"Mission Accomplished"
Lorie at PoliPundit has some commentary about this famous line from Bush - it turns out that Bush only said the line in order to get more international support.

First there was the claim that Bush fed the soldiers in Iraq a "plastic turkey" at Thanksgiving, which turned out to be a fabrication. Then the 9/11 commission report and various other documents showed that it was Joe Wilson, not George Bush, who was lying about the "16 words" statement about Saddam seeking uranium from Africa. Now Gen. Tommy Franks says the "Mission Accomplished" speech was actually meant to encourage more help from the international community, rather than to mislead the American people, as Bush's opponents have claimed. After commanding the operation that toppled Saddam Hussein, Gen. Tommy Franks suggested that President Bush publicly mark an end to major combat in Iraq - an idea that led to the president's politically controversial appearance aboard an aircraft carrier.

Regardless the motivations of the President for the "Mission Accomplished" remark, as commander in chief he was aware of the risk of saying it. Yes, international aid is helpful in Iraq, and it is admirable that Bush was seeking to secure it to relieve the financial pressure on the American Public for paying the sole cost of this war. However, with all of the guerilla violence that has occured since then, the remark his made Bush appear at the least quite foolish, and he is justifiably being skewered for it.

It is beginning to look, however, like Bush might have done the right thing by ignoring so many of these specious attacks on him. In biding his time, the facts disputing so many of the Democrats' attacks are surfacing closer and closer to the election -- just in time to make his opponents appear to have been wrong so many times that many of their new attacks are bound to be taken with a grain of salt.

I think this point by Lorie is possibly closer to the truth. On the other hand, many of my friends who are normally quite Republican are againt Bush this go around on the basis of his "lying nature" . And these aren't East/West Coast liberals - these are solid Ohio voters who were born and raised in Canton, Ohio. Its the old Nazi theory that Moore, Wilson, and his ilk are succeeding at - if you are going to succeed in telling a lie, don't tell a small one. Tell a big one. And keep telling it.

We've been told so many lies, so repeatedly, for so long. Bush stole the election. Bush killed Kyoto. Bush's tax cut benefits only the wealthy. The economy hasn't produced any good jobs under Bush. Bush knew about September 11th. Bush is a puppet of the Bin Ladens. Bush is a puppet of the Jews. Bush is a puppet of Enron. Bush didn't seek international support for Iraq. Bush lied in the State of the Union about Iraq trying to get Uranium from Nigeria. Bush lied about weapons of Mass Destruction. Bush misled us into thinking this would be an easy war. Etc. Etc. Etc. Is it any wonder that Bush has had problems with his approval rating?

The question is not whether the Moores of the world have been lying repeatedly about Bush's truth-telling. The question is whether the American public has caught on. I'd like to believe that it has, but I remain skeptical. If Lorie wants to be an optimist, more power to her - in these dark times, we need people who'll take that attitude.