http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/24/u...index.html

Quote:He acknowledged, however, that Bush no longer is saying that the United States will "stay the course" in Iraq.

"He stopped using it," Snow said of that phrase, adding that it left the impression that the administration was not adjusting its strategy to realities in Baghdad.

But but, I thought things were going so well with us staying the course????

Hmmm, 3 years of "stay the course" ad naseum, and now we've decided that maybe that isnt such a good idea, ironically right before an election

Quote:Bush, in a CNBC interview, said, "Well, I've been talking about a change in tactics ever since I -- ever since we went in, because the role of the commander in chief is to say to our generals, `You adjust to the enemy on the battlefield."'

Wow, thats some brilliant insight.

"Adjusting the stategy" and "full retreat" are not neccesarily the same thing.

BUSH: We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq. [8/4/05]
SNOW: The second thing you do is you stay the course. [7/10/06]
SNOW: But on the other hand, you also cannot be a President in a wartime and not realize that you've got to stay the course. [8/17/06]
BUSH: We will stay the course. [8/30/06]
BUSH: We will stay the course until the job is done, Steve. 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. [12/15/03]
BUSH: And my message today to those in Iraq is: We'll stay the course. [4/13/04]
SNOW: People are going to want more of it, and that's why the President is determined to stay the course. April. [8/16/06]
BUSH: 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. [4/16/04]
BUSH: And so we've got tough action in Iraq. But we will stay the course. [4/5/04]

I swear you libs will grasp at anything. lmfao

Bush has said ever since we got to Iraq that he listens to the generals on the ground. If they say a tactic needs to be changed, they change.

Stay the course means we aren't going to cut and run, that we're going to stay til the job is done. It doesn't mean that we will do the exact same thing, over and over no matter what's going on.

It's a pretty basic, common sense kind of thing. Would explain why the left doesn't get it.

Ninerfan1 Wrote:I swear you libs will grasp at anything. lmfao

Bush has said ever since we got to Iraq that he listens to the generals on the ground. If they say a tactic needs to be changed, they change.

Stay the course means we aren't going to cut and run, that we're going to stay til the job is done. It doesn't mean that we will do the exact same thing, over and over no matter what's going on.

It's a pretty basic, common sense kind of thing. Would explain why the left doesn't get it.

You have to remember they went to the Bill Clinton school of parsing words. Bush has always deferred to the military leaders on the ground and they in turn have explained in depth that the situation is fluid and they are always changing tactics to fight the insurgency.

i guess this clears it up then

This is why the left in this country has been rejected in every election and their views dismissed. There's no common sense to them. No reason, no logic. It's all about Bush hate.

If it weren't so funny it'd be pathetic. Oh who am I kidding, it's pathetic to. lmfao

Ninerfan1 Wrote:This is why the left in this country has been rejected in every election and their views dismissed.

Wow, thats a pretty broad statement. Care to elaborate?

Elaboration is needed? Have you been paying attention to any election over the last two decades or so? Can you name me one lefty that's been elected to national office?

The last 2 you ran for president lost. Clinton never ran as a lefty and didn't govern as one in many instances. Before that Dukakis and Mondull were trounced beyond belief. And since 1994 the congress has been in the hands of republicans. The only reason the democratic party has a prayer in this election is due to republican screw ups, not because the electorate believes in or embraces what you stand for.

Ninerfan1 Wrote:The only reason the democratic party has a prayer in this election is due to republican screw ups, not because the electorate believes in or embraces what you stand for.

I would agree with this statement.

Just like in this situation, the Reps always draw an absolute line and the Dems wait for them to bend and then jump all over it. When Dems suggested setting timelines and changing strategy it was called "Cut and Run" not that Bush administration is "listening to the Generals" it is call "Adapting to the situation". If the Dems are smart they would be all over this. Funny enough, I only hear about this from the media and I haven't heard the Dems press the issue much. :shhh:

I'm sorry I don't the big hoopla that Bush won't use "Stay the course" anymore. Its friggin words and obviously the course hasn't panned out to prefection but really...

Ninerfan1 Wrote:Bush has said ever since we got to Iraq that he listens to the generals on the ground. If they say a tactic needs to be changed, they change.

