Karl Rove doesn’t want to call Joe Biden a liar, but “serial exaggerator” probably undersells it. “He’s making these things up out of whole cloth,” Rove says about Biden’s claim that he spent “hours” alone with George Bush, and told him that “no one was following him.” In these circumstances, Rove’s epithet of “blowhard” might be the mildest description:

Rove pulls out the kitchen sink on Biden, making sure to prominently mention Biden’s theft of Neil Kinnock’s speech in the 1988 presidential race. Once someone does that, their veracity remains in question, especially since he lifted Kinnock’s family history as well. If a man trots out lies like that in public, making his origins more humble than they were, it points to a deep-seated urge to aggrandize one’s own accomplishments. It’s not a great leap to lying in order to make yourself look like the man who could scold a president.

If you want the background on this, read Allahpundit’s post last night, in which he got to write a cool headline. Greg Hengler says Biden’s sticking to his story. Calinda Wolff, though, appears to have the last word on this:

Other Bush officials back up Rove’s assessment, including former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, former Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, and Calinda Wolff, former Bush White House liaison to Congress. Fleischer reportedly reviewed detailed notes of Biden’s White House visits, which include direct quotes from the former Senator. Wolff, took particular issue with another of Biden’s stories, in which he recalled spending “hours” alone with President Bush in the Oval Office.

The president would never sit through two hours of Joe Biden. I don’t ever remember Biden being in the Oval. He was such a blowhard on all that stuff – there wasn’t a reason to bring him in.”

Blowhard sounds better than liar.  Both apply.