When we talk about a far-right echo chamber and how more and more right-wing media players want to proudly be part of a parallel universe where they can wallow in their own sets of 'facts' and their own versions of reality, this is the kind of thing we have in mind. In fact, this delusional claim from far-right bloggers like Hot Air that Sarah Palin came out the winner in her dust-up with a Wall Street Journal reporter this week over the issue of food prices is a perfect example of how the GOP Noise Machine is now entrenched in their own make-believe world.

A quick recap: In a speech this week Palin, criticizing fiscal policy, claimed that grocery prices have been going up. She announced [emphasis added]:

[E]everyone who ever goes out shopping for groceries knows that prices have risen significantly over the past year or so. Pump priming would push them even higher."

The Wall Street Journal's Sudeep Reddy noted that that was, in fact, false, and that grocery prices have not gone up significantly “over the past year or so.”

Palin then lashed out on Facebook and claimed she knew food prices were up because she read it in a WSJ article (zing!), which she then quoted from:

The article noted that “an inflationary tide is beginning to ripple through America's supermarkets and restaurants…Prices of staples including milk, beef, coffee, cocoa and sugar have risen sharply in recent months.”

But note the use of ellipses. Here's what Palin left out from the WSJ article:

An inflationary tide is beginning to ripple through America's supermarkets and restaurants, threatening to end the tamest year of food pricing in nearly two decades.

Right. Palin selectively quoted from a Journal article to prop up her inaccurate point about price spikes at the grocery store. But clearly, the article Palin pointed to proved the opposite; that prices have not gone up. In fact, prices have been unusually tame for consumers.

To review: Palin made an obvious error about food prices. A reporter corrected her. She then quoted from an article to make her point, but edited out the part of the article that sank her point.

The punch line? GOP bloggers like Ed Morrissey at Hot Air and "Russ" at Ace of Spades HQ think Palin won the dispute. At least that's what they told their gullible readers: She was the one who came out on top and it was that dopey Journal reporter who got embarrassed. And do I even have to point out that neither Morrissey nor “Russ” had the nerve to tell their readers about Palin, y'know, edited out the part of the Journal article that proved she was completely misinformed?

If you read either blogger, the Palin/WSJ story ended when Palin pointed to the Journal article that (supposedly) backed up her claim about food prices. The part about how the article actually did the exact opposite? That got flushed down the memory hole in the right-wing blogosphere.

And that is how you flourish in a parallel universe.