Taling Points Memo contributor Steve Benen points out yet another claim of Bush that requires only “looking it up” to see how Bush rewrites history to cover up his unwillingness to listen to anyone outside his circle. 

In November, after the election, CentCom commander Gen. John Abizaid rejected the notion of a so-called surge, saying that he “met with every divisional commander, Gen. Casey, the core commander, Gen. Dempsey” and asked them if bringing “in more American troops now, [would] add considerably to our ability to achieve success in Iraq and they all said, ‘No.'”

Indeed, Bush fired Gen. Casey, in large part because he neglected to tell the president what he wanted to hear.

And yet, here we are, just a few months later, watching Bush brag about how his policy followed the advice of the generals — which is “what you want your President doing.” Please.

If Bush wants to reject the advice of top military leaders, that’s his prerogative; he is regrettably the Commander in Chief. But he really needs to drop this I-listened-to-our-military schtick

A perfect example of “let’s don’t and say we did”,  which is precisely what Bush has been about for 6 and a half years.  If , they figure,  they simply claim to have done something,  then ,  following their normal pattern of unquestioning,  the media has “learned” not to question.  We all know that Fox does this as normal operating procedure,  but the rest of the non-indoctrinated media have built this atmosphere.  They “hide” their dissenters “behind the news” in their “other programming”.  

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: June 17, 2007 – June 23, 2007