The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz pointed me to this column by Salon's Joe Conason -- and this damn lie -- a kind that is too common nowadays.

Whatever eventually happens in Louisiana, the Democrats have lost control of the Senate. The nation will return almost immediately to the Republican domination of the executive, legislative and judicial branches that existed before Vermont's Jim Jeffords turned independent last year. Now the Democratic voters who chose not to show up Tuesday are going to find out what their decision meant, in a country ruled by President Bush, Trent Lott and Tom DeLay. From drilling in Alaska to regressive taxation to unilateral war, the agenda of the corporate and religious right will shape our future. [emphasis added]

While it sounds good, there isn't a single Republican (or individual) in this country who advocates regressive taxation. The idea that the poor should pay more taxes than the rich is laughable. The idea that now that the GOP is in control of both houses of Congress and the presidency -- and that they really want to institute regressive taxation is risible.

On CNN's Inside Politics, Democratic party operative Donna Brazile claimed that because the Democrats lost on Tuesday, that it would mean a roll back of civil rights. That too is a lie.

But, if you tell a big enough lie, often enough, some people will believe it.

To quote a former German government official: "That's how Hitler came to power."