Bush's Press Conference

A few lowlights from Bush's press conference today:

Q Mr. President, there's ambiguity in the statement that you have no recollection about the existence and destruction of the CIA interrogation tapes. Why can't you say yes or no about the tapes and their destruction? And regardless, do you think the destruction of the tapes was a responsible thing to do?

THE PRESIDENT: It sounds pretty clear to me when I say I have -- the  first recollection is when Mike Hayden briefed me. That's pretty clear. Secondly, I am confident that the preliminary inquiry conducted by the AG and the IG of the CIA, coupled with the oversight provided by the Congress, will end up enabling us all to find out what exactly happened. And therefore, over the course of these inquiries and oversight hearings, I'm going to reserve judgment until I find out the full facts.

Sounds like he's waiting to find out if the full facts show his, "first recollection," is a load of crap. Notice that the question is about him having, "no recollection," and Bush is very careful not to say the "no" word.

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, Bill, I mean, if your standard is -- if you're trying to judge the Iraqi parliament based upon our own Congress's ability to get bills done, is that what you're saying? I'd be a little careful. It took our Congress till the last minute to get things done. I mean, the legislative process is not all that smooth at times. And they've got a lot of work to do, don't get me wrong. I mean, I am not suggesting that we shouldn't as a government continue to press them.

Leaving aside Republican obstructionism, does he really want to compare our Congress to the Iraqi government?  To the best of my knowledge, nearly 4,000 soldiers haven't died trying to get our Congress to act.  

And Bush on what makes a good President:

THE PRESIDENT:  And secondly I would say, how do you intend to get advice  from people you surround yourself -- who are you going to surround yourself, and what process will you have in place to ensure that you get the unvarnished opinion of advisors?

Like Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, Alberto Gonzales...