CHUTZPAH WATCH…. During her gubernatorial campaign, which was just two years ago, Sarah Palin struck a defiant tone in defense of the Bridge to Nowhere: “We need to come to the defense of Southeast Alaska when proposals are on the table like the bridge and not allow the spinmeisters to turn this project or any other into something that’s so negative.”

And yet, there was Palin today, once again, lying about the infamous pork project: “You’re going to hear a lot about the abusive practice of earmarks in Congress from our good senator here. We championed, in Alaska, the reform of the old earmark process. We told Congress, ‘Thanks, but no thanks for that Bridge to Nowhere up in Alaska.’ If our state wanted a bridge, we were going to build it ourselves.”

Now, it’s obvious she’s lying. She knows she’s lying. She knows that we know she’s lying. But she just doesn’t give a damn. At this point, it’s bordering on pathological. (According to one count, the McCain campaign has now repeated the lie 23 times.)

The Obama campaign’s response was pretty clever:

“On the same day that dozens of news organizations have exposed Governor Palin’s phony Bridge to Nowhere claim as a ‘naked lie,’ she and John McCain continue to repeat the claim in their stump speeches. Maybe tomorrow she’ll tell us she sold it on eBay,” said Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor.

Regardless, it takes a certain amount of chutzpah to keep telling a lie after it’s been exposed as an obvious distortion. Indeed, over the last 24 hours, several major news outlets, including the AP, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and the Washington Post, have all made it clear that Palin’s claim is simply and plainly false.

So, why repeat a lie that’s already been exposed? Who knows? The McCain campaign clearly doesn’t respect voters very much. McCain, Palin, & Co. also probably don’t respect reporters, and assume that if they repeat the same lie over and over again, eventually the media will stop pointing it out. The campaign also doesn’t have much respect for Palin’s record, or the team would point to her actual accomplishments, instead of obvious lies.

Whatever the motivation, the McCain campaign simply has a problem telling the truth. With each passing the day, the disdain this gang shows for the democratic process becomes a little more breathtaking.