the non-denial denial - sorta like the non-apology apology

And to anybody who might have been offended by any of my posts today, I'm sorry you're such a thin-skinned little worm.

"The notion that the White House directed anyone to forge a letter from Habbush to Saddam Hussein is absurd," spokesman Tony Fratto said. He accused Suskind, a Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative reporter and well-respected chronicler of Bush administration secrets, of engaging in "gutter journalism."

I called that a classic non-denial denial, one of many the White House has issued over the years.

The thing about these "that's absurd" denials is that it's never been clear to me whether they should be considered categorical denials -- or an attempt by the White House to make potentially damaging questions go away by embarrassing reporters into not asking again.