And Your Opinion Is....

President Bush on torture:

"A simple question," said one White House reporter during a Bush news conference last week.

"Yes?" said Bush.

"What's your definition of the word 'torture'?"

"Oh," said Bush. "That's defined in U.S. law, and we don't torture."

Asked for his personal definition, Bush replied: "Whatever the law says."

Attention law students: even when you're unprepared for a professor's question you no longer need to try to bluff or "pass" - you can simply answer, "Whatever the law says." And just think how much shorter your exam answers can be.

I am reminded of an exchange from law school in which a student kept insisting upon additional information and details before he would answer the professors's question. After about five minutes of back-and-forth, when it was obvious that no answer would ever be forthcoming, the professor gave up and expressed to the class, "Should you ever hire Mr. Jones as a lawyer you had best take a hammer to your appointment, so you can beat an opinion out of him."

Looking at answers given in response to simple questions by Bush, Mukasey and Perrino, among others, it occurs to me that the professor's comment might now be taken as a compliment - "You're highly qualified to work for the President."