NBC White House correspondent David Gregory provided another example of his arrogant idiocy during the Oct. 10th press briefing by spokesman Tony Snow.

Q Looking back, is there anything that the President would have done differently? Does he believe he has made any mistakes in this?

MR. SNOW: Oh, my goodness, that's —— you know ——

Q It's a fair question.

MR. SNOW: No, it's a silly question.

Q Why is that a silly question?

MR. SNOW: Yes, yes, it is a silly question because ——

Q You just talked about ——

MR. SNOW: Well, let me ask you —— give me some characterization of what you might think. Because what typically happens is that any answer to that question is spun into, "President Made Mistakes, Regrets." What you do as President of the United States —— and I have said this repeatedly from this podium and you need to give Presidents the benefit of the doubt when national security is involved —— is the very best in their judgment of what they can do.

Now, what will happen is over time, you find out, hmm, that data point wasn't right, we need to adjust. So for every adjustment, sure, in perfect hindsight, you would want perfect information and, therefore, perfect policy. But instead what you do have in this administration and in prior administrations is a full—on effort to do what you think, based on the intelligence and the facts available to you, is going to be the most effective way to secure the safety of the American people.

Q The notion that that's a silly question, when you have a President who draws a red line three years ago and says, we will not tolerate nuclear weapons, and now you have a country that just tested a nuclear weapon —— you don't think it's fair to ask for some accountability as to what happened, or that there were mistakes made?

MR. SNOW: David, the accountability lies in North Korea, not in Washington.

Q That's it? There's no accountability for when this country engages in diplomatic activity or warfare, it doesn't have anything to do —— there's no accountability within this government?

MR. SNOW: This government is held accountable all the time. As a matter of fact, the President even gets held accountable when gas prices fall beyond his ability to influence ——

Q You just said it was silly ——

MR. SNOW: You know what, okay, let me ——

Q —— it was silly ask whether lessons were learned ——

MR. SNOW: Thank you. No, no, no —— it was silly to say, does he think he made mistakes and that kind of thing.

Q Right. You think that's a silly notion, a silly question.

MR. SNOW: I think what it is, is a gratuitous question in the sense that when it is asked, it is not asked in the context of, what are your strategic considerations, what is brought to bear. Instead it is asked —— and maybe I'm being unfair, Cheryl —— in the context of a "gotcha" question that is designed to paper over the immense difficulties that are involved in the activities of dozens and dozens of people who devote their lives to trying to get this right.

John B. Dwyer   10 11 06