Damnable lies: We should be thankful that there is at least one cable news program — MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann — that questions the outlandish falsehoods propagated by the Bush-Cheney-Rove team. Still, the biggest threat to the tattered remnants of American democracy may well be the fact that 99 percent of the “liberal” media lets statements like these from Vice Pres. Cheney go without challenge:

[ALLISON STEWART, subbing for Keith Olbermann:] Vice President Cheney yesterday also suggested that those who criticize the war in Iraq are attempting to appease terrorists.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some in our own country claim retreat from Iraq would satisfy the appetite of the terrorists and get them to leave us alone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: COUNTDOWN contacted Mr. Cheney‘s office to find out who he was saying has made this claim. His staff would not name anyone, but directed us to a previous speech of Mr. Cheney‘s in which he referred to Congressman Jack Murtha and Connecticut senatorial candidate Ned Lamont.

We gave Mr. Cheney‘s office an opportunity to dispute the notion that he was referring to them. They declined to do so but also were unable to identify a single instance when either Murtha or Lamont said that leaving Iraq would make terrorists, quote, “leave us alone.”

The maddening aspect to this, of course, is the fact that the violence in Iraq is not coming from “terrorists” but from a civil war between factions of Iraqi society who have been in violent conflict with each other for generations. It’s a typical Rovian lie within a lie.