When the lies come home to roost

Bush and Cheney continue the happy talk on the cluster fuck knows as Iraq but there are fewer and fewer buyers. Over the weekend conservative George Will said Iraq is not working and the Bush administration should cut the bullshit. Earlier I reported on former Iraq war supporter Johann Hari's better late than never mea culpa and over at Running Scared Jazz has the story of another pro war conservative who was no longer buying the White House spin. Well today former Bush shill Jim VandeHei notes that the Old Forecasts Come Back to Haunt Bush.

Three years of upbeat White House assessments about Iraq that turned out to be premature, incomplete or plain wrong are complicating President Bush's efforts to restore public faith in the military operation and his presidency, according to pollsters and Republican lawmakers and strategists.

The last two weeks have provided a snapshot of White House optimism that skeptics contend is at odds with the facts on the ground in Iraq.

Vice President Cheney said Sunday that his 10-month-old claim that the insurgency was in its "last throes" was "basically accurate" and reflects reality. Since Cheney's original comment, on at least 70 days there have been violent attacks that in each instance killed more than 10 people. Two weeks ago, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the United States is making "very, very good progress" -- less than 48 hours before the U.S ambassador warned of a possible civil war breaking out. And Bush yesterday said his optimism flows in part from success in Tal Afar, a city in northern Iraq, though local residents there said sectarian violence is spreading.

Mr VandeHei has finally figured out that the administration has been lying about Iraq from day one. According to the polls 60% plus of the American people have also figured it out. That is to say Bush's credibility is approaching zero. Can Bush reclaim that credibility? VandeHei thinks it's unlikely. But fear not, the moronic Fred Barnes has a plan; rearrange the deck chairs on the sinking ship of state.