# Stay the Course **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 22, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475 "2006-10-22T20:10:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/21 "2006-10-24T04:44:23Z")
[Tony Snow knows just what you mean, **Icarus** :](http://www.startribune.com/587/v-print/story/756839.html) > [@](#): > > On the intellectual acumen of his boss: “He reminds me of one of those guys at the gym who plays about 40 chess boards at once.” ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/22 "2006-10-24T06:39:35Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] [Tony Snow knows just what you mean, **Icarus** :](http://www.startribune.com/587/v-print/story/756839.html) [/QUOTE] Aren’t there State Fair chickens that do the same thing with checkers? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/23 "2006-10-24T07:03:51Z")
Hey, of course! ---
**Author:** ![sctrojan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@sctrojan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sctrojan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/24 "2006-10-24T12:17:02Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] Okay, wait… I can field this one, I think… Bush never actually denied that he’d _said_ “We will stay the course.” if you bother to read the transcript, his precise words are clear:You see the difference? He claimed “we’ve never _been_ ‘stay the course!’” Not “said,” “been!” Which is just common sense, because how can anyone literally\* be \* a phrase like ‘stay the course?’ People can be tall or short; they can be Republicans or terrorists, but they can’t literally _be_ the phrase ‘stay the course!’ It’s a completely nonsensical statement! And if there’s one thing Bush appreciates, it’s proper use of the English language. Must you people reflexively bash the President for even the most obviously true and unambiguous remarks? If you’re going to go around claiming that he and others have been the phrase ‘stay the course,’ then by all means, show us the evidence! But you can’t, can you? And why all these lies and innuendoes about Bush being an imperative clause, right before the elections? _Mere coincidence?_ Where was your outrage when Clinton spent \*eight years \* evading all mention of whether or not he was ‘stay the course?!’ _CHAPPAQUIDDICK!_ [/QUOTE] \*\*Thanks to your brilliance in finding humor in the situatioin, I am laughing on the outside. Inside, I am terrified. How can a democracy survive if its modus operandi is fooling all of the people all of the time? If it cannot survive, then what? \*\* ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/25 "2006-10-24T13:17:22Z")
On the heels of **Terrifel’s** wise words, I’d like to add that just because Bush has been saying we’re going to stay the course doesn’t mean that’s what we’ve been doing. If you look at all the quotes in the OP, you’ll see the key word is _will_. We _will_ stay the course. He’s speaking in the future tense. But I bet no one can quote him ever saying that we _are_, right now presently at this moment, staying the course. So if we’ve never been actually staying the course (and I demand to see evidence that we have been), Bush is not lying. In fact, he’s being more honest than he’s ever been because he’s admitting the failure to do what he promised he would. We need to cut him some slack. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/26 "2006-10-24T13:37:15Z")
If we’re not going to get anyone to defend the administration on this particular assertion, does anyone have any idea how right-thinkers did try to process this while maintaining their lickspittle credentials? Was this finally something with enough power to break through cognitive dissonance? (I realize that at this point even the administration has flip-flop-flipped on the Orwellian "we were never ‘stay the course’ " line of attack.) ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/27 "2006-10-24T14:26:30Z")
[QUOTE=Hentor the Barbarian] If we’re not going to get anyone to defend the administration on this particular assertion, does anyone have any idea how right-thinkers did try to process this while maintaining their lickspittle credentials? Was this finally something with enough power to break through cognitive dissonance? (I realize that at this point even the administration has flip-flop-flipped on the Orwellian "we were never ‘stay the course’ " line of attack.) [/QUOTE] I guess, once they have received the party line from blogs, Fox News and drug-addled slugs with a microphone, they’ll be here. I’m pretty certain it’ll all turn out to be Clinton’s fault. Who by the way, got a blow job. Not many people know that. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/28 "2006-10-24T15:56:39Z")
[QUOTE=rjung] The attention span of a goldfish… [/QUOTE] Which is like googolplex-times-infinity-long to the sugar-buzzed, gnat-brained electorate they’re appealing to. Bush does set his standards oh so high. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/29 "2006-10-25T00:28:20Z")
> [@Tony Snow](#): > > On the intellectual acumen of his boss: “He reminds me of one of those guys at the gym who plays about 40 chess boards at once.” People go to the gym to play **chess**? I did not know that. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/30 "2006-10-25T00:57:15Z")
