A Defining Moment for Congress

"MR. SNOW: That is correct.

"Q What did he authorize?

"MR. SNOW: Can't tell you.

"Q Why can't you say that, given that the president wants a national debate about what's permissible?

"MR. SNOW: Because there are also classifications. I think if you listen to what the president said last week, you have a conversation that's permissible -- you have a conversation about what's permissible and a lot of that is classified, and for a very good reason. . . .

"Q One technique that's been widely reported on and widely debated is water-boarding. Does the president consider water-boarding to be torture?

"MR. SNOW: Again, I'm not going to go beyond what the president has said."

Interview Redux

More today on Bush's Oval Office session Tuesday with conservative columnists. (See yesterday's column for the initial reports.)

David Brooks writes in his New York Times opinion column (subscription required): "In a 90-minute interview with a few columnists in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Bush swallowed up the room, crouching forward to energetically make a point or spreading his arms wide to illustrate the scope of his ideas -- always projecting confidence and intensity."

But Brooks concludes somewhat despondently that "the sad truth is, there has been a gap between Bush's visions and the means his administration has devoted to realize them. And when tactics do not adjust to fit the strategy, then the strategy eventually gets diminished to fit the tactics.

"Or worse."

Brooks also shares a disturbing turn of phrase from Bush: "'Ideological struggles take time,' he said, explaining the turmoil in Iraq and elsewhere. He said the events of weeks or months were just a nanosecond compared with the long course of this conflict."