Is it just me, or is Sen. Clinton threatening Sen. Obama in this open letter?

This idea may be totally ridiculous, but I think we have to start working on ideas to bring the party back together. Here's mine.

Full disclosure: I loathe both TIME Magazine and Mark Halperin.

That said, just how low is this campaign going to go? I've seen more mature behavior out of my toddler.

To wit, in today's edition of The Page via TPM:

OMG, OMG OMG OMG OMG.  OMG OMG OMG OMG,  OMG OMG,  OMG OMG OMG.

OMG,  OMG OMG OMG:

When a Republican telegraphs a punch, pay attention. In today's Chicago Sun-Times, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth troll Chris LaCitiva explains exactly how Sen. Obama will be swift-boated.

So, SteamPunkX thinks this is worth publishing.

Basically, I lost it this morning as was about to go berserk. The following diary draft was the result:

Friends, kossacks, netizens, lend me your eyes. I have watched the evolving fight between you, even joining in at times, and I have become increasingly both nervous and annoyed. And a little hungry.

This morning, I went online and looked at my local paper. I'm used to being disgusted and unnerved, but this just takes it. If I was more knowledgeable on the subject, I'd say this looks as if the IRS has swaddled itself in the IOKIYAR philosophy and decided to take on the confluence of church and state...within liberal-leaning congregations.

Yeah. Because that's where all the illegal campaign activity is happening. In liberal churches.

You can be proud of your country's people, but deeply troubled by the country's history.

That's what I think the sleep-deprived and much-maligned Michelle Obama was trying to say when she said, "...For the first time in my adult life I am really proud of my country." At least, that's how I heard it. Maybe I heard that because I, too, have been very disturbed by the conduct of this country from the time that I started learning about it in elementary school.

One of the aspects of American history which has always disturbed me is the insidious cancer of racism and bigotry that has sapped the soul of this nation for centuries. I believe that Sen. Obama's presidency may very well drive a stake right through its vampiric heart.

Maybe I heard that message in Michelle Obama's words because I'm a bit sleep-deprived, too: On Feb. 3rd, my extraordinarily bigoted grandmother died. On Feb. 5th, my wife went into labor. On Feb. 6th, my daughter was born.

As exhausted as I may be, today I see the distinct possibility that my kid may very well come to me some day and ask, "Dad, I have to write a paper about the time that racism existed in America. Do you know anything about that?"

Well, this didn't take long. Mark "I Love Matt Drudge" Halperin has posted a press release from the Obama campaign that responds to Quotegate:

I think I have an explanation for the crankiness of kossacks lately: You've been eating lollipops with razor blades and staples in them.

Metal fragments found in lollipops

LAKELAND, Fla. -- The importer of a Valentine's Day lollipop said it was voluntarily recalling the treats after metal fragments were found in at least two lollipops sold at central Florida stores.

Sherwood Brands of Maryland, which imports the candy from China, said it was recalling all of its Pokemon Valentine Cards and Pops, which have been pulled from the shelves of thousands of stores across the country.

I have noticed an odd phenomenon over the past month: Lately, when Air America hosts open their phone lines, people who call in support of Sen. Clinton's campaign yell their points on the air.

I know I'm stepping into a nest of scorpions here, and I doubt anyone will listen to me on this, but I must be honest: This behavior is not convincing me to vote for Sen. Clinton.

So, Bush wants to give you $800 (maybe).

I will treat any rebate as an opportunity to invest in the destruction of the Republican Party.

Listen, you bunch of cube lemurs and underwear pundits: I've had it with you all. You're fighting and hissing and spitting at each other like a bunch of housecats whose food bowls are being filled.

Guess what: Here I come with the m-f'ing squirt gun.

There are so many things about what is happening in Pakistan that could catch fire, I don't even know where to begin. Others can write about the drug trade, the potential of loose nukes, and the rise of a guy named Baitullah Mehsud who may well become more dangerous than Osama bin Laden ever was -- right now, I'm most worried that Bush's buddy just turned on him.

Some say he's from Massachusetts,

Some say he's from Michigan,

But it's wrote on the rock at the Hilton Coliseum,

That he's not an Iowa Man,

That he's not an Iowa Man.