The 2012 presidential election is going to go down in the annals of history as the Year of the Lies.

What  is up with the campaigns of President Barack Obama and presumptive  Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney where neither side knows how  to do anything but distort and tell obvious lies?

Don't  get me started on polictical action committees, whether regular-sized  or super. These PAC ads are the worst. You can't believe a thing any of  the ads claim or state.

Yes,  I know it's standard practice for candidates to skirt the truth. Yes,  it's standard practice to take things out of context. But this year,  it's not being done with any finesse or a grain of truth hidden away.  The hypocrisy of both camps is beyond immoral.

I have already reported this week about Senate Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, who even when caught still sticks to the lie. Then there was the Romney ad on the change in welfare that was debunked, yet the candidate keeps claiming it as Gospel on the campaign trail.

The latest entry was found not true by CNN.  It is an ad from Priorities USA, a super PAC, that supports the  President's re-election bid. In that ad, which is so chock full of  distortion, an attempt is made to link Romney to the death of a woman  from cancer. The White House refuses to denounce the ad.

Of  course this is starting to seem like standard practice for Team Obama  and the White House. Remember the accusation made that perhaps Romney  committed a felony? No backing down from that one either.

If politicians are going to lie to us, and we know they will, do they have to be so blatant about it?

How  little do they think of the American public's intellect that the  campaigns and PACs think we will buy the lies hook, line and sinker?

Sadly,  polls indicate the campaigns and PACs are right in their assessment of  the public's intelligence. The ads, the lies, work.

Are Americans not paying attention or do Americans not care about the truth these days?

From the Cornfield, civility and honesty, it would appear, are dead in American politics.

May we have a moment of silence for the death of Truth and Integrity?

UPDATE: We can add yet another lie - http://politico.com/politico44/2012/08/team-obama-says-they-dont-story-of-man-who-stars-of-131462.html