He Said. He Said...

Once again, while the Democrats pat themselves on the back for uncovering the lie in the recent White House change of direction on the Iraq occupation policy, they continue to miss the point about what it means to be the loyal opposition; mislead and confuse the American people and squander an opportunity to put forward a coherent alternative to the Neo-Con American hegomony agenda.

George Bush insisted to George Stephanopoulos on his "This Week" show on October 22, that the policy of his government had never been one of "Stay the Course". Of course to the pundits in the media and to the American people this came as a jarring shock to the system who had come to expect these three words at almost every public offering of the President and his close advisors.

The liberal Democratic ThinkTank-ocracy were quick to put together the damning show and tell of video and audio clips highlighting the countless times that Bush had used those exact words to public audiences. The Center for American Progress and ThinkProgress.org announced that they had found the Commander in Chief using the phrase at least thirty times since 2003.

But once again... aren't they missing the point? As Laura Flanders and many other pointed out over the weekend, this President, in the run up to the election has been all but grounded by the GOP from appearing in public and somehow srewing up Republican candidates chances of election next week. Although Bush has managed to raise over $100M in campaign contributions all this has been in private fundraisers, not in public rallies.

Well the point is that Bush has long been, for a President, camera shy, and his public utterances over the last six or so years have been few and far between. The fact that he has been caught on tape using the phrase "Stay the Course" thirty or more times is meaningless as a weapon without context.

In his second term, Bush has given around 38 major speeches or addresses on the subject of the "War on Terror". The statistics then are that in almost 80% of the time, Bush announced that the strategy of this administration was to "Stay the Course". He has used the phrase at least once a month since the invasion of Iraq and in almost every speech he gave. For him to say that "We have never been stay the course..." not only flies in the face of evidence, it assumes an ignorance and naivety on the part of the American people and the world that would be stunning if it were not so bald faced and shocking.