"'The `Mission Accomplished' sign, of course, was put up by the members of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, saying that their mission was accomplished,' Mr. Bush told reporters. 'I know it was attributed somehow to some ingenious advance man from my staff. They weren't that ingenious, by the way.'"

Outrageous. Just another little white lie for Mr. Bush. What is astonishing is his utter certainty that he is, in fact, not lying. But as Josh Marshall points out, every single aspect of a presidential appearance is as carefully scripted as a soap opera.

Talkingpointsmemo also reports on the increasing similarity between what the Dems are saying (that is, except for Kucinich) and what the neocons are sying about Iraq. Namely, that their fear now is that the politals in the White House will convince Bush to declare victory and pull out long before the country is stable and the terrorists defeated.

As this op-ed in the WaPost points out, the seeds for the ongoing terrorist attacks in Iraq, taking two more soldiers' lives today, began at the start of the war when the decision was made to bypass defenses in the south of Iraq to plow straight ahead to Baghdad as quickly as possible. Then, of course, Bush jumped into that flight suit and declared "Mission Accomplished." See above. Trouble is, as the op-ed piece explains, the "victors" can declare victory, but the war isn't over until the "losers" accept that they are defeated. That is simply not happening in Iraq. Which is why I am unconvinced by Bush when he says that Gen. Abizaid hasn't requested more troops. If he hasn't, my bet is that that's due to pressure from Rumsfeld and from the fact that the military is already overextended. It is the military's instinct to throw as many troops at a problem as possible, to completely overwhelm the enemy. This hasn't happened in Iraq from day one.

*****

We'll never get our Zimmer bobble head doll day now. As Curry notes, "Only in Yankeeland."