fayfreethinkers.com

In the portion of his interview with President Bush broadcast on the October 22 edition of ABC's This Week, host George Stephanopoulos let go without challenge several statements from Bush that contradict previous statements and actions. First, as the weblog Think Progress noted, Bush asserted that his administration has "never been stay the course" in Iraq, a statement to which Stephanopoulos could have responded -- but didn't -- by noting that Bush and other senior administration officials have repeatedly described the U.S. policy in Iraq as "stay the course."

STEPHANOPOULOS: That's exactly what I wanted to ask you about because [former Secretary of State under President George H.W. Bush] James Baker says he's looking for something between --

BUSH: Cut and run --

STEPHANOPOULOS: -- cut and run and stay the course.

BUSH: Listen, we've never been stay the course, George. We have been -- we will complete the mission. We will do our job and help achieve the goal, but we're constantly adjusting to tactics.

Read the rest here.

DOUG
In fact, now the tactic from the Republicans is to pretend that it was the Democrats who described Bush's policy as "stay the course," as if that phrase has been only a Democratic smear tactic and not a term used by the current administration.

From an August 31 Washington Post article by staff writers Peter Baker and Jim VandeHei:

While no Democrat has the powerful platform that the White House affords Bush and Cheney, the complaints about the mischaracterizing of positions on the war flow in both directions. Many Democrats accuse the president of advocating "stay the course" in Iraq, but the White House rejects the phrase and regularly emphasizes that it is adapting tactics to changing circumstances, such as moving more U.S. troops into Baghdad recently after a previous security strategy appeared to fail.

See link here.

Cont'd from here.:
In an October 23 interview on CBS' The Early Show, White House senior adviser Dan Bartlett stated that the Bush administration's Iraq policy has "never been a 'stay the course' strategy" -- a claim that the Associated Press subsequently reported in an October 23 article. Conspicuously absent from both the CBS interview and the AP article was any reference to the repeated assertions by President Bush that the United States "will stay the course in Iraq," as he recently stated in an August 30 speech.

See the rest here.

DOUG
As linked on one of the above websites, I went to the official White House website and got this:

"Not only does the war on terror go on, but we've got a lot of work to do in Iraq. And we're going to stay the course until the job gets done."--Bush, President Talks to Troops in Qatar Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar, June 5, 2003.

At a July 10, 2003 press conference:
BUSH: We haven't been there long. I mean, relatively speaking. We've been there for 90 to 100 days -- I don't have the exact number. But I will tell you, it's going to take more than 90 to 100 days for people to recognize the great joys of freedom and the responsibilities that come with freedom. We're making steady progress. A free Iraq will mean a peaceful world. And it's very important for us to stay the course, and we will stay the course.

April 5, 2004, press conference, Bush said: "And we've got to stay the course, and we will stay the course. The message to the Iraqi citizens is, they don't have to fear that America will turn and run. And that's an important message for them to hear. If they think that we're not sincere about staying the course, many people will not continue to take a risk toward -- take the risk toward freedom and democracy."

In an April 13, 2004, nationally televised address, he said: "It's hard to advance freedom in a country that has been strangled by tyranny. And, yet, we must stay the course, because the end result is in our nation's interest."

During a September 23, 2004, press conference, Bush said: "It's hard work in Iraq. Everybody knows that. We see it on our TV. My message is that -- is that we will stay the course and stand with these people so that they become free."

Cheney said it many times too: September 10, Vice President Dick Cheney said on NBC's Meet the Press: "The president has said we will stay the course, complete the mission."

See the above instances linkedhere.

Bush, August 30, 2006, during a speech in Salt Lake City:

BUSH: Iraq is the central front in this war on terror. If we leave the streets of Baghdad before the job is done, we will have to face the terrorists in our own cities. We will stay the course, we will help this young Iraqi democracy succeed, and victory in Iraq will be a major ideological triumph in the struggle of the 21st century.

From here.

DOUG adds:
Yes, I have a lot of duplicate links above. But it is so incredible that the administration would even try to distance themselves from their pet phrase that I know some people will find it so hard to believe they're doing this they'll want to check the sources.

