Tony Snow tries to spin the Sunni pullout

Tony Snow wanted this explanation out there so badly, he didn't even wait for a question.

Regarding the announcement that some Sunni ministers will leave the government, the Prime Minister explained that he's actively working to address their concerns and find a resolution acceptable to all party blocs. To explain, the Sunni members of parliament have not left parliament. You've had six ministers leaving the government; in addition -- but as I noted also, Mr. Hashimi remains Vice President, and at the same time, the Minister of Defense, who is part of the Sunni bloc, will remain in the government.

See, the collapse of the pretense of reconciliation really is nothing. (There was a later, long exchange where Snow's minimization was challenged.)

Also, in the briefing, Snow didn't even let him finish the question.

Q Going back to the time line for Tillman, what did the President know about Corporal Tillman's death and when did he --

MR. SNOW: I can't answer that. I don't know.

And, the question I keep asking,

Q Tony, the administration has been continually saying to wait until September, and to wait until the testimony of General Petraeus and saying that his testimony will be the clearest sense of how well the surge militarily is working and what should happen going forward. General Petraeus has also made, in the past, assessments about the quality of the Iraqi security forces, in Mosul specifically, and in the country generally, that proved to be overly optimistic by a considerable margin. Given that come September he's basically going to be asked to grade a plan that he, himself, crafted and has implemented, what confidence should the American people have that his assessment of his own work will be objective and honest?

MR. SNOW: You're impugning General Petraeus's ability to measure what's going on?

Q I'm asking how he can give an objective assessment of his own work.