Political Buzzword Watch: "Moving the Goalposts"

Well it seems the new online political catchphrase of the week is "Moving the goalposts." A pretty nice analogy once, but I'm getting a bit sick of it. Check out this story from conservative Powerline regarding SCOTUS confirmation:

Moving the Goalposts

That's what the Democrats are trying to do, on several fronts, in connection with President Bush's Supreme Court nominations...

Or this cartoon from Wa Po's liberal Tom Toles based on the potenial firing of Rove:




From the liberal News Hounds (again concerning Rove):

Alan Colmes introduced the discussion by playing a clip of President Bush saying on Monday that he would fire anyone who broke the law by disclosing CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity to reporters. Colmes followed that by two earlier clips of Bush saying he would fire anyone involved in the leak. Then he asked Bennett why the administration keeps moving the goalpost.

It's even entered into the world of fishing news!

Although O'Brien's prize would be the fish of a lifetime for any fan of Salvelinus fontinalis, the state standard for brookies has been eclipsed frequently because the Department of Environmental Conservation keeps moving the goal post.

For 46 years, from 1945 until 1991, the DEC recognized an 8-pound, 8-ounce leviathon from Sullivan County's Punchbowl Pond as the state's biggest brookie. That one was retired from the record book because there was no proof it existed.

Help fight this senseless abuse of an unimaginative metaphor! Keep your goal posts firmly in place!