There again. People keep saying it and I always wonder what they mean. (From Editor & Publisher, via Eschaton.)

It's important that the Iraqi leaders continue to move forward and form a unity government that is based on strong leadership and represents -- that represents all Iraqis.

And that's -- and we are continuing to keep our focus on the strategy for victory that the President has outlined.

"Move forward" where? Whither? Which Iraqi leaders are going where? Where have they been up until now? What distance, in leagues, would you estimate that they have advanced over the past four months? Can they keep up the blistering pace during the fierce hamsin? How about if they just sat still for a bit? Or how about if they moved in a mysterious way, that sometimes performs wonders. It reminds me of the old joke about Franco: as he lay dying, he could hear a hubbub outside the palace, so he asked an aide what the noise was. "It's the people, Generalissimo. They've come to bid you farewell." "Oh?" replied Franco. "Where are they going?"

And what does "keep our focus on" really mean? Does it mean more than "think about it"? "Mull over it"? "Brood upon it"?

It may be a bit unfair to subject these spoken comments by Press Secretary Scott McClellan to such examination, but he had at least a few hours to read the Kerry piece and come up with suitable pooh-poohing, and this is the best he can do? It sounds like the awful boring stuff people say when they've nothing to say. In fact, it sounds like droney commie speak: "As we have promulgated at the Umpteenth Party Congress ... cadres will continue to preconise ... yak yak yak."

The man is tired, obviously.