Omygosh!  All the criticism directed at the New York Times must be having some effect!  Look what they published ...  in their op ed column: a defense of Bush spying coupled with strong, well reasoned criticism of the outraged Bush critics. As they succinctly summarize The program's existence has now become public, and howls of outrage have ensued. But in fact