Eric Cantor's Press Secretary Thinks Reagan Didn't Raise Taxes

I assume the machine works a little like this.

I wonder sometimes how politicians can say something that is blatantly untrue, and maintain its validity even in the face of evidence to the contrary. I have a hunch it has something to do with the Karl Rove/Frank Luntz Alternate Reality Machine™. The machine ran nearly perfectly for the first several years of the Bush Administration.  You know, like a "Clean Air Act" that allows more pollution, or the always shifting reason for the Iraq War.  It didn't work on Democrats generally, but it was almost flawless on pundits and journalists.

The Machine started creaking and sputtering in the waning Bush years, and wasn't nearly effective by the time Grampy McCain and Caribou Barbie tried to take over. Occasionally, it flares up, and a totally bullshit meme will set the beltway press on fire. But even though it doesn't work very well anymore, it would seem that a lot of conservative politicians think it still has them covered with its conversion ray. Case in point, Eric Cantor. Or rather--at least in this case--Eric Cantor's press secretary, who interrupts an interview with Leslie Stahl in order to fact check her. The problem of course is that Stahl was right. Ronald Reagan raised taxes. And no amount of alternate reality warping is going to change that.