NSA Update

I think a conventional wisdom that makes sense is developing regarding Bush and illegal spying. Kevin Drum lays it out in some detail, but the short version is that Bush avoided the FISA courts because of new technology. None of his public statements have made any sense. But the use of a new, sweeping, data mining technique that is very secret, and probably very invasive, would explain the need for a P.R. story. It would also explain the unwillingness to go to Congress for a change in the FISA law because it would a) take too long, b) be unacceptable to more than a majority.