DanaPeroxide Won’t Comment On How Chimpy’s Torture Fetish Has Imperiled The Case Against KSM

Q Dana, is the White House at all concerned that some of the evidence of the confessions by many of these men may not be admissible because they were obtained through waterboarding, which the administration admitted to last week?

MS. PERINO: Kathleen, I’m not going to able to comment about the trial from this podium. And so I’m not able to comment on that, but I’m sure that if you call the Department of Defense they’ll be able to talk about it further.

[snip]

Q One more, following up on that, though. When the President made his decision initially to authorize the interrogations of Khalid Shaykh Muhammad and the other two, did he weigh the possibility of criminal prosecutions and the admissibility of evidence?

MS. PERINO: I don’t know, Mark. Obviously you’re talking about time frames that are years and years ago. I just — I don’t know.

Just A Coincidence

Q What about the timing of all this? Again, it was just Thursday that the Vice President, Hayden admitted the United States had used waterboarding against some of these suspects. And then, lo and behold, Monday the DOD announces they’re going forward on these cases.

MS. PERINO: I can see conspiracy written all over your face, but there was none. And this decision — as the military said, that they were ready to bring the charges and they did that today, when they were ready.

Q So this is mere coincidence then?

MS. PERINO: As I said this morning, yes.

Dana Gets Helenized

Q How does the President plan to pay for this war? There was apparently nothing in the budget that shows how we’re going to pay.

MS. PERINO: Well, there is a — there’s a $70 billion component to it. And we also have supplementals that are in front of Congress. So we’re waiting for those processes to work themselves through the system.

Q That will cover the cost of the war?

MS. PERINO: Well, I think what you’re referring to is that we — the accusation against us —

Q — $2 billion —

MS. PERINO: — and here I am, getting the question for you — (laughter.)

Q — $2 billion a week. How is it going to be paid for?

MS. PERINO: There’s no doubt that the war is an expensive — that war is very expensive. The President has set out in his 2009 proposal for $70 billion for the Pentagon to be able to continue operations. At the same time, we have supplemental requests out there.

The reason that the request isn’t in full, as others would like it to be, is because it’s impossible to predict what the situation will be a little bit later from now. So we have tried to provide Congress with as much detail as possible. But they have also shown that they want to do this piecemeal, and so we’re happy to work with them on that.

Q It’s going to be paid for as we go along, or in the future?

MS. PERINO: Well, we have been able to pay for the war and to bring down the deficit, but we are going to see an uptick in the deficit as a result of the economic stimulus package that the President will sign into law on Wednesday. Because we think that we need that economic stimulus package as an insurance measure in order to prevent an economic downturn. But having a good economy is one of the best ways in order to keep the government — to allow the government to be able to fund a lot of different things, anywhere from the entitlements that we have — Social Security and Medicare — to the war and to other functions of government.

Add These To Your “Dana Don’t Know” File

Q One more, following up on that, though. When the President made his decision initially to authorize the interrogations of Khalid Shaykh Muhammad and the other two, did he weigh the possibility of criminal prosecutions and the admissibility of evidence?

MS. PERINO: I don’t know, Mark. Obviously you’re talking about time frames that are years and years ago. I just — I don’t know.

[snip]

Q Dana, when did you learn of the decision to seek these charges, including the capital charges?

MS. PERINO: I can try to find out for you. The President has his intelligence briefings on a regular basis, but I’ll see if I can find out — it must have been within the last couple of days.

[snip]

Q Was the President briefed on the espionage charges brought against four Chinese nationals and one Pentagon worker? And can you shed any light on that?

MS. PERINO: No, I can’t. I just saw the report that the Justice Department is making an announcement today, and so I will check on that to see —

Q Was the President briefed on that?

MS. PERINO: That’s what I said I’ll check on. I don’t know.

[snip]

Q Outside of a second stimulus package that Congress is expected to take up in a few weeks, the House is planning to take up an energy tax bill this week. Will the administration support it if it includes any provision to take away the oil and gas tax breaks, as it had the last time when they opposed it?

MS. PERINO: You know, I’ll take a look, Paula. I haven’t heard that. I thought they were moving on to a public housing bill. I hadn’t hear that an energy bill was on the plan.

And Now,Your Daily Les

Q Okay. As the nation’s chief law enforcer, does the President believe that this recent Nebraska Supreme Court six-to-one ruling that electrocution be ended as cruel and unusual punishment — does he believe that was right or does he support the death penalty by fast-frying the condemned?

MS. PERINO: No, Les, why do you have to end it like that?

Q Well, that’s what electrocution is. It is a fast-frying of the condemned.