cleverness. it's like guys who play tennis. just a minute. they don't swing away at the tennis racquet. they do these little dribbles. flee flickers. this administration has too many of those flee flickers. why don't they come out on the irs on all these stories and blow it out there? if the president is innocent, act it. why not? >> mike mccarthy who taught me everything i know about this business -- >> he's a brilliant guy. >> if you try to be too cute, everyone is going to know you're being too cute. >> why did he put susan rice out there when she wasn't involved? >> absolutely. otherwise it becomes torture. drip, drip, drip. that never does any administration any good. the truth is, even if you tried to get ahead of it, the way ed mees, for instance, went into the press room and revealed the iran contra connection, it still doesn't get you out of the woods. so it's not like if they -- >> i've studied that. i'm studying it, john. let me tell you something about that story. the president, reagan at the