Setting a High Standard

Remember back in 2003, when a stern President reacted to news of a leak in his administration with serious concern, a determination to get to the bottom of it, and the intention to sack anyone involved? Ah, those were good times...

Q Mr. President, you said you don't want to talk about an ongoing investigation, so I'd like to ask you, regardless of whether a crime was committed, do you still intend to fire anyone found to be involved in the CIA leak case? And are you displeased that Karl Rove told a reporter that Ambassador Joe Wilson's wife worked for the Agency on WMD issues?

PRESIDENT BUSH: We have a serious ongoing investigation here. (Laughter.) And it's being played out in the press. And I think it's best that people wait until the investigation is complete before you jump to conclusions. And I will do so, as well. I don't know all the facts. I want to know all the facts. The best place for the facts to be done is by somebody who's spending time investigating it. I would like this to end as quickly as possible so we know the facts, and if someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration.

OK, so, he's a very busy man, doing hard work, so it's obviously not possible for him to call his people into his office and ask them himself, like a normal manager might. He has to wait for the ongoing investigation. But it is reassuring that, once someone is actually tried and convicted, they won't be working with classified documents in the office down the hall from the President of the United States anymore.

One assumes that there probably are already rules that say convicted criminals can't work in the White House, at least until they get a Presidential pardon. Even so, it is nice to see that Mr. Bush is maintaining a high standard for his staff.

Not a criminal. Hey, it's a good start.