DOUG
Here's a Daily Show clip of Ken Mehlman denying that the administration has the "stay the course" strategy.

See here.

Yeah, well, you see...Bush can go back and retroactively change what it was YOU say he said, because he's the President, and that is within his powers. Somewhere in the "torture bill", that gave him immunity for war crimes, there's probably some language that says he can also change transcripts of things he said..er...things YOU say he said.

So, get off the man's back, for chrissake! He's trying to avoid a NukeUlar war....or something. Whatever, it's a matter of national security, and you could be put in prison for screwing with it.

Great video collection of Bush saying "stay the course"here.

Unfortunately, a sizeable number of Rs will turn their brains off and believe him - again. Just like they did on the Osama "dead or alive" issue and the WMD issue and the Iraq/Al Qada connection issue, etc. Reality doesn't matter, it's what Hannity and O'Reilly say is reality. We are that far into "1984" - and if they steal this election, like the last 3 (or 4 or 5) I really don't know what short of disaster so great as to make who runs our country - and our country itself - moot will be able to get us out of there.

Darrel wrote:Great video collection of Bush saying "stay the course"here.

DOUG
Maybe you meant here.

Great summary Doug. It's just amazing how yesterday's cliche's disappear so rapidly. Ah the magic of having your own TV Network.

A really good article on this:

***
A Study in Constant Motion
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Tuesday 24 October 2006

"We will stay the course until the job is done, Steve," said George W. Bush during a press conference in December of 2003. "And the temptation is to try to get the President or somebody to put a timetable on the definition of getting the job done. We're just going to stay the course."

"And so we've got tough action in Iraq. But we will stay the course," Bush said again on April 5th, 2004. On the 13th of that month, he said, "And my message today to those in Iraq is: We'll stay the course." Three days later, he said, "And that's why we're going to stay the course in Iraq. And that's why when we say something in Iraq, we're going to do it." In August of 2005, he said, "We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq." A year later, in Utah, he said, "We will stay the course."

Got the picture? We are staying the course in Iraq. Period. No cutting and running here.

Not so fast.

This past Sunday, George Stephanopoulos put the question to Bush in an interview for ABC's "This Week" news show. "James Baker," said Stephanopoulos, "says that he's looking for something between 'cut and run' and 'stay the course.'"

Bush's reply? "Well, hey, listen, we've never been 'stay the course,' George," he said. "We have been - we will complete the mission, we will do our job, and help achieve the goal, but we're constantly adjusting to tactics. Constantly."

Press Secretary Tony Snow was able to blend the facts on this matter with true poetic voice when asked if "stay the course" is being abandoned by the White House. "What you have is not 'stay the course,'" said Snow, "but, in fact, a study in constant motion by the administration and by the Iraqi government, and, frankly, also by the enemy, because there are constant shifts, and you constantly have to adjust to what the other side is doing."

A study in constant motion?

James Crabtree, writing for the UK Guardian, attempted to analyze the phrase. "A brief search for the phrase on Google isn't terribly revealing," wrote Crabtree. "A study in constant motion is, apparently, a way to describe an obscure Michelangelo Antonioni movie, a description of a soccer game, and an advert for a rental home in North Carolina's Outer Banks. It is also, intriguingly, a way to describe the oeuvre of Scot's born film Director Norman McLaren, and the 'approach to global success' of computer giant Microsoft. It certainly, however, is not a description of how to succeed in Iraq."

Poetry notwithstanding, the Bush administration's handling of Iraq has indeed been a study in constant motion. Recall, if you will, the claims made by Bush in his January 2003 State of the Union address: Iraq is in possession of 26,000 liters of anthrax, 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin, 500 tons (which equals 1,000,000 pounds) of sarin, mustard, and VX nerve agent, nearly 30,000 munitions to deliver the stuff, mobile biological weapons labs, uranium from Niger for use in a robust nuclear weapons programs, and connections to al Qaeda that led directly to the attacks of September 11.

Yes, these claims can still be found on the White House web site. Yes, these claims do not stand alone.

"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction," said Dick Cheney during a speech to VFW National Convention on August 26, 2002..

