Staying the Course, Misspeaking, and Misinterpretation
Speaking of ploys that allow you to revise your position without admitting error...
Turns out that by 'stay the course' the administration did not mean stay the course. In fact, by 'stay the course' they apparently meant don't stay the course. What they meant was be flexible. Or something.
The administration wouldn't have this problem if it was even modestly honest or rational about admitting error. But they are such dogmatists and have so mercilessly attacked anyone who suggested that their policies aren't perfect that they can't admit error without admitting serious meta-error--in particular, without admitting that they were wrong to ridicule and berate their critics. Now they have to admit that they're thinking about adopting policies the endorsement of which would get you labelled unpatriotic in the not-too-distant past.
These people continue to astonish me.
Speaking of ploys that allow you to revise your position without admitting error...
Turns out that by 'stay the course' the administration did not mean stay the course. In fact, by 'stay the course' they apparently meant don't stay the course. What they meant was be flexible. Or something.
The administration wouldn't have this problem if it was even modestly honest or rational about admitting error. But they are such dogmatists and have so mercilessly attacked anyone who suggested that their policies aren't perfect that they can't admit error without admitting serious meta-error--in particular, without admitting that they were wrong to ridicule and berate their critics. Now they have to admit that they're thinking about adopting policies the endorsement of which would get you labelled unpatriotic in the not-too-distant past.
These people continue to astonish me.
posted by Winston Smith at
7:29 AM
3 Comments:
Their doublespeak will go on as long as the benefits to the speakers outweigh the costs because they have no conscience. When Bill Clinton lied, he still took the truth as a reference point and tried word-parsing formulas. The Bushists don't give a damn. For them, words are instruments of power, and their accepted meanings are unimportant.
What do you expect from sociopaths?
Your surprise surprises me.
bush's "we were never 'stay the course'" is like "samantha's magic trying to erase the past" very funny... with links back to 2003 through a few weeks ago showing the stay the course mantra
http://www.miserywatch.com/2006/10/like_magic.html
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