The Decider commits a "Touched Piece" violation without announcing "J'adoube"

You've got to hand it to the Bush administration. When they were calling John Kerry a "flip flopper" it was because Bush knows exactly what a flip flopper is.

On Sunday he said this:

Well, hey, listen, we’ve never been “stay the course,” George.

Billmon pointed out that, yes, in fact George, you were "stay the course... about 18 times on record.

On Monday, White House press secretary Tony Snow announced that Bush would not use the phrase "stay the course" anymore.

The White House said Monday that President Bush was no longer using the phrase “stay the course” when speaking about the Iraq war, in a new effort to emphasize flexibility in the face of some of the bloodiest violence there since the 2003 invasion.

But... but... Bush said he was never "stay the course". In order for him to stop using it, he must have used it in the past. Say, at least 18 times.

Now, Donald Rumsfeld, hero of Fallujah, has muddied things up just a little more. In an interview with Sean Hannity he had this exchange:

HANNITY: A lot of debate has no emerged over the phrase “stay the course,” and what that actually means. “Well, the President is backing away from staying the course.”

RUMSFELD: Aww, that’s nonsense.

HANNITY: He’s not backing away from staying the course?

RUMSFELD: Of course not. The concern was that it gave opponents the chance to say, “Well, he’s not willing to make adjustments,” and of course, just the opposite is true.

As Shake's Sis says, this could lead to a lot of unnecessary soft tissue injuries.