Stay the course means we aren't going to cut and run, that we're going to stay til the job is done. It doesn't mean that we will do the exact same thing, over and over no matter what's going on.

Yeah, ok. Then why does it matter? Why are they changing their talking points? I really don't think this means anything as far as the war is concerned, they aren't going to send an email to their generals and say, "Hey we're not staying the course anymore, so stop."

What this amounts to is them realizing that "Stay the course" isn't helping their image at this point. But what I don't understand is why do this just before an election? Are they sending a message to voters to not stay the course? "Don't keep those guys that are in office now, vote someone new in."

Bourgeois_Rage Wrote:Yeah, ok. Then why does it matter? Why are they changing their talking points? I really don't think this means anything as far as the war is concerned, they aren't going to send an email to their generals and say, "Hey we're not staying the course anymore, so stop."

It matters because, as huskie illustrates, people either don't grasp what they mean or do but distort it to meet a political end.

Quote:What this amounts to is them realizing that "Stay the course" isn't helping their image at this point. But what I don't understand is why do this just before an election? Are they sending a message to voters to not stay the course? "Don't keep those guys that are in office now, vote someone new in."

They obviously realized that the "stay the course" message is misunderstood/distorted to the point that they need something new to relate what's actually the strategy.

On another note has anyone seen the elect democrats infomercial going on CNN right now? I hope republicans demand equal time, cause they're just running one big long campaign add for democrats.

I realize fully this dosent mean we are "reatreating". I can see the difference. I just found it interesting, since this has esentially been the administrations Iraq tagline from day 1, and suddenly its being changed (even though arguably things havent been going well for a while now).

PirateTreasureNC Wrote:I'm sorry I don't the big hoopla that Bush won't use "Stay the course" anymore. Its friggin words and obviously the course hasn't panned out to prefection but really...

Yea, just words. That people say. That mean something.

uhmump95 Wrote:

Ninerfan1 Wrote:The only reason the democratic party has a prayer in this election is due to republican screw ups, not because the electorate believes in or embraces what you stand for.

I would agree with this statement.

Just like in this situation, the Reps always draw an absolute line and the Dems wait for them to bend and then jump all over it. When Dems suggested setting timelines and changing strategy it was called "Cut and Run" not that Bush administration is "listening to the Generals" it is call "Adapting to the situation". If the Dems are smart they would be all over this. Funny enough, I only hear about this from the media and I haven't heard the Dems press the issue much. :shhh:

you mean like this?
lmfao

I think it's smart on the part of Bush to drop the "Stay the Course" slogan. According to a recent poll the Iraq war is the number one issue going into the election and many feel that the Iraq war is not going in the proper direction, so he is adjusting his laguage, it's pretty smart.

JTiger Wrote:I think it's smart on the part of Bush to drop the "Stay the Course" slogan. According to a recent poll the Iraq war is the number one issue going into the election and many feel that the Iraq war is not going in the proper direction, so he is adjusting his laguage, it's pretty smart.

I don't guess that has anything to do with the liberally-biased media airing nothing but the negative, much to the chagrin of those of us that have been there, does it? Naaaaa, couldn't be that.

This proves one thing to me; the American Populace is comprised of a bunch of dumbasses that believe the liberal media.

RebelKev Wrote:

JTiger Wrote:I think it's smart on the part of Bush to drop the "Stay the Course" slogan. According to a recent poll the Iraq war is the number one issue going into the election and many feel that the Iraq war is not going in the proper direction, so he is adjusting his laguage, it's pretty smart.

I don't guess that has anything to do with the liberally-biased media airing nothing but the negative, much to the chagrin of those of us that have been there, does it? Naaaaa, couldn't be that.

This proves one thing to me; the American Populace is comprised of a bunch of dumbasses that believe the liberal media.

I saw a poll last week that listed the war in Iraq as the main issue for this midterm election. According to the same poll, they don't perceive this war going in the right direction. Like I said, it was a smart move on the part of Bush to drop that slogan, and it's just that a slogan.

Quote:I saw a poll last week that listed the war in Iraq as the main issue for this midterm election.

I hope nobody is really all that surprised that the main issue this election is Iraq. The Bush administration has made the War on Terror their main talking point for the last 5 years.