It's still the dishonesty, stupid!

Three things occur to me now that Hillary Clinton has decided to make Barack Obama's relationship with his pastor a political issue.

1. By criticizing the religious choice of a political rival, Hillary Clinton demonstrates a complete lack of respect for the concept embodied in Article Six of the United State Constitution which reads in part: "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

2. The reason why she tried to make this a political issue was to change the subject from the growing controversy about her pattern of deception on Bosnia, NAFTA, and everything in between.

3. As Josh Marshall explains, the only reason she sat down with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review editorial board was because she knew they would ask her a question about Wright. The fact that she called a press conference to amplify her answer to their question, all the while insisting she was merely being responsive, was yet another example of her dishonesty.

Hillary Clinton's ongoing pattern of falsehoods is a serious issue. She's either lying or she has an overactive imagination and can't distinguish fact from fiction. In either case, she does not have staff willing to steer her back from fantasy-land.

As I wrote yesterday:

One thing is certain after George W. Bush -- we need a Commander-in-Chief who is firmly grounded in reality. When he or she makes a mistake, as will happen, he or she must also possess the type or personality and character that encourages subordinates to correct that mistake.

If the people around the President are afraid to speak truth to power, how will we ever get out of Iraq without making things worse than they currently are?

And if Clinton's statement turn out to have merely been lies, do we want another President in whom we can place not trust?

We know Clinton was wrong. What we don't know is whether she was lying or imagining things that were untrue. And isn't that the story of the Bush Presidency?