Hannibal Cheney flaps his thin, pale lips

Murray: Is it true what they're sayin', he's some kinda vampire?

Clarice Starling: They don't have a name for what he is.

Dr. Frederick Chilton: We've tried to study him, of course, but he's much too sophisticated for the standard tests. - (Silence of the Lambs)

The Vice was asked Tuesday by a conservative radio host: “Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?”

“Well, it’s a no-brainer for me,” Cheney replied.

White House spokesman Tony Snow insisted that U.S. officials do not talk publicly about interrogation techniques because they are classified.

“You can push all you want. He wasn’t referring to water boarding and would not talk about techniques,” Snow added.

“This country doesn’t torture. We’re not going to torture. We will interrogate people we pick up off the battlefield to determine whether or not they’ve got information that will be helpful to protect the country,” Bush said. (Bush denies Cheney endorsed torture)

The Bush administration refused to define torture. They refused to define interrogation techniques. And then they fought desperately for a new law -- a law never needed, until now, in the nation's 200-year history -- insuring that whatever methods they will not define can not be prosecuted.

Too sophisticated ... or simply criminal?