The "Mission Accomplished" five years ago...WASN'T???

The big headline on Yahoo! at this moment is
White House admits fault on 'Mission Accomplished' banner
Well, no they haven't. According to the AP, they admitted they paid a price. They admitted they looked like assholes for flying a banner that "should have been much more specific" since the PR department (sorry, the press secretary) says it referred only to the end of the 10 month mission of the USS Abraham Lincoln. They regret that their stories weren't consistent when they first claimed that the White House didn't have anything to do with the banner when in reality the White House had it made by a private vendor. (That one COULD have been innocent...happens at companies I've worked for, but we looked like assholes, too.) That may be backstory...the White House may not have actually said anything about that recent. They don't admit to being a little premature in saying THAT DAY (3 or 4 weeks into a 5 year war) that "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended."

Damn it, I've yet to hear ANYONE stand up and say "Yes, it was my idea for him to wear that codpiece inside that ridiculous flight suit. A president has to look like he has balls, even when he doesn't. I made a judgment call and I was wrong. I hope the American people and the world at large can forgive me."

Update: The funniest part about that previous paragraph? Two people asked me what a codpiece is. However, Robert nailed the true nature of the fashion faux pas. "I think it was more like a wonderbra than a true codpiece. Lift and push forward. Although, it could just be his extra pair of wool socks his mother packed for him."

So, in conclusion, they admit "fault" for not being more specific? And for paying the price? I honestly don't know what to say to that. Thank goodness this is being documented for posterity.

Anyway, maybe this AP story just sucks. Perhaps the reporting is bad and the copyeditors worse. I expect better out of the AP, and I'm continually disappointed (says the former PM of some SERIOUS rockstar copyeditors). I just took a look around...Reuters, CNN, BBC. Well, they say the Fed cut interest rates today. Apparently they think that Bush should jam is non-apologetic apology.