NY Times falsely reported Lieberman never "utter[ed] the words 'stay the course' "
In an October 24 New York Times article, reporters Jennifer Medina and Anne E. Kornblut wrote of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman's (CT) stated positions on the Iraq war: "Never, in the statements reviewed, did Mr. Lieberman utter the words 'stay the course.' " In fact, Lieberman has uttered those exact words about Iraq several times.
At a January 4, 2004, Democratic presidential debate in Des Moines, Iowa, Lieberman said:
LIEBERMAN: First, let me say that the capture of -- overthrow and then capture of Saddam Hussein has made America safer and made the world safer. It has not ended all of our problems or all the threats to our security, but a president has to deal with more than one threat at a time.
The Middle East is directly related, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict directly related. We have to stay the course in Iraq now and continue to build a stable, modernizing, democratizing country there.
If we do that, we will not only have won a victory in the war on terrorism because we will have shown the Arab world what happens as a result of American intervention, that you live better, freer lives, but we will have sent the message to all the other terrorists and tin horn dictators there, like Gadhafi and even like the Iranians, who are beginning to cooperate, that we mean business.
Appearing on the January 11, 2004, broadcast of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, Lieberman said:
LIEBERMAN: I worry more about the Bush administration's one-sided foreign policy that forced us to go to war against Saddam almost alone and their total lack of preparations for what to do after we overthrew Saddam, which is part of the reason that we've had such chaos for the last several months there.
We can do better. I will do better. I will make it international. I will stay the course, and I'll create a stable, democratizing, modernizing Iraq, which would be a tremendous step forward in the Middle East and the Islamic world and in our war against terrorism.
The Hartford Courant reported on April 15, 2004:
"I thought the president gave the strongest case that I can remember him giving about why we went in and why we have to stay the course," Lieberman said, adding, "We've got to adopt a strategy of success. A defeat will create chaos in Iraq, chaos in the Middle East, and will embolden the terrorists in a way that will endanger our future and our children's future."
The April 26, 2004, edition of National Journal's The Hotline noted that Lieberman said "stay the course" in Iraq on that day's edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:
LIEBERMAN: This morning, I'm making a speech here in Washington at which I'm saying: At a time like this, in a lot of other countries, they would form a unity government. That's not our tradition or our practice, but we've got to find a way not to stifle debate, but to stop the partisan politics around the war and get together because today, almost everybody -- President Bush, Senator [John] Kerry [D-MA], the rest of us -- have the same goal in Iraq. We want to not only stay the course; we want to achieve victory.
On the July 28, 2004, edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, Lieberman said:
ALAN COLMES (co-host): So, how can John Kerry do any better?
LIEBERMAN: Well, let's put it this way. What I'm most happy about is that he said that he will stay the course in Iraq until we finish the job, and the Iraqis are in control of their own destiny.
On the November 29, 2005, edition of CNN's American Morning, Lieberman said:
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN (co-host): So when you hear the president say, "stay the course, stay the course," which he has said a lot over the last several years, do you agree or disagree?
LIEBERMAN: Well, I agree to the extent that we have to stay the course of the policy we chose in overthrowing Saddam and helping the Iraqi people become free, which will really make us a lot more secure and set the terrorists back. But not to stay the same policy that we followed after Saddam was overthrown, because it didn't work.
We've changed it. We're now embedding American forces and Iraqi forces. We're creating provincial reconstruction teams in every province in Iraq, and it's beginning to work. And it's why the Iraqi people, ironically, by polling I saw while I was there, are quite optimistic about their future even as the American people, unfortunately, become more pessimistic about how we're doing in Iraq.
The authors of the Times article claimed to have conducted "[a] close examination of hundreds of Mr. Lieberman's statements on Iraq over the past five years." All the examples above were found using a simple Nexis search for "Lieberman and 'stay the course.' "
Notably, their colleague at the Times, Adam Nagourney, recently described Lieberman as someone who says "stay the course." From the August 9 broadcast of the Public Broadcasting Service's The Charlie Rose Show:
NAGOURNEY: No, I don't think the Democratic Party is deeply divided, no, no. I think it's not as divided as it has been. You have a general consensus that we need to figure out a way to end this war and get out of it. You don't have -- I don't think you have anyone, except for Lieberman, who says, "rah-rah-rah, stay the course."
