The economy is doing well. Iraq held another election and is close to having a real government. All parts of Iraq had significant voter turnout this time giving the government real legitimacy. Also, many former insurgents are now participating in the election.
It must be time to change the subject. Otherwise people might think that Bush is doing a good job. The new subject for the week is government wiretapping. Nothing else will be discussed.
The initial story gave the impression that calls made from one citizen to another within the country were routinely being monitored.
Actually, it was only communications from the US to another country. It was only used in 30 cases. And it started in 2002.
And the media knew about it for the last year.
So why release it now? The two most obvious reasons are to discredit the Patriot Act as it comes up for renewal or to discredit the President. Or to do both at once.
George Will asks why Bush didn't ask Congress for permission? In 2002 he could have gotten it easily. The obvious answer is that he believed that he already had it. Between his authority as Commander in Chief and the special powers given him by Congress to fight the War on Terror, he didn't need to ask for more.
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