Implausible denials

It's plausible deniability all over again at the White House. President Bush's refusal to comment today on the destruction of the CIA videotapes allegedly showing the use of harsh interrogation techniques on suspected terrorists seems dubious, at best. Bush again insisted that he knew nothing about the existence of the tapes or their destruction in 2005 until he was told earlier this month by CIA director Michael Hayden. But this has the ring of untruth. If the CIA and the Justice Department didn't think this was a matter for the president, or at least the vice president, to decide, what exactly is important enough? If Bush is not telling the truth about the tapes, it might explain why new Attorney General Michael Muskasey declined to answer questions last week at a hearing before the House and Senate Judiciary committees.