Left I on the News

Yesterday on the local FOX News channel, the D.C. reporter concluded her segment by saying something like, "And now President Bush is awaiting the upcoming report from Gen. Petraeus in order to decide on his strategy in Iraq." Aside from the fact that the report is reportedly being written in the White House, not by Gen. Petraeus, the fact is that George Bush has spent the last week (and more) giving speeches that make clear his decision was made long ago, and that the only possible "strategy change" he has in mind for the region is an escalation, not an end to the grossly misnamed "surge" (much less a withdrawal, even a partial one).

I thought this might be an isolated incident. An AP report today suggests instead that the lying about Bush and his impending "decision" is widespread:

In preparation for an expected decision next month on whether to prolong the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq, President Bush planned to visit the Pentagon on Friday to hear the views of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a Joint Chiefs spokesman said.

Oh please. What odds do you suppose you'd get in Las Vegas that that decision will be no? 10,000:1? Even at that, the house would be cleaning up, if they could get any suckers to take the bet. Maybe FOX and AP will bite.