Saturday, April 12, 2008

The spinners are aware

George Bush's taped Saturday morning radio address is nearly always a cut and paste from his utterances during that week. This week the topic was the extension of the Surge in Iraq --

Beyond that [July], General Petraeus says he will need time to assess how this reduced American presence will affect conditions on the ground before making recommendations on further reductions. I've told him he'll have time he needs to make his assessment.

This is a significant rephrasing from his Thursday speech which confirmed the policy --

Beyond that [July], General Petraeus says he'll need time to consolidate his forces and assess how this reduced American presence will affect conditions on the ground before making measured recommendations on further reductions. And I've told him he'll have all the time he needs.

Note that in the Thursday version, the nation's self-styled "first MBA President" had assigned a task and given an open-ended timetable for its completion. Recognizing the PR blunder (despite its accurate portrayal of his nonchalance), the statement was adjusted to be a tad more specific.

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