The president’s handlers this week have been telling some tall tales about the drama surrounding the campaign stop in Iraq:

Bush aides recounted with excitement last week the moment during the flight to Baghdad when they said a BA pilot thought he spotted the president’s blue and white Boeing 747 from his cockpit.

“Did I just see Air Force One?” the pilot radioed, according to the White House. [Presumably with a lilting Cockney accent, yes yes? ” ‘ello! ‘ow are ‘ou?” I’d throw in some rhyming slang, but it’d be over your loaf. (of bread… rhymes with head… Get it?!?! Fucking quaint, aren’t they?)]

There was a pause. Then came the response from Air Force One: “Gulfstream 5″ — a much smaller aircraft.

As one of Bush’s aides recounted, the BA pilot seemed to sense that he was in on a secret, and replied: “Oh.”

The exchange was one of the most suspenseful moments during Bush’s secret flight to Baghdad, according to the White House.

And then this:

British Airways said on Monday that none of its pilots made contact with President Bush’s plane during its secret flight to Baghdad, contradicting White House reports of a mid-air exchange that nearly prompted Bush to call off his trip.

They lie.
They constantly lie about shit that doesn’t even matter.
Then, when they’re caught, they say they didn’t say what they said. Nobody calls them on it… the press just shrugs and waits for the next scripted press conference.