LIE OF THE WEEK: 02-08-2008

Former Governor Mitt Romney on ending his 2008 presidential campaign:

"I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country. I will continue to stand for conservative principles. I will fight alongside you for all the things we believe in."

THE TRUTH: Romney never stood for conservative principles before running for president. In fact, he did quite the opposite when running both successfully for Governor of Massachusetts and unsuccessfully for U.S. Senator. He proclaimed his liberalism in those days as exceeding those of stalwart liberal Senator Ted Kennedy. Since deciding to run for the Republican nomination for president however, he has become an ultra-conservative who "realized his previous mistakes" and who feels so emboldened by his convictions that he is be able to criticize the conservative credentials of two lifelong conservatives (Senator McCain and Governor Huckabee) just because they don't always tow the party line. Romney is a hypocrite and no amount of standing for conservative principles now can make up for years of doing the opposite when it was politically expedient. No matter how much of his vast personal wealth he spends to fight for conservatism now, he will always be correctly perceived by the American people as the phony that he is and we should be hopeful that he never fools enough people to be put into a position of power in the future.