Access for Sale

That didn't go over well.

"Q Do you not understand the difference between private companies and governments, sir?" (Not to mention that Web sites like this one do not collect any information nearly as private and personal as bank records -- or phone calls.)

"MR. SNOW: I understand. I do understand. But what I'm saying here is, what the public -- I'll tell you what, you ask the American public, do you want -- do you think you have a right to know the specific means and methods by which -- "

Snow also got really ticked off at Hearst columnist Helen Thomas, who was repeatedly interrupting him.

"MR. SNOW: Helen, will you stop heckling and let me conduct a press conference.

"Q -- argument.

"MR. SNOW: Well, no, I'm making an argument, and you're pestering the teacher."

Snow also repeatedly insisted that until Friday's stories, the very existence of the organization called Swift was hidden from terrorists, and he mocked reporters who suggested otherwise.

"MR. SNOW: Are you kidding? Are you talking about Swift? When did you know about Swift before? . . .

"Q Let me ask a follow up. Are you saying that the financial experts in the terrorist ranks would not know about an organization that works for 7,800 different financial institutions in 200 countries?

"MR. SNOW: I'm saying, yes. I think that a lot of people didn't know about the existence of Swift."

As it happens, I went to my local bank two weeks ago to wire some money to some ailing relatives in Europe, and guess what the form required? The bank's Swift ID. Some secret.

North Korea Policy Watch

David E. Sanger writes in the New York Times about the argument "that Mr. Bush, having gone into Iraq on bad intelligence about weapons that never existed, could be erring now in the other direction -- deliberately whistling past the warheads in Pyongyang, in hopes that the problem will solve itself."

Case in point: Former Defense Policy Board chairman Richard Perle , who writes in The Washington Post's Outlook section of Bush's "ignominious retreat" in dealing with North Korea.

He blames the secretary of state. "Condoleezza Rice has moved from the White House to Foggy Bottom, a mere mile or so away. What matters is not that she is further removed from the Oval Office; Rice's influence on the president is undiminished. It is, rather, that she is now in the midst of -- and increasingly represents -- a diplomatic establishment that is driven to accommodate its allies even when (or, it seems, especially when) such allies counsel the appeasement of our adversaries."

Is Perle's piece a sign of serious disaffection on the right? It could be. But you never know with Perle, who is not just a leading hawk but is also a poster-boy for conflict of interest (see for instance, this 2003 Post story by David S. Hilzenrath ).

Birthday Watch

Peter Baker writes in The Washington Post: "He talks about the March of Freedom around the world, but it's the March of Time at home that's on President Bush's mind lately. No matter how fast he pedals that mountain bike, no matter how much he towel-snaps foreign leaders, the Yale-by-way-of-Texas frat boy is facing the big 6-0 next week. . . .

"The approach of Bush's big day has been met with none of the hoopla that surrounded his predecessor's 50th birthday."

Return of the Doppelganger

Kasie Hunt writes for the Associated Press about last night's benefit for the Ford's Theatre, complete with a visit from Bush -- and Bush impersonator Steve Bridges, most recently seen at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.

"Abu Musab Zarqawi 'was an evildoer. He is now an evildider,' comic Steve Bridges said in a perfect Texas accent, referring to the recent death of the terror leader in Iraq."

Pool reporter Finlay Lewis of Copley News Services writes that Bridges also "claimed presidential progress in solving the immigration problem 'working with Vicente Fox and his news network.' "

Rove, Satan NOT Working Together

The editors of the St. Petersburg Times write: "It seems that in processing the syndicated column of satirist Andy Borowitz someone mistakenly labeled it to appear on the site as a straight news story. So it appeared online as a normal wire compilation. Headline: 'Satan, Rove plot GOP campaign strategy.' . . .

"Rove spoke to Online City Editor Kevin McGeever, and was exceptionally gracious. He thought it was funny and noted that he'd been accused of being Satan, but never actually working with Beelzebub. He wanted a copy of the online story for himself."

Poll Watch

Julie Mason writes in the Houston Chronicle: "White House officials hoping for a bounce in the polls from the killing of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and President Bush's surprise trip to Baghdad are having to make do with a flat line. . . .

" 'In the stock market they call it a "dead cat bounce," ' said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University. 'I think there is a sense that Bush has had a good couple of weeks after a long, difficult period, but I do not think he recovers into the 40s and stays there.' "

Mason adds: "To keep Bush from sliding further in the polls, the White House is keeping him briskly scheduled -- no golf, limited time in Crawford and no photos of the weekly bike ride."