[The following comes from the endlessly-juxtaposing Billmon, who appropriated it from Bernhard over at Moon of Alabama. I’ve reproduced it in full because, well, mendacity is something worth sharing. —ed.]

Now

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 . . . cut and run and stay the course.

BUSH: Listen, we’ve never been stay the course, George.

This Week with George Stephanopoulos
October 22, 2006

Then

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.

President Discusses AIDS Initiative, Iraq in Botswana
July 10, 2003

It’s in the national interest of the United States that a peaceful Iraq emerge. And we will stay the course in order to achieve this objective.

President Bush, Ambassador Bremer Discuss Progress in Iraq
October 27, 2003

They want us to leave, because they know that a free and peaceful Iraq in their midst will damage their cause. And we will stay the course, we will do our job.

President Bush Visits California — Talks to Victims of Fires
November 4, 2003

We will stay the course.

President Bush, Italian President Ciampi Discuss Iraq
November 14, 2003

I was able to assure them that we were going to stay the course and get the job done . . .

President Discusses Trip to Iraq with Reporters
November 27, 2003

And, as in the aftermath of the terrible attack on Pearl Harbor, our Nation will stay the course, and we will prevail.

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 2003
December 5, 2003

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. And it’s very important for the Iraqi people to know that.

President Bush Holds Press Conference
December 15, 2003

I told the family how much we appreciated his sacrifice — he was killed in Iraq — and assured him that we would stay the course.

President Bush Discusses Iraq, 9/11 Commission with Reporters
April 5, 2004

We will stay the course. The Iraqi people don’t have to fear taking the risk toward freedom and democracy because America won’t turn and run.

Global Message
April 6, 2004

Look, this is hard work. 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.

President Addresses the Nation in Prime Time Press Conference
April 13, 2004

And that’s why we’re going to stay the course in Iraq.

Bush, Blair Discuss Sharon Plan; Future of Iraq in Press Conference
April 16, 2004

If we don’t lose our nerve, if we stay the course, someday down the road, an American President will be working with democratically elected leaders in the broader Middle East at the table to keep the peace.

President’s Remarks at Mike Sodrel for Congress and Indiana Victory 2006 Reception
March 24, 2006

And I’d just like to reiterate what the other governors have said, that it is very important that we stay the course, that we provide support for these incredible people that are doing such a service for liberty around the world and protecting our freedoms here.

President Meets with Governors Who Traveled to Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan
April 19, 2006

And I saw people wondering whether the United States would have the nerve to stay the course and help them succeed.

Remarks by the President at the 2006 President’s Dinner
June 19, 2006

As a matter of fact, we will win in Iraq so long as we stay the course.

Remarks by the President at "Green for Wisconsin" Reception
July 11, 2006

But there’s no alternative but to stay the course with it. And we will.

President Bush and Prime Minister Blair of the United Kingdom Participate in Press Availability
July 28, 2006

We will stay the course, we will help this young Iraqi democracy succeed.

President Bush’s Remarks Upon Arrival in Utah
August 30, 2006

Stay the course also means don’t leave before the job is done. And that’s — we’re going to get the job done in Iraq. And it’s important that we do get the job done in Iraq.

Press Conference by the President
October 11, 2006

Obligatory Thuddingly-Obvious Literary Reference

Oceania was at war with Eastasia: Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia. A large part of the political literature of five years was now completely obsolete. Reports and records of all kinds, newspapers, books, pamphlets, films, sound-tracks, photographs — all had to be rectified at lightning speed. Although no directive was ever issued, it was known that the chiefs of the Department intended that within one week no reference to the war with Eurasia, or the alliance with Eastasia, should remain in existence anywhere.

George Orwell
Nineteen Eighty-Four
1948

First Signs of Corrective Spin

Q: Is there a change in the administration “stay the course” policy? Bartlett this morning said that wasn’t ever the policy.

MR. SNOW: No, the policy — because the idea of “stay the course” is you’ve done one thing, you kick back and wait for it. And this has always been a dynamic policy that is aimed at moving forward at all times on a number of fronts. And that would include the international diplomatic front. After all, the Iraq compact is something we worked out with the Iraqis before visiting the Prime Minister in Baghdad earlier this year.

So what you have is not “stay the course,” 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.

I think you also see much more aggressive efforts on the part of the Iraqi government because the Prime Minister understands the importance — the vital importance of reconciliation. The third reconciliation conference will be taking place next — is it next week, week after next — on the 4th. He is working on the reconciliation front. There has been considerable, and continues to be, action on the economic front. And obviously, we’re continuing to cooperate in security. That is not a “stay the course” policy.

Press Briefing by Tony Snow
October 23, 2006

Some of My Own Thoughts (the “value-added” portion)

Shorter version of all this: we will stay the course in Iraq, we will be steadfast, we will continue to do the same thing no matter what happens. We will not surrender, or “cut and run”, unless it becomes politically expedient to not stay the course. Then, we will redefine what “staying the course” actually means.

After all, what “staying the course” means to the average voter is that we will continue to sacrifice human lives—US and Iraqi—and treasure to set up a police station in the Middle East. Not that we are going to “tweak” things constantly.

Furthermore, most of the American people don’t give a flying crap about “nuanced” definitions. If they did, we probably would be in the second term of Al Gore’s presidency¹. So it’s particularly hilarious to watch an administration who loved to bully people into their version of the truth try to bend over backwards and rewrite history by asking the public to dig a little deeper for what “stay the course” really meant.

Finally, I have to say that I do agree with Mr. Snow that our strategy is indeed a “study in constant motion²”: we are watching the handbag approach terminal velocity as it descends, infinately, into the Ninth Circle of Hell.

¹ The king of wonkish politics.

² This is a really funny phrase because it means absolutely nothing. He might as well have said “we’re doing stuff” or “we’re all up in it”.