From the October 24 Times article:
While the sample could not be completely comprehensive, it was exhaustive, covering more than 100 television and radio interviews; scores of newspaper and op-ed articles; speeches and debates from the Senate floor, the current campaign and Mr. Lieberman's presidential bid; and news releases.
Never, in the statements reviewed, did Mr. Lieberman utter the words "stay the course." He has his own catch phrases, however, describing Iraq as a "just war" or "just cause" more than a dozen times; often saying Mr. Hussein is "not just a thorn in our side" but "a threat to our lives;" and repeatedly calling for a Marshall Plan for the Muslim world.
Used to be the standard for the GOP and its allies now its like they found out saying it causes cancer. I never said it, he never said it. No one ever said stay the course except those hippy liberal types. Welcome to Amnesia World where yesterday never happened
...I think it was the Clintons. Yeah, they are the ones who started 'stay the course'.
By the DNC. They should have a commercial running in every state, showing Bush saying, "We were never about stay the course", followed by a montage of Bush and his comrades saying "Stay the Course". Kieth Olberman has done it, and I imagine the Daily Show either has done it or will. Why won't the DNC get off the pot and take the fight to these fascists?
The Daily Show did a while ago, shortly after Ken Mehlman was on Meet The Press (I think). I believe they showed clips of him repeatedly pushing "adapt to win", then a montage of administration officials saying "stay the course".
No, what they are trying to do now is to paint their "stay the course" phrasing as something that we didn't understand. We don't understand what they meant by it when they said it. What they meant was victory. Staying the course means winning, and changing tactics mid stream, not just going about doing the same thing day after day.
Don't you guys get it?
(In case you didn't notice, this was sarcasm, sometimes it doesn't translate well to the written word is all)
This blatantly Orwellian attempt to rewrite extremely recent history is absolutely amazing. The White House and media hacks drill the "STAY THE COURSE" slogan into public consciousness for three stinking years and now they expect US all to forget their main descriptive catch-phrase for their lame Iraq War strategery?!! They think everyone is Forrest Gump and Gomer Pyle? The American public will see right through this and lose even more respect for Republican leadership and Joe Leiberman.
For the troops' sake, I welcome a change from the "STAY THE COURSE" route over the cliff, but to deny that they were conveying this message practically yesterday is outright lying to the public. What has Bush ever offered but "STAY THE COURSE"? What a bunch of hooey. The concerted effort to catapult this hooey is just as bad as the hooey itself. Shame on those "journalists".
It does show their total contempt for the US public. They really do think they can propagandize the entire world into believing their bs. Look at the way they think they can put together a phony FOX-type arab "news" channel, al-Hurra, to convince the arab people that the US Crusaders are not there to kill moslems for oil and Israel. They really do think everyone is that stupid.
a reporter asked tony snow if the reason people had the impression that bush's policy was stay the course was because bush had used those exact words, snow's answer was "no".
When the Republicans start setting time tables for withdrawal from Iraq (they have started talking about it), are they going to claim they never characterized Democrats as cut n run defeat-o-crats? Damn straight they will. Are people going to believe them? Probably 25-33% percent of the people won't even bat an eye of disbelief.
I'm with NERZOG on this. The DNC needs to wake the F__K up and get to work on exposing these fascist propagandists.
Jennifer Medina and Anne E. Kornblut wrote of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman's (CT) stated positions on the Iraq war: "Never, in the statements reviewed, did Mr. Lieberman utter the words 'stay the course.' "
Notice the disclaimer "in the statements reviewed". How many Lieberman statements did they review? Never mind because despite the week-long celebration around here after Lamont's primary victory the party for him is over (based on the current polls). MMFA should have Lieberman to kick around for another six years.
>>>"Notice the disclaimer "in the statements reviewed"."<<<
Unbelievable as it may seem, Medina and Kornblut did not see fit to review Lieberman's words at the 2004 Presidential Debate, where he said, "We have to stay the course in Iraq now."
