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I had some words earlier about the, um, contrast between Bush's rhetoric and his support of the death penalty. Turns out I wasn't the only one to notice it. From the 5 November press briefing....

TAPPED:
"Q: Okay. If the administration is taking steps to build a culture of life, could you explain why the President supports the death penalty?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, again, because the President believes that it ultimately saves innocent lives. And that's why he supports it."

Umm, yeah. More midevalism ("the President believes" is clearly more significant than any stubborn facts), and a complete misreading or misuse of the phrase "the culture of life", which comes directly from the Evangelium Vitae encyclical. Say, how many encyclicals do you think Bush has read, anyway?