The article “Evidence Faulted in Detainee Case” in today’s New York Times made me chuckle. The administration’s lawyers tried to argue that evidence should be considered reliable on the basis that it had been repeated in at least three classified documents. I checked the court’s written decision to see their exact response.

First, the government suggests that several of the assertions in the intelligence documents are reliable because they are made in at least three different documents. We are not persuaded. Lewis Carroll notwithstanding, the fact that the government has “said it thrice” does not make an allegation true.

Priceless!

The reference is to Lewis Carroll’s Hunting of the Snark:

“Just the place for a Snark!” the Bellman cried,
As he landed his crew with care;
Supporting each man on the top of the tide
By a finger entwined in his hair.

“Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice:
That alone should encourage the crew.
Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice:
What i tell you three times is true.”

Trashing a ridiculous argument by pointing out the similarity to a silly poem about hunting imaginary creatures. That’s more than pwned, that’s pwned in the face. I’m guessing this court heard about all those classified documents that said there were WMD in Iraq. *chortle*