# 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:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/41 "2006-10-27T16:11:00Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster] Must be the New Math. [/QUOTE] At least it’s not fuzzy, unlike that used by that paragon of innaccuracy, Al Gore. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/42 "2006-10-27T19:20:29Z")
Do you suppose Snow actually thinks Bush is comparable to someone who can play “40 games of chess at once”? Mary Matalin said something similar once about his being a “Renaissance kind of guy” who knows something about any topic being discussed. Where do they get this from? Of all the things the most loyal Bush supporter might say about their guy, don’t you think claiming he’s a super-genius is a bit risky? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/43 "2006-10-27T21:54:40Z")
[QUOTE=a35362] Do you suppose Snow actually thinks Bush is comparable to someone who can play “40 games of chess at once”? [/QUOTE] This isn’t the first tme Tony’s used the ‘Bush as chess maven’ imagery: [Tony, July 13, 2006](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2006/07/13/BL2006071300903_pf.html) > [@](#): > > “Although he is often portrayed as a bit of a bull in a china shop, White House spokesman Tony Snow credited Bush with ' **a chess player’s ability to think several moves ahead’ in his dealings with foreign leaders**.” [Tony, Oct 15, 2006](http://www.soapblox.net/chicago/showDiary.do;jsessionid=6A7013A983F8C8C00A1FA7B231E3DDED?diaryId=2325) > [@](#): > > “He’s not a guy who sits around thinking: What’s going to be my legacy?” Snow said. “People call him a poker player, but it’s more like a chess player.” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/44 "2006-10-27T22:06:57Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] At least it’s not fuzzy, unlike that used by that paragon of innaccuracy, Al Gore. [/QUOTE] Yeah, ok. So if we were to assign a quality of weight to their statements, and pile them up on a scale…Gore’s misstatements and inaccuracys would significantly outweigh Bush’s in both inaccuracy and consequence? Oh, wait! Irony, right? Sarcasm? Must be it, nobody in their right mind would posit such a ludicrous position. Sorry, misunderstood. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/45 "2006-10-27T23:35:48Z")
I gotta admit, if you were a grandmaster chess champion trying to hide your _uber_elite chess skills, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better guise than that of GWB. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/46 "2006-10-28T00:38:27Z")
Hell, even the Pretend Honeymoon might be over: [Iraq’s al-Maliki sharply delineates differences with U.S. leadership](http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/world/15857278.htm) > [@](#): > > BAGHDAD, Iraq - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki continued his open dispute with American officials Thursday, blaming the United States-led coalition for Iraq’s chaos and faulting its military strategy. > > His sharp comments, in an interview with Reuters, came as the White House and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld sought to play down the idea of a growing rift between the United States and the Iraq government. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/47 "2006-10-28T01:32:16Z")
Nope. Kissed and made up today. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475/48 "2006-10-28T04:46:34Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] You guys need to cut Bush some slack. I believe he never did say “stay the course”, we simply misheard him. Here are some phrases that he probably actually said that we misheard: spay the horse pay the whores Ray the Norse may divorce may the force I’m sure that every time we thought he said “stay the course” he really said something else as in the list above. And even if he didn’t, 9/11 changed everything! [/QUOTE] I thought the quote was ‘We’re not going to stay a dead course in midstream.’ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stay-the-course/377475.md?page=2)