[QUOTE=Kimstu] > [@Tony Snow](#): > > On the intellectual acumen of his boss: “He reminds me of one of those guys at the gym who plays about 40 chess boards at once.” People go to the gym to play **chess**? I did not know that. [/QUOTE] They’re English. They don’t go to the gym and actually _sweat_. That wouldn’t be proper. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/31 "2006-10-25T00:59:47Z")
And don’t even think of asking me where I got the idea that Tony Snow was English. Because I’d just lie, too embarrassed to admit I confused him with Tony Blair. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/32 "2006-10-25T02:40:31Z")
[QUOTE=Hentor the Barbarian] If we’re not going to get anyone to defend the administration on this particular assertion, does anyone have any idea how right-thinkers did try to process this while maintaining their lickspittle credentials? [/quote] You’re trying to apply logic to Republicans. Stop that. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/33 "2006-10-25T03:39:46Z")
So, to answer **Hentor’s** question, I went out and did research in conservative blogs. The only mention I’ve found of it so far is on a description of Sunday’s talk shows: > [@RedState.org](#): > > Bush said that he wasn’t going to “cut and run,” but that he would constantly adjust his strategy. Steph interjected that James Baker was looking for a middle ground between “cut and run and stay the course.” The President replied: “Listen, we’ve never been ‘stay the course,’ George.” The President said that he is for “completing the mission.” This, then, is his definition of the old “stay the course” phrase. They later criticize Kerry for “ignoring the President’s definition.” Thus, I’d think it’s fair to say that people who are ideologically aligned with the President either don’t think it’s relevant, or think that “stay the course” has always meant to him what he said on Sunday it meant. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/34 "2006-10-25T05:55:47Z")
[QUOTE=Biggirl] And don’t even think of asking me where I got the idea that Tony Snow was English. Because I’d just lie, too embarrassed to admit I confused him with Tony Blair. [/QUOTE] Ever notice how practically every guy named Tony is either British or Italian? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/35 "2006-10-25T10:57:12Z")
[QUOTE=Leaper] They later criticize Kerry for “ignoring the President’s definition.” Thus, I’d think it’s fair to say that people who are ideologically aligned with the President either don’t think it’s relevant, or think that “stay the course” has always meant to him what he said on Sunday it meant. [/QUOTE] Thanks for doing that. I guess Iif I had given it a moment’s thought, I would have predicted just that. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/36 "2006-10-25T23:49:19Z")
He also said we are still winning the war in Iraq. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/37 "2006-10-26T01:15:09Z")
After much thought, with all this silly " stay the course" stuff I think the President is most sensibly leading the vote to the next president, dear forlorn smartie Brother Jeb: “The Mister JEd theme song is arguably the best known work of the great composing duo of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. The two are also responsible for such tunes as Silver Bells, Que Sera Sera, and the Bonanza theme.” Who could argue with that… A horse is a horse of course, of course and no one can talk to horse, of course. That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mister Jed. Go right to the source and ask the horse, he’ll give you the answer that you’ll endorse; He’s always on a steady course. Talk to Mister Jed! People yakkity yak a streak and waste your time o’ day. But MisterJEd will never speak unless he has something to say! A horse is a horse, of course, of course and this one’ll talk 'til his voice is hoarse. You never heard of a talking horse? Well listen to this, I am MisterJEd! ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/38 "2006-10-26T01:55:52Z")
Dear gracious Yikes, I neglected to put blanket apologies all around. Sorry. What a mess. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/39 "2006-10-26T03:06:35Z")
> [@](#): > > 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." > > ``` Source: [Crooks and Liars](http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/10/25/countdown-making-adjustments-to-the-language-of-making-adjustments/#more-11336) quoting Keith Olbermann. Must be the New Math. ---
**Author:** ![Dob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Dob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dob)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/40 "2006-10-27T14:47:59Z")
Bush and the RNC are handing the Dem’s this election. How can you not use this obvious turnaround, and dare I say Bush “admitting a mistake”, into victories on Nov 7? I want to hope, I do… but I just know that somehow, someway, we are going to blow this and in the end probably lose a few seats! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475.md?page=3)