In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
- George Orwell

What did Bush know, and when did he know it?

It is quite easy to tell by the president's maneuverings that he is trying to position himself into a public situation of "plausible deniability" on two major scandals to hit like a ton of turd blossoms all in one week.

It is quite obvious Bush was briefed last August on the National Intelligence Estimate released this week, yet he continued to beat the war drums against Iran for the past 15 months with the full backing of Vice President Dick Cheney.

The changes in his language have now been documented by the Washington Post, MSNBC News and Harper's magazine.

So we know Bush was lying about that.

And now the president is trying to plant the cover story that he knew nothing about the CIA decision to destroy videotaped evidence of torture. That has been reported by every news organization in the world.

But what no columnist has yet focused on is a key fact - which could finally be the nail in Bush's coffin.

The tapes showed not only that the CIA and private contractors working for the U.S. government engaged in torture, in violation of the Geneva Conventions and U.S. law. Even more embarrassing for Bush politically is that the tapes showed the top terrorism suspects, including the single person jailed for terrorism in Bush's "war on terrorism," were simple loons who may have once ridden in a car with Osama bin Laden. Neither knew anything about any real terrorist threats inside the U.S.

When subjected to waterboarding - a technique that is most assuredly torture no matter how you parse it - they blabbered about threats to shopping malls, schools and such, sending this administration over the edge toward a policy of obliterating liberty here in the name of pursuing freedom abroad.

Now Mr. Bush must account for his lies in the public square in his lame duck days ahead.

We only hope the U.S. news media and the Democrats who control Congress have the guts to do the right thing.

Ask Bush what he knew and when he knew it, then impeach Bush and Cheney and remove them from office. Will this week's scandals finally mark the end of Bush's failed presidency?

We've asked before and we ask again: How many scandals does it take?