Keeping Mum

At his news conference yesterday, President Bush explained why he would not let his aides testify on what The White House did about Hurricane Katrina.

If people give me advice and they're forced to disclose that advice, it means the next time an issue comes up I might not be able to get unvarnished advice from my advisers. And that's just the way it works.

He might have said – ‘If people give me advice and the advice is wrong and they are not held accountable, the next time I get advice from them, it will probably be wrong again.’ That is the way it works.