On the Subject of Leaks, a Talkative President Runs Dry

"You're getting into questions about an ongoing legal proceeding," the spokesman warned.

"No, it's a timing question," the reporter corrected.

"We are not going to comment on it while it's ongoing," McClellan persisted.

"I'm not asking about the investigation," Plante pointed out.

"We're not going to do anything that would jeopardize an ongoing matter," came the inevitable reply.

As the questioning continued, McClellan offered that he would like nothing more than to dish about the leak case. "It's not a question of whether or not we would like to talk more about it," he pleaded.

The silence on the leaks is quite at odds with the president's increasingly garrulous public personality. His Iraq speeches are growing more frequent, and more confessional. "We have learned from our mistakes," he confided to the SAIS crowd, which answered each of his usual applause lines with silence.

Students signed and circulated an anti-Bush petition before the event, but the president, his jacket open, stepping away from the lectern, retained good cheer even punting difficult questions.

"I don't mean to be dodging the question, although it's kind of convenient in this case," he said when referring to the Pentagon a question about Iraq military contractors.

"I get protested all the time," he said cheerfully when asked about his "polarizing" presidency.

Asked about prostitution and human trafficking, he offered: "I will be glad to call Condi."

When a student rose and said he was studying "international energy policy," Bush, anticipating an energy question, interjected: "Oh, good!"

But it was not good. The student asked about Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald's filing claiming "evidence of a concerted effort by the White House to punish Joseph Wilson."

The president hitched up his suit pants by the belt. He took a sip of water. He stepped away from the podium, then leaned on it with his left elbow.

He put his fingers to his heart when he spoke about declassifying the NIE. "I thought it was important for people to get a better sense for why I was saying what I was saying," he reasoned.

That was preceded and followed by the no comment. "You're just going to have to let Mr. Fitzgerald complete his case," Bush said.

By that standard, Bush may not have to comment until sometime after 2008.