"Stay The Course"; "Stay The Course"; "Stay The Course"; "Stay The Course"; "Stay The Course"; ...

Crooks and Liars
Countdown: Making adjustments to the language of making adjustments
By: Jamie Holly



Keith Olbermann did a great run down tonight on Bush's use of "stay the course".

Video - WMV Video - QT

Olbermann: Evidently, somebody at the White House needs a little help with "The Google."

Actually using a simple Google query of "stay the course" within the White House's press release directory (which includes transcripts) returns 160 results of the term "stay the course" being used. I wonder how many more times we could find it used by others such as Rummy or Condi.

You have probably forgotten this, it stuck about as well as did "the New Coke"…

But just last year, the Pentagon tried to change the language. We were no longer fighting a "War on Terror" — we were fighting a "Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism".

But despite Donald Rumsfeld's endless repetition of his new phrase, the effort failed because the Commander-in-Chief refused to call the "Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism" anything but "The War on Terror".

Now in our fourth story on the Countdown — that message miscommunication is happening in reverse.

On Monday, the White House "fired" the under-producing catch-phrase "stay the course".

And apparently nobody told the Secretary of Defense.

The problem becomes when you can't make adjustments, even about the language of making adjustments.

The White House Press Secretary is now revising his revisionist history on the phrase and still coming up short. First saying that the President never said "stay the course" then yesterday, saying this to Fox News:

Well sure, to be fair, the President did say "Stay the Course" eight times.

So there they are, the eight — and only eight — times President George W. Bush ever said the phrase "Stay The Course"

[video of Bush saying "Stay the Course" 29 times]

And now you know tomorrow's headline from Mr. Snow.

"I never said he only said it eight times; I said we could only find eight times."

Evidently, somebody at the White House needs a little help with "The Google."