Step two: Clap harder!

The architects of tyranny in the White House are going to go after the Times for revealing Bush’s warrantless surveillance program. God, isn’t it enough that the Times held the story back for a year, and got Bush elected? Apparently not. No, these guys want it all. No stopping points. AP:

The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the leak of classified information about
President Bush’s secret domestic spying program, Justice officials said Friday.

The officials, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the probe, said the inquiry will focus on disclosures to The New York Times about warrantless surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

That’s the shoot the messenger part. Now comes the clap harder part:

Administration officials insisted that Bush has the power to conduct the warrantless surveillance under the Constitution’s war powers provision. They also argued that Congress gave Bush the power to conduct such a secret program when it authorized the use of military force against terrorism in a resolution adopted within days of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Ah yes, “inherent weaselity.” Bush gets to bypass any laws He doesn’t like. Sorry, I forgot.

Say, FISA allows for a retroactive warrant, 72 hours after the surveillance begins. Has anyone ever given a reason—or a rationalization, or even some insultingly semi-plausible yet transparently evasive excuse—for why Bush couldn’t adhere to the 72 hour retrospective limit? Technical reasons? Legal reasons? Reasons of state? Why?