What Was Cheney Thinking?

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"MR. SNOW: Are you doing stand up? (Laughter.) . . .

"Q: What other way is there to interpret this?. . . .

"Q: One follow on this, because what you said in the morning was, 'You think Dick Cheney is going to slip up on something like this?' Is it possible that he's not slipping up at all --

"MR. SNOW: No.

"Q: -- but that he's winking to the base and saying --

"MR. SNOW: No.

"Q: -- 'of course we water board, and of course we'll do anything we need to to get the information because he knows that what they do --

"MR. SNOW: I think you just won the cynical question of the year award. No, I don't.

"Let me put it this way. You got Dick Cheney, who had been head of an intelligence committee. He's been the secretary of defense. He's been the vice president. He's not a guy who slips up, and he's also not a guy who does winks and nods about things that involve matters that you don't talk about for political reasons. Sorry."

ABC News' Ann Compton then got off one of the more memorable briefing-room ripostes in a long time:

"Q: To say that Vice President Cheney doesn't make mistakes like this, he did go up and curse a senator to his face on the Senate floor, and accidentally shot his friend, so he's not perfect. (Laughter.)"

Snow's response: "That's a great line, but it's not germane."

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