Bush, the Blessed Peacemaker

Speaking with reporters on Air Force One as the president flew from Saudi Arabia to Egypt, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino related Bush's description of his conversation with Saudi King Abdullah: "He says that the King says that he understands the situation. He's worried about high oil prices and how they can negatively affect economies around the world. The President said there's a hope that as a result of these conversations that OPEC would be encouraged to authorize an increase production."

When reporters asked if she could explain what that hope is based on, Perinos replied: "No."

Ask the White House

The White House Web site yesterday excitedly announced that Bush himself would host " Ask the White House" at 1 p.m. and answer questions about his trip. It's supposed to be a "live chat" -- and would have been Bush's first.

But somehow, the " transcript" of the event was up on the web site before 11 a.m.

Here's one of the only seven questions: "Dear Mr. President, In your opinion, what strategy can the United States of America pursue in order to maintain close ties with the Middle East to promote peace, liberty, and democracy, while maintaining a strong foothold on the fight against terror? In deep gratitude for your service to this great nation."

Here's another: "Mr. President, A silly question, but who picks your attire for all the important events you attend? Love your ties."

And here's yet another: "Dear President Bush, I would like to know why the government doesnt invest in research to try to create some kind of big battery that would replace the use of oil."

Not surprisingly, Bush -- or whoever -- didn't exactly break any news. And he concluded: "No question we've had a great trip -- but it's also no question I'm happy to get home. I'm looking forward to seeing Laura and Barney and Beazley and the Kitty. After all, there's no better place to lay your head than in your own bed with people you love."

White House E-mail Watch

Pete Yost writes for the Associated Press: "The White House has acknowledged recycling its backup computer tapes of e-mail before October 2003, raising the possibility that many electronic messages -- including those pertaining to the CIA leak case -- have been taped over and are gone forever.

"The disclosure came minutes before midnight Tuesday under a court-ordered deadline that forced the White House to reveal information it has previously refused to provide."

Here is the White House response from Chief Information Officer Theresa Payton to four simple questions from the magistrate, including: "Do the back-ups contain the emails said to be missing that are the subject of this lawsuit?"

In her statement, Payton says the White House made regular backup tapes that captured "snapshots" of the White House network, including all e-mails stored in archives or individual mailboxes at the time. And she says that backup tapes can be used to recover lost e-mails, though "the process is complex, labor intensive and costly."