It looks as if the Lapham school of journalism has twice decided Arnold Schwarzenegger was a liar before the uncooperative transcripts of his speeches dared to refuse to reflect the Laphamized lies he was supposed to have told!

TWICE! Once on Tuesday night -- and once last year!

This has even created a battle between MSM outfits (and apparently within CNN itself) as they labor to come up with, or at least define the context of the "lie."

Worth a debate? CNN misquotes Schwarzenegger on '68 remarks

By the Mercury News

Did he say it, or didn't he?

According to the Associated Press and guests on CNN's "Larry King Live'' show, during his Tuesday night speech before the Republican National Convention, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he decided to become a Republican after watching Hubert Humphrey and Richard Nixon debate in the 1968 presidential election.

"Listening to Nixon speak sounded more like a breath of fresh air,'' Schwarzenegger said.

There's only one thing wrong -- Nixon never debated Humphrey.

According to the prepared text of Schwarzenegger's speech the passage was written, ``I remember watching the Nixon-Humphrey presidential race on TV . . .''

Mercury News reporter Jim Puzzanghera, who was in Madison Square Garden during Schwarzenegger's address and who taped the speech, said after reviewing the audiotape that the governor said "race'' not "debate.''

Or Maybe It Was Laugh-In? The L.A. Times debunks Austrian Ah-nuld's story about how he decided to become a Republican in 1968 after listening to a friend translate the Nixon-Humphrey debate. There was no Nixon-Humphrey debate.

Imagine that! An election for president, which involved a race! And a contested race at that!

Where exactly did Arnold use the word "debate"? Here's the transcript of what he said on August 31, 2004:

As a kid I saw the socialist country that Austria became after the Soviets left. Now, don't misunderstand me, I love Austria, and I love the Austrian people.

But I always knew America was the place for me. In school, when the teacher would talk about America, I would daydream about coming here. I would daydream about living here. I would sit there and watch for hours American movies transfixed by my heroes like John Wayne.

Everything about America seemed so big to me, so open, so possible.

I finally arrived here in 1968. What a special day it was. I remember I arrived here with empty pockets but full of dreams, full of determination, full of desire.

The presidential campaign was in full swing. I remember watching the Nixon-Humphrey presidential race on TV. A friend of mine who spoke German and English translated for me. I heard Humphrey saying things that sounded like socialism, which I had just left.

But then I heard Nixon speak. Then I heard Nixon speak. He was talking about free enterprise, getting the government off your back, lowering the taxes and strengthening the military.

Listening to Nixon speak sounded more like a breath of fresh air.

I said to my friend, I said, "What party is he?"

My friend said, "He's a Republican."

I said, "Then I am a Republican."

And I have been a Republican ever since. And trust me -- and trust me -- in my wife's family, that's no small achievement.

And here's the transcript of a very similar speech in September of 2003:

In 1956, the Soviet tanks crushed the uprising next door in Hungary. Hungarian people by the thousands fled across the border into Austria. I saw what communism did to those people. When I was nine, I helped my father in the refugee camps. I ladled soup out to the children.

Then I saw the socialist country that Austria became when the Soviets left. Even when I was young, I knew America was the place for me. I arrived here in 1968, and I was listening to the Nixon and Humphrey presidential race on the news. My friend who spoke German translated so I understood what they were saying.

I heard Humphrey saying things that sounded like socialism, which is what I had just left. I heard Nixon talking about free enterprise, getting the government off your back, lowering taxes and strengthening the military.

Listening to Nixon, I said to my friend, "What party is he?"

My friend said, "He's a Republican."

And I said, "Then I am a Republican!"

I have been a Republican ever since. I handed out leaflets for Republicans. I went door-to-door for Republicans. I couldn't wait to become a citizen so I could vote Republican. I gave money to Republicans. And now I am running for governor as a Republican.

And now he hides behind the "race" card! Is there no low below which these dastardly Republicans won't stoop?

UPDATE: Kos has joined the chorus in calling Arnold Schwarzenegger a liar ("liernator" is just too clever!), but, quite inexplicably, he quotes Arnold using the word "race" -- following which he says there was no Nixon-Humphrey "debate." Wouldn't Kos have made his point better had he said there was no Nixon-Humphrey race? (Via Atrios, who also believes that "race" and "debate" are synonyms.)

MORE: The most puzzling thing about this whole flap is that if you assume Arnold made up the story of his conversion to Republicanism, why would he select the evil Nixon as his savior in the first place (much less repeat it for years)?

Even the lowest paid political speechwriters would not have dared select Nixon!