Or the meaning of 'standing up.' Or, ummmm, 'down.' Or ...
At the daily press briefing Monday, WH spokes-tool Tony Snow was asked "are we winning?”
“We're making progress,” he replied. “I don't know. How do you define ‘winning’?
Later...
Q: So they are standing up, but we're not standing down. So is that principle no longer operable?
SNOW: Well, let's see, they stand up, and also, in standing up, you quell the violence and you also deal with some of the root causes of the difficulties.
Q: That's the proposition that the White House put out there, that as they stood up, violence would come down, and we'd stand down.
SNOW: As part of our constant adjustment, let me just add that apparently, the terrorists have also decided not to stand down. They've got to stand down.
Q: Right, so that's my question. So is "stand up, stand down" no longer the principle, or --
SNOW: Well, it depends on how you -- how you want to cast it. It seems to me that we're playing -- this is kind of a fun verbal game, but --
Q: No, but that's what the President said, stand up/stand down.
SNOW: But, yes --
Q: We're standing up --
SNOW: Well, you know, then you get into, what does he mean by, "stand up," and "stand up" means you have the ability to assert effective control within Iraq so that you have peaceful, secure neighborhoods. We're not there yet.
SNOW: Well, let's see, they stand up, and also, in standing up, you quell the violence and you also deal with some of the root causes of the difficulties.
Q: That's the proposition that the White House put out there, that as they stood up, violence would come down, and we'd stand down.
SNOW: As part of our constant adjustment, let me just add that apparently, the terrorists have also decided not to stand down. They've got to stand down.
Q: Right, so that's my question. So is "stand up, stand down" no longer the principle, or --
SNOW: Well, it depends on how you -- how you want to cast it. It seems to me that we're playing -- this is kind of a fun verbal game, but --
Q: No, but that's what the President said, stand up/stand down.
SNOW: But, yes --
Q: We're standing up --
SNOW: Well, you know, then you get into, what does he mean by, "stand up," and "stand up" means you have the ability to assert effective control within Iraq so that you have peaceful, secure neighborhoods. We're not there yet.
Why does Tony Snow hate America?
A comma to Awol McChicken, a fun verbal game to his press secretary, an exercise in manly bonding to Mr "Five Student Deferments"... and a face-to-face-visit with the Almighty for almost 3000 of our troops and close to 800,000 Iraqis. Cool.
- m
"Are we winning yet?!?!?!?!"
*****
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