Tonight Sarah Palin repeated her lie about the Gravina Island Bridge: "I told the Congress 'thanks, but no thanks,' for that Bridge to Nowhere.  If our state wanted a bridge, we'd build it ourselves."  While the McCain campaign's new push against the media is a farce, the sad truth is that the attention paid to Bristol Palin's pregnancy has obviously distracted the media from covering a major story:  in her first two major addresses to a national audience, Palin has baldly lied.  When the bridge issue has been covered, it's been presented as a flip-flop.  She did indeed support the bridge before canceling it.  But the relevant question isn't simply whether she changed her position on the actual construction of the bridge.  She isn't just saying that she was against construction (she isn't actually saying that at all, though she is implying it).  She's saying that she rejected ("thanks but no thanks") the appropriation of federal money because Alaska would pay for its own bridge if it wanted one.  And that is a clear and total lie.  She never said "no thanks" to Congress in any way.  She never rejected the appropriation (in fact she wasn't yet governor when Congress appropriated the money, and, as has been noted, she supported federal funding when campaigning), and when she canceled the bridge, she didn't somehow return the money to Washington.  Instead she diverted it to other state projects (the money was ultimately not earmarked specifically for the bridges due to the national outcry): "Canceling work on the bridge will free up about $36 million in federal funds that may be used on other Alaska transportation projects, the governor said."  Furthermore, contrary to the second part of her claim, that Alaska would pay for a bridge itself if it wanted one, Palin canceled the project because Congress wouldn't appropriate any more money for the bridge that Alaska apparently did want, and the state wouldn't pay the balance itself:  "'Despite the work of our congressional delegation, we are about $329 million short of full funding for the bridge project, and it's clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island,' Palin said in her statement....The governor made the decision 'simply because the project wasn't a prudent use of state funds,' said Palin spokeswoman Sharon Leighow."  Palin's entire claim, repeated tonight, is a lie.
    By the way, there are actually two "bridges to nowhere."  The status of the other one, the Knik Arm Bridge, is unclear, but this same article indicates that, at least as of September 24, 2007, it hadn't been canceled, though work on it also hadn't begun.  The point is that inasmuch as Palin has reversed course on the bridges, it has only been to cancel state funding, not in any way to reject or return federal money.