Bush: Blair's No Poodle

"So whose idea was this? Speak up.

"LEAH ANTHONY LIBRESCO, PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLAR: Well, I think what happened was we were all talking about the opportunity to meet the president, someone who answers to us, the American people. And we didn't know what we should do or what we should say, but everyone wanted to seize the opportunity. And when we talked, we really wanted to talk about the issue of torture, because human rights and human dignity is a nonpartisan issue, and it was something we all really felt strongly, and we wanted to take the opportunity to be heard."

Apparently Oye's mother was a presidential scholar in 1968 and regretted not having something to Lyndon Johnson about the Vietnam War.

"OYE: Absolutely. And that's something that weighed heavy on my mind. And I wanted to think about how we would feel 40 years from now if we had the opportunity to speak -- and also the privilege to speak to the president of the United States and to not use that privilege in order to make a difference.

"ROBERTS: So, Colin, what happened when you gave the president the letter?

"COLIN MCSWIGGEN, PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLAR: Well, the one who originally handed the letter to the president was, of course, Mari. She -- we were lined up for a photo-op, and he came right before the photo and started speaking to us.

"He -- we had a very casual discussion. He said it's important to treat others as you wish to be treated. And he said that we really need to think about the choices that we make in our lives.

"And as he lined up to take the photo with us, Mari handed him the note and said, 'Mr. President, some of us have made a choice, and we want you to have this.' . . . After the photo he asked if he should read the note. And Mari said, 'Well, that's up to you.'

"But he read it right there, and had a very casual discussion with him about it. Right there in front of the White House lawn. . . . And his response was, 'We agree. Americans do not use torture.'"

Oye was apparently not satisfied with the response: "[W]e brought up some very specific points in the letter about the treatment of detainees, even those designated as enemy combatants. And we strongly believe that all of these detainees should be treated according to the principles of the Geneva Convention. So this was a very specific point.

"We asked him to remove -- I asked him to remove the signing statement attached to the anti-torture bill which would have allowed presidential power to make exemptions to the ban on torture."

Poll Watch

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CNN reports: "A new low of 30 percent of Americans say they support the U.S. war in Iraq and, for the first time, most Americans say they don't believe it is morally justified, a poll released Tuesday said. . . .