Tony Snow sweated, stammered, and looked more uncomfortable today than I have ever seen him. But I think he won big in reframing the argument at hand. In seeming desperation he asked "what is so important about having a transcript?"
But they know there will be a transcript. What they are doing, successfully, is keeping the argument from engaging Rove's worst case scenario: having Harriet and Karl appear on camera. That, as planned, is not even part of the discussion...
http://movies.crooksandliars.com/...
Although Ed Henry did a fine job on pressing Snow about the point he was willing to defend--transcripts--as usual, Rove did a great job of keeping himself and (if I may be so presumptious) the ULTRA camera-unfriendly Harriet Miers OFF CAMERA.
The Klieg lights! The Klieg lights! They make explaining illegal behavior impossible!
No, contrary to the Prez's strangely stage manager-ish explanation, Klieg lights simply make it all the harder for Rove to do what he does best--talk his way out of shit.
I mean, anyone can rig an election. It takes a special kind of man to be able to appear MULTIPLE TIMES in front of Fitzpatrick and emerge indictment-free. Why? Because the man has a gift for sophistry.
We'll get our transcripts, yes. But they will be jam-packed with that Rovian blend of hyperbole, deflection, and lies that will make them open to partisan interpretation. Again, Rove gets away clean.
You don't get that effect from having them appear on camera...it's so much more outrageous to see someone lie to your face than it is to see them lie on paper. But that's a moot point since Tony Snow pulled the wool over everybody's eyes today.