cognitive dissonance

After spending the last several years answering any questions about the number of troops in Iraq by saying he lets the generals decide how many troops they need, Bush has suddenly become a military genius.

Pre-military genius Bush:

"General Casey will make the decisions as to how many troops we have there," Bush said, adding: "He'll decide how best to achieve victory and the troop levels necessary to do so. I've spent a lot of time talking to him about troop levels. And I've told him this: I said, 'You decide, General.' "

The new military genius Bush, aka The Decider:

By yesterday, however, Bush indicated that he will not necessarily let military leaders decide, ducking a question about whether he would overrule them. "The opinion of my commanders is very important," he said. "They are bright, capable, smart people whose opinion matters to me a lot." He added: "I agree with them that there's got to be a specific mission that can be accomplished with the addition of more troops before I agree on that strategy."

A senior aide said later that Bush would not let the military decide the matter. "He's never left the decision to commanders," said the aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so Bush's comments would be the only ones on the record.

Ever notice how senior aides nearly always have to give anonymous interviews to the press afterwards to make it clear exactly what the hell Bush is actually saying? I wish I could do that, anytime I show up somewhere drunk and incoherent and act like a total jackass some guy in a suite would come out afterwards and say whatever I would have said if I wasn't a drunken jackass.