Years ago, I remember hearing Bob Novak go on a little riff about how good leaking could be for an administration (please: Plame-obsessives set your irony phasers on stun for the moment). His point was that administrations get into group-think and lose sight of what the wider world might think. Trial balloons are, by definition, ways of compensating for group-think. The Bush White House has been particularly good at fighting leaks, particularly now that Colin Powell is gone. And, that has certainly helped them stay on message. But you can see how a little more leaking in this case — like there actually had been before the Roberts pick (remember all the talk about the Ediths?) — might have helped a great deal. Because, clearly, the White House had no idea this was going to be the reaction. And now the leaks are either implausible or they are CYA — neither of which help the White House.