Demagogue

This exchange occurred midway through yesterday's White House press conference:

REPORTER: Mr. President, in the debate over Dr. Rice's confirmation, Democrats came right out and accused you and the administration of lying in the run up to the war in Iraq. Republicans, in some cases, conceive it that mistakes have been made.
Now that the election is over, are you willing to conceive that any mistakes were made? And how do you feel about that?

BUSH: Let me talk about Dr. Rice. You asked about her confirmation. Dr. Rice is an honorable, fine public servant ... And Dr. Rice and I look forward to moving forward ...

The reporter mentioned Rice's confirmation, but the reporter didn't ask about that. What the reporter asked was whether the president would acknowledge that some mistakes had been made with respect to Iraq.

Of course, Bush was doing what so many politicians are instructed to do -- answer the question that you want to answer.

The reporter tried again to get Bush to answer the actual question:

REPORTER: No reaction to the lying? No reaction?

(Laughter)

BUSH: Is that your question? The answer's no. Next (question).

In this case, because of the way the reporter asked his follow-up, it's not entirely clear whether Bush was saying "no" to the lying or saying that he had "no" reaction.

Presidential press conferences can be so informative, can't they?