Bush's Lie

The obvious follow up question for the White House: When else is lying justified? In times of war, for instance, the commander in chief actually has a responsibility not to divulge secrets that would aid the enemy. But how widely does Bush envision that responsibility? Does it extend to lying, rather than just being discreet? What assurance can Bush give that he's not lying about all sorts of other things?

This is not an incident in a vacuum.

Internet Reaction

Blogger Steve Benen writes: "In the grand scheme of things, examples of Bush's mendacity are so common and disturbing, lying about replacing his Treasury Secretary probably doesn't rank very high. It is, however, an interesting example of the White House spinning a fairly obvious falsehood."

The liberal Think Progress blog has a video clip of the exchange. You can see Bush rubbing his mouth as Keil asks his question. Is that a tell? It's also at 26:44 in the official White House video .

Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Dick Polman headlines his blog post on the subject: "Maybe it all depends on what the definitions of 'no' and 'leaving' and 'resignation' are."

John Dickerson writes in Slate that Bush "could have simply said yes," but instead "answered in a way that was not--to use a White House term--reality-based. . . .

"We allow presidents a measure of obfuscation because in public they must give nuanced answers in some sensitive areas like national security. On personnel matters like this one, the public's right to know is not done grave harm when a president is less than candid. . . .

"In this case, though, the president jumped over the menu of bland dodges available to him and picked the least truthful statement short of 'Secretary Snow is staying.'"

Dickerson writes: "When a person hears a question, dissects it, and fashions an answer on the spot that deceives, it suggests a lot of practice and comfort with fibbing. This is a problem area for Bush: Fifty-six percent of the country does not find him trustworthy, according to recent polls .

But Dickerson, formerly a White House correspondent for Time, can't quite bring himself to call it a lie: "A hat is artful. A toupee is a lie. Bush's answer was toupee-like. Even if it was technically true that Bush had not talked to Snow about 'resignation,' the president knew his confected statement was deceptive. I'm reluctant to call it a lie, but the president abused our trust."

About That Hire

Richard Wolffe and Holly Bailey write for Newsweek that "there is one area where Bush has regained some momentum in his troubled second term: his hiring practices."

Mike Allen writes for Time: "Tuesday's announcement that Goldman Sachs chairman Henry Paulson, who holds the world's most prestigious investment banking job, had agreed to be nominated for Treasury Secretary was a thrilling coup for a White House that has had little cause for rejoicing lately. . . .