Lies and the lying liars

Bush administration officials seem to pride themselves in taking dishonesty to new heights of absurdity. From Newsweek, we get:

After the incident, there were recriminations over what Comey portrayed as an attempt by Bush's top lawyer and chief of staff to "take advantage" of a very ill man. Comey didn't tell the Senate panel that the bad feelings were stoked even more the next morning when White House officials explained the hospital visit by saying Gonzales and Card were unaware that Comey was acting A.G. (and therefore the only person authorized to sign off on the surveillance program), according to a former senior DOJ official who requested anonymity talking about internal matters. Top DOJ officials were furious, the source said. Just days earlier, Justice's chief spokesman had publicly said Comey would serve as "head of the Justice Department" while Ashcroft was ill. Justice officials had also faxed over a document to the White House informing officials of this. When a Gonzales aide claimed the counsel's office could find no record of it, DOJ officials dug out a receipt showing the fax had been received. "People were disgusted as much as livid," said the DOJ official. "It was just the dishonesty of it." A Gonzales aide at the time (who asked not to be ID'd talking about internal matters) said there was a "miscommunication" and "genuine confusion" over who was in charge. Democratic senators plan a no-confidence vote in Gonzales. They also want him to explain his testimony last year that "there has not been any serious disagreement" about the terrorist-surveillance program.

Carpetbagger even tells us that White House spokesman Tony Fratto refuses to confirm that a meeting between Gonzales, Card, and Ashcroft in Ashcroft's hospital room ever occurred.

I mean, these guys remind me of the time when I was about five or six. My parents were out at the time, and I decided it would be fun to try to flush an entire roll of toilet paper down the toilet. Naturally, there was a minor flood. I made up some cockamamie story about robbers breaking into the house and deliberately flooding the bathroom in order to deflect blame. Of course, it didn't work.

So why is it, if my parents could figure that out, the press can't figure out that Bush is lying every time he opens his mouth?