Palindrones

Why is Sarah Palin lying about having gone off teleprompter?  People I trust have spoken to people who were there, and if she went off teleprompter, she somehow nonetheless managed to deliver exactly the remarks that she handed out to the press beforehand.

What I don't get about this lie is the pointlessness.  I expect politicians to lie.  But I expect them to tell the standard sort of lies about how they will give us all $5 solar cars by 2010, and never, ever sleep with their staff.  This seems like some sort of bizarre compulsive disorder.

It puts me in mind of a famous quote by a UN chief:  "You Americans never make simple stupid moves.  Only complicated stupid moves that make the rest of us think we might be missing something."

What am I missing?

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2008/09/palindrones/4130/