"There is already a mountain of evidence that Saddam Hussein is gathering weapons for the purpose of using them. And adding additional information is like adding a foot to Mount Everest," said press secretary Ari Fleischer on September 6th, 2002.

"Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons," said George W. Bush in his September 12th speech to the UN General Assembly.

"The president of the United States and the secretary of defense would not assert as plainly and bluntly as they have that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction if it was not true, and if they did not have a solid basis for saying it," said Ari Fleischer on December 4th, 2002. A little more than a month later, Fleischer said, "We know for a fact that there are weapons there."

"There can be no doubt that Saddam Hussein has biological weapons and the capability to rapidly produce more, many more. And he has the ability to dispense these lethal poisons and diseases in ways that can cause massive death and destruction. If biological weapons seem too terrible to contemplate, chemical weapons are equally chilling," said Secretary of State Colin Powell in his February 5th, 2003, address to the UN Security Council.

The study in constant motion truly began after these horrific weapons failed to turn up in Iraq. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld famously claimed of the Iraqi WMD during a March 30th, 2003, interview with ABC News, "We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat." Not two months later, Rumsfeld said during a Fox News interview, "We never believed that we'd just tumble over weapons of mass destruction in that country."

Ari Fleischer's tapdancing behind his podium reached mythological status in July of 2003 when, during a briefing in which he was pressed to explain why no WMD had been found in Iraq, said, "I think the burden is on those people who think he didn't have weapons of mass destruction to tell the world where they are."

Come again? The people who said Iraq had no weapons and posed no threat must be the ones to explain where the weapons are? Certainly, the myriad administration officials who promised that stockpiles of WMD were practically falling out of the sky in Iraq shouldn't have to explain themselves. That wouldn't be cricket.

The rest, as they say, is history. The weapons stopped being the story, so put away your plastic sheeting and duct tape. The whole point was to bring democracy to the Middle East by way of Iraq. Then it became about fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here. Then it became about us standing down when the Iraqis stand up. Then it became about standing as referee between factional militias. For a while, it was about staying the course.

Not so much anymore.

Constant motion indeed.
***

LINK

Darrel wrote:Poetry notwithstanding, the Bush administration's handling of Iraq has indeed been a study in constant motion. Recall, if you will, the claims made by Bush in his January 2003 State of the Union address: Iraq is in possession of 26,000 liters of anthrax, 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin, 500 tons (which equals 1,000,000 pounds) of sarin, mustard, and VX nerve agent, nearly 30,000 munitions to deliver the stuff, mobile biological weapons labs, uranium from Niger for use in a robust nuclear weapons programs, and connections to al Qaeda that led directly to the attacks of September 11.

Yes, these claims can still be found on the White House web site.

DOUG
Yes, I just checked. See here.

It also has this disgusting set of lies:

With nuclear arms or a full arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, Saddam Hussein could resume his ambitions of conquest in the Middle East and create deadly havoc in that region. And this Congress and the America people must recognize another threat. Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaeda. Secretly, and without fingerprints, he could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop their own.

Before September the 11th, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents, lethal viruses and shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained. Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons and other plans -- this time armed by Saddam Hussein. It would take one vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known. We will do everything in our power to make sure that that day never comes. (Applause.)

You got the wrong characters. Rove and W are Boris and Natasha, not Moose and Squirrel.

Come on! I liked Boris and Natasha. I like Rocky and Bull Winkle! I long for the good ole days of defending America against Communist aggression. I really miss the old Soviet Communist they were a lot more fun than these religious wack jobs that seem to be running around loose every where even here in the US-like that nut job that is running the Jesus Camp! She is ever bit a scary as some Muslum with a bomb strapped to his butt!

I watched a little bit of the press conference this morning with Bush so what is he up to? I can not believe that he would come this close to admitting things are not going well with out some kind of hidden agenda. Are they hoping that people will go to the poles in two weeks and say "well it sounds like they are going to change stratagy, maybe I will vote republican"? Has someone whispered in Bush's ear that come January he/republicans will not have control of the house? So he is trying to play nice before a Democratic controlled congress starts asking the tough questions?

Sherry and I should be at the meeting on Saturday.

Bush is "making nice" to the undecideds. He needs close races before he can steal them.