Don't Touch That Denial

President Bush says he never said, "Stay the course."

During an interview today on ABC’s This Week, President Bush tried to distance himself from what has been his core strategy in Iraq for the last three years. George Stephanopoulos asked about James Baker’s plan to develop a strategy for Iraq that is “between ’stay the course’ and ‘cut and run.’”

Bush responded, ‘We’ve never been stay the course, George!’

Yeah, you did:

BUSH: We will stay the course. [8/30/06]

BUSH: We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq. [8/4/05]

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]

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]

Has this guy never heard of Google?

This is the latest -- and most blatant -- episode in the serial denial that's running rampant through the West Wing, along with the la-di-da feeling about the upcoming mid-term elections.

President Bush and his political strategists may be the most outwardly optimistic Republicans in Washington these days, and perhaps the only ones. They are doing their best to fend off the sense of impending doom within their party that they fear will become a self-fulfilling prophecy on Nov. 7.

They are enlisting longtime allies for an all-hands-on-deck effort to change the mood for the final push to Election Day, and they are putting out the word for Republicans to keep a lid on any pessimistic talk. They are also planning a travel blitz for Mr. Bush during the final week to 10 days of the campaign.

And though they fully expect to lose seats, they are also keeping their fingers crossed. They are counting on a barrage of last-minute advertising and their 72-hour voter turnout operation to keep Democrats from taking over the House and Senate, even if it means they only eke out a victory.

But those the White House counts on to help raise party morale at such low moments say they are having a hard time of it, when so many polls augur ever-worsening election results and when so many things have gone wrong, including the Mark Foley scandal and grim news from Iraq.

I realize that it's normal to deny the truth that is staring you down; I also expect that even if there were internal polls showing that the Republicans were going to get trashed, they would put on a brave front so that their candidates out in the hustings wouldn't lose too much hope. That's the way the game is played. And while we can half-heartedly joke that Karl Rove has yet another Florida or Ohio up his sleeve, if he was truly that much of a genius, he'd pull it off without anyone suspecting it.

But it's an entirely different thing when you start playing the Denial game with Iraq; there are lives and fortunes at stake there, not just a political outcome in some congressional district. Waiting until after an election to issue a report or make changes in strategy that could save lives is despicable and reveals that the only thing that matters, despite the solemn protests to the contrary, is keeping a grip on power.

Update: But wait, there's more. Dan Barlett, WH communications director, chimes in with the same "stay the course" denial.

How stupid do these people think we are? (Yes, that's a rhetorical question, but feel free to chime in.)

H/T to Shakes Sis.