There's just no excuse for that.
By the way, Media Matters, contrary to what you state, is not and has not been, "kicking" Lieberman around.
Dave we agree on this one. There is no excuse for the reporters to be wrong about this. I was just noting the weasel words for the record. And I concede your point that MMFA has not been kicking Lieberman around, I was really referring to the posters that think Lieberman is nothing but a Bush Lackey, and those people spoke loud and clear around the primary.
a bush lackey.
He's not merely a Bush lackey, he's every conservative's favorite Democrat; he's also a self-serving politician with an enormous sense of entitlement who loves spitting on his fellow party members and former allies.
Lieberman will flop on the Democrats too...making them need 7 winners to take the Senate.
Read the article, because it is anything but favorable to Lieberman (e.g., The headline is about Lieberman's shifting position, and the article suggest it shifts with the political wind):
The full quote in context is:
"Never, in the statements reviewed, did Mr. Lieberman utter the words “stay the course.” He has his own catch phrases, however, describing Iraq as a “just war” or “just cause” more than a dozen times; often saying Mr. Hussein is “not just a thorn in our side” but “a threat to our lives;” and repeatedly calling for a Marshall Plan for the Muslim world.
“We are in a world war,” he said, in a typical formulation . .. ."
and . . .
"Such criticisms all but disappeared after the 2004 presidential election, and Mr. Lieberman later defended the war, saying that it was necessary to stay in Iraq because the world was safer without Mr. Hussein in power. After President Bush’s 2005 State of the Union address, Mr. Lieberman called the president’s comments about the elections in Iraq “stirring.”
“The president spoke about the importance of completing our mission in Iraq, and I couldn’t agree more,” Mr. Lieberman said in a statement."
The article is also specific that it only conducted a limited review of Leiberman's statements.
>>>"The article is also specific that it only conducted a limited review of Leiberman's statements."<<<
A search of the Times article reveals NO use of the words, "limited review" whatsoever.
In fact, the article clearly states (CAPS mine), "While the sample could not be completely comprehensive, IT WAS EXHAUSTIVE ... covering Mr. Lieberman's presidential bid..."
Unbelievably, the NY Times totally overlooked Lieberman's "stay the course" words at a 2004 presidential debate. Hardly what anyone could term "exhaustive" research...
Amusing use of the Times' "no use of the phrase."
My point is, this article is, taken in full, quite negative towards Lieberman and a boost for Lieberman's opponents. It found no use of the phrase "stay the course" -- and that was silly, given that the use was easy to find on Nexus -- but that was mentioned as part of the larger analysis which found that Lieberman, particularly in the last 2 years, has been very supportive of the Bush adminstration's conduct of the war, more likely to criticize Dems., and that his statements have shown suspicious flexibility -- they shift with circumstances.
ABsolutely, chase the NYT to get them to get this point straight. BUT -- If Lamont (and Schlesinger) supporters push the idea that this is a pro-Lieberman piece, they risk convincing people that it is one. It isn't, and that advantage shouldn't be tossed away chasing a side point.
His statements on Taxes and education. I did notice the disclaimer but since most reporters have Lexis Nexus as a resource I still find it hard to believe that they tried very hard..
here are some suggestions for a new catchphrase for the Republicans to use about Iraq, now that "Stay The Course" doesn't work:
"It's not your Father's Iraq" "Morning in Iraq" "What Happens in Iraq, Stays In Iraq" "We Didn't Really Mean It" "It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time" "Halliburton Thanks You" "The Green Zone Has Cable Now" "30,000? 650,000? Who's Counting?" "It's all Bill Clinton's Fault" "Saddam - Does He Deserve a Second Chance?"
Thank you and happy voting.
What was I thinking?
"What, was I thinking?"
It's a done deal. I don't want him; I don't want to be identified with his cuddling of the Bush Administration, and I'm quitting the Democratic Party. Let the DNC have him. Dodd finally broke with the party and did a TV spot to support Lamont but the rest of the support for the CT Democratic choice has been non existent. Do the Democrats really think that the people care which party is in control? The people care about getting what they need!