"I stand behind what I've observed and many others have observed too: Bush has deliberately implied a connection between Saddam Hussein and the September 11th attacks. That is what's important, not the recent backpedaling to tenuous hints of a possible generalized connection in the indefinite past between Iraq and Al Qaeda."

You are merely repeating what the liberal press has repeatively errorously said. Bush has never said there is any evidence of involvement in the Saddam regime and the terrorist attttack of 911. There is a connection in the sense that there was a potential threat of Saddam's regime working with terrorists. And these terrorists given aid by Saddam regime could be a serious threat (particularly if terrorist are given chemical or biological weapons [or material for a dirty bomb]). Saddam wasn't much of conventional threat to the US or countries in region. His conventional forces were degraded by sanctions and No Fly Zones.

"The admission that there is no Iraq-9/11 connection and the renewed emphasis on the weak indications of the general connection are the latest spin strategy; the two issues are intimately related."

It wasn't an admission, it was a re-iteration. Maybe you and others finally heard what he said- that or you simply want to revise history.
[Btw it's also the case the Bush administeration isn't fundementally changing it's direction in regards to UN involvement in Iraq.]

"I keep harping on the point because I don't intend to let them distract attention from the deception with sleight-of-hand rhetoric. That there may or may not have been some past connection does not excuse Bush's deliberate deception."

I assure you that Bush has not been deceiving, but rather it's a case of self deception. I choice you made by believing in the ranting of Lefty media. You knew that those sources were almost always wrong, but you chose to accept them as reliable sources.

"Further, the attempt to make an Iraq-9/11 connection takes place against the broader backdrop of Bush's relentlessly cynical (or cynically relentless) tactic of exploiting 9/11 for political gain in every aspect of his political life. See, for example, Bush Cites 9/11 On All Manner Of Questions in the WashPost. This is despicable, and I won't keep quiet about it. You can expect me to continue to call you on it every time you try to distract attention away from Bush's deceptions and his exploitation of national tragedy. "

Whatever.