THEY DON'T JUST LIE -- THEY LIE UNASHAMEDLY

Some people took it very seriously when England's Daily Mail reported yesterday that the Romney campaign had leaked highly favorable internal polling numbers:

Mitt Romney is ahead by a single percentage point in Ohio - the swing state that could well decide the election - according to internal polling data provided to MailOnline by a Republican party source.

Internal campaign polling completed on Sunday night by campaign pollster Neil Newhouse has Romney three points up in New Hampshire, two points up in Iowa and dead level in Wisconsin. Most startlingly, the figures show Romney and Obama deadlocked in Pennsylvania.

If the Romney campaign's internal numbers are correct - and nearly all independent pollsters have come up with a picture much more favourable for Obama - then the former Massachusetts governor will almost certainly be elected 45th U.S. President....

This got enough attention to prompt a (justifiably) snippy response from Nate Silver on Twitter:

FYI: Internal polls released to the public have a 6-point bias, on average, as we saw in Wisconsin recall earlier this year.

— Nate Silver (@fivethirtyeight) November 5, 2012

Well, now Team Romney is fessing up:

In any case, all of that is academic, since this morning, this:

The Romney campaign now saying internals attributed to their pollster Neil Newhouse showing Mitt up in Ohio, tied in WI, PA "are incorrect"

— Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) November 6, 2012

The Romneyites don't even care if you know now that the numbers were fake. They don't care if you know they're liars. They leaked this nonsense, and now that the fake numbers have pumped up some enthusiasm for their side, they'll look you straight in the eye and say, "Yeah, we were lying. What are you going to do about it?" They lie without consequence and without shame. But you knew that.