Palin's Death Panel wins "Lie of the Year"

Of all the falsehoods and distortions in the political discourse this year, one stood out from the rest.

"Death panels."

The claim set political debate afire when it was made in August, raising issues from the role of government in health care to the bounds of acceptable political discussion. In a nod to the way technology has transformed politics, the statement wasn't made in an interview or a television ad.

Sarah Palin posted it on her Facebook page.

Her assertion — that the government would set up boards to determine whether seniors and the disabled were worthy of care — spread through newscasts, talk shows, blogs and town hall meetings. Opponents of health care legislation said it revealed the real goals of the Democratic proposals. Advocates for health reform said it showed the depths to which their opponents would sink. Still others scratched their heads and said, "Death panels? Really?"

The editors of PolitiFact.com, the fact-checking Web site of the St. Petersburg Times, have chosen it as our inaugural "Lie of the Year."

Politifact readers agreed: Palin's assertion was indeed the "Lie of the Year," but also voted for runner ups such as Rep. Joe Wilson's "You Lie!", VP Joe Biden's claim that "When one person sneezes, it goes all the way through the aircraft," and pathetic, weeping, mess of a man Glennda Beck's propaganda that said "Obama's top science adviser, 'has proposed forcing abortions and putting sterilants in the drinking water to control population.'"

Jesus Christ, dude.

ELSEWHERE: Sen. Reid's updated health reform bill will pass... but what's been sacrificed? A top-ranking Republican grades Obama's first year an "A"... is this good or bad?

[source: Politifact]