Paul Craig Roberts asks the unasked question in Counterpunch:

Could we attribute the feebleness of the Democrats as an opposition party to information obtained through illegal spying that would subject them to blackmail?

Of course not. Why, that would mean Bush was like Nixon! Oh, wait....

Why would President Bush ignore the law and the FISA court? It is certainly not because the court in its three decades of existence was uncooperative. According to attorney Martin Garbus (New York Observer, 12-28-05), the secret court has issued more warrants than all federal district judges combined, only once denying a warrant.

There are two possible reasons.

One reason is that the Bush administration is being used to concentrate power in the executive. ...

The other reason is that the Bush administration could not go to the FISA secret court for warrants because it was not spying for legitimate reasons and, therefore, had to keep the court in the dark about its activities.

What might these illegitimate reasons be?

It would be irresponsible not to speculate...

NOTE From an Excellent thread on Glenn Greenwald.