MAVERICK MUDSLINGER

This just in: Barack Obama once talked to a guy whose sister had a friend who knew a guy who partied with a girl who once dated a guy whose little brother said all Republicans are douchebags.

And so it goes for Barack Obama.

Sarah Palin is slinging some mighty hefty mud these days.

Gov. Sarah Palin on Wednesday said Sen. Barack Obama has ties to a Columbia University professor who she said is "a former spokesperson for the Palestinian Liberation Organization."

But making up ridiculous things like this is not negative campaigning. Oh no.

Palin said her assertion "is not negative campaigning to call someone out on their record."

Palin went on.

"It seems that there is yet another radical professor from the neighborhood who spent a lot of time with Barack Obama going back several years," Palin said at an event in Bowling Green, Ohio.

"This is important because his associate, Rashid Khalidi ... in addition to being a political ally of Barack Obama, he's a former spokesperson for the Palestinian Liberation Organization."

So let's go to the fact check.

• In a 2004 Washington Times story, he (Khalidi) denied ever being a spokesman for the Palestine Liberation Organization.
• The Los Angeles Times report said, "though Khalidi has seen little of Sen. Obama in recent years, Michelle Obama attended a party several months ago celebrating the marriage of the Khalidis' daughter."
• The Verdict: Misleading. While Khalidi eight years ago hosted a political fund-raiser for Obama, the two men strongly disagree over the Israeli-Palestinian issue and there's no evidence of a continuing political relationship.

I guess Palin is just going all Maverick on us.