Self-delusion, fakery needs no holiday

This April Fool's Day, consider that a political player is as likely to trick himself as to dupe someone else.

Just remember some famous last words.

"Everything changes on Day One."

"Prosperity is just around the corner."

"Read my lips -- no new taxes."

Says a longtime veteran of the public sector who insists on being identified only as Government Boy: "The only thing you know is that you never know."

That analysis may sound flip. But you might find the exhibits to support the thesis by just dusting off the bookshelf.

One obvious exhibit is Rep. Charles Rangel's 2007 autobiography, "And I Haven't Had a Bad Day Since." The dean of the delegation has had bad days since. One was Dec. 2, when the House voted 333-79 to censure him for financial misconduct.

Then there's "The Lost Son: A Life in Pursuit of Justice" by Bernard Kerik, copyright 2001, published before the former NYPD commissioner was pursued by the U.S. Justice Department. Just Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, upheld Kerik's 4-year sentence for tax fraud and obstruction, which Kerik had argued was "unreasonable."

And in 2004 one partisan published a volume called "Bush Country: How Dubya Became a Great President While Driving Liberals Insane." A momentary message grows old, however. By 2008, Bush's low poll numbers had Republican presidential candidate John McCain keeping separate from the administration.

In general, Brendan Quinn, an upstate political consultant -- of GOP pedigree -- sees the "read-my-lips" style of perishable statement as a matter of accountability.

"Voters actually hold elected officials accountable," Quinn said. "A lot of times elected officials take it for granted that voters will forget or will assume they've moved on to some other topic." They do so at their own risk, Quinn says.

For the shorter term, watch out for the more blatant political pranks.

There have been many. Remember the phone call in 2008 to then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin from a fake French president Nicolas Sarkozy? The 1992 announcement by a fake Richard Nixon that he would run again for president?

You are warned: The goofs -- today, or any time -- can come in bipartisan form.

Right-wing prankster James O'Keefe famously punked the left-wing ACORN when he and a friend posed as pimp and hooker and videotaped the results. Later he was arrested with others accused of trying to mess with the phone lines in Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's New Orleans office. O'Keefe pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of entering federal property under false pretenses.

Liberal pranksters Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno, called the "Yes Men," have been faulted, or credited, depending on your point of view, with posing as corporate public relations people, creating fake newspapers and websites, and donning weird costumes for their varied stunts.

So whether you prefer fakery or self-delusion, enjoy the "holiday," if that's what you call it.