Two for One Bonus: Why Oh Why Are We Ruled by This Liar?/Why Oh Why Can't We Have a Better Press Corps?

Stay the Course:

Michael Froomkin writes:

Discourse.net: 'Stay The Course': The 'Stay the Course' video. Much better than news stories that miss the point. Incredible that the NYT story doesn't even mention that Bush claimed "we've never been stay the course" and instead just ran with the White House line that they were changing the rhetoric...

Yep, Michael is right. Here are New York Times reporters Jim Rutenberg and David Cloud, showing that they are incapable of shame or honesty:

Bush Abandons Phrase 'Stay the Course' on Iraq - New York Times: WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 — 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.

“He stopped using it,” said Tony Snow, the White House press secretary. “It left the wrong impression about what was going on and it allowed critics to say, ‘Well, here’s an administration that’s just embarked upon a policy and not looking at what the situation is,’ when, in fact, it is the opposite.”

Mr. Bush used the slogan in a stump speech on Aug. 31, but has not repeated it for some time. Still, Mr. Snow’s pronouncement was a stark example of the complicated line the White House is walking this election year in trying to tag Democrats as wanting to “cut and run” from Iraq, without itself appearing wedded to unsuccessful tactics there...

I've said that I don't think the Washington Post will last a decade, given its extraordinary sins against the gods of honest journalism. Will the New York Times last a decade? Not with reporters like these.

It's not even the case that brownie points for writing stories pleasing to Tony Snow are worth much anymore.