There is a third alternative

In today's Washington Post Eugene Robinson says:

Okay, now they're just making stuff up. George W. Bush went on television Sunday and claimed that on Iraq war policy, "We've never been 'stay the course' " -- as if no record survived of all the times he has used those very words. Maybe he was trying to outdo Dick Cheney, who went on the radio last week and proclaimed that the beleaguered Iraqi government is doing "remarkably well."

Cheney's well-hidden sense of humor must be tremendously subtle. I can only assume that "remarkably well" was his version of the old joke about the man who falls off a 20-story building and, as he passes each floor on the way down, is heard to call out, "So far, so good!"

I'm fairly sure that the president and the vice president of the United States haven't completely lost touch with reality. I can't believe that Bush has forgotten making "stay the course" a Republican midterm election mantra, the counterpoint to the "cut and run" label he is trying to hang on the Democrats. And someone must have summoned the courage to tell Cheney that more than 85 American troops have been killed in Iraq so far in October, making it the deadliest month for U.S. forces in a year.

If Bush and Cheney were being sincere, then they're lying to themselves; if not, they're lying to the rest of us. My money is on the latter.

That may well be true - especially of Cheney. In fact, my money's on it. But with Bush, I'm not sure he is lying - well, he is about "stay the course", and it's the same stupid lie they keep coming out with: "I didn't say that" when they're on film saying it. That lie just boggles the mind.

But I'm not as sure as Robinson that Bush is in touch with reality, the bigger reality. He's very sheltered, doesn't read the papers or listen to anyone outside his little circle, and is frequently astonished when confronted with an opposing viewpoint. It's what happens when you define reality instead of observe it.

I think Bush may actually not be lying at all, most of the time. I think he may actually believe it.

And that's scarier than having a pathological liar as president as well as vice-president.