Sarah Palin lies to ABC's Charlie Gibson.

So let's see how this first interview as a VP candidate went.

Palin defended a previous statement in which she reportedly characterized the war in Iraq as a "task from God".

Gibson quoted her as saying: "Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God."

But Palin said she was referencing a famous quote by Abraham Lincoln.

"I would never presume to know God's will or to speak God's words. But what Abraham Lincoln had said, and that's a repeat in my comments, was let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God's side."

(Anybody who heard the original tape, and it is available here, can attest to the fact that she was spouting the kind of irrational holy war rhetoric that is often found in small fundamentalist churches, and certainly NOT quoting a line from our most famous and revered President.)

When asked if she believed she was "sending [her] son on a task that is from God," Palin said: "I don't know if the task is from God, Charlie. What I know is that my son has made a decision. I am so proud of his independent and strong decision he has made, what he decided to do and serving for the right reasons and serving something greater than himself and not choosing a real easy path where he could be more comfortable and certainly safer."

(Well I have to agree that Iraq is more dangerous then spending time in jail. Which was Track Palin's other alternative after he and his friends vandalized some school buses in 2005. But that does not quite fit the heroic self sacrificing image the McCain/Palin campaign would like the American people to believe about Sarah's eldest, now is it?)

There was another question put to Palin about including Georgia in NATO against Russia's wishes, but her response is simply a rote Republican talking point and clearly not her own opinion, which she probably is not well versed enough in world affairs to have formed on her own. In other words her programming seems to be sticking.

And that the programming is sticking is never more clear then in this exchange:

GIBSON: What if Israel decided it felt threatened and needed to take out the Iranian nuclear facilities?

PALIN: Well, first, we are friends with Israel and I don't think that we should second guess the measures that Israel has to take to defend themselves and for their security.

GIBSON: So if we wouldn't second guess it and they decided they needed to do it because Iran was an existential threat, we would cooperative or agree with that.

PALIN: I don't think we can second guess what Israel has to do to secure its nation.

GIBSON: So if it felt necessary, if it felt the need to defend itself by taking out Iranian nuclear facilities, that would be all right.

PALIN: We cannot second guess the steps that Israel has to take to defend itself..

(Three times she is asked to give a substantive response and three times she simply gave a robotic, memorized Republican neo-con response. And it is blood curdling in that it simply says no matter how careless Israel may be in getting themselves into a conflict, America is honor bound to join them in their military blunder.)

I will be interested to see the next two segments of this interview, just to see how many lies and blunders Palin can pack into them, and if Charlie ever manages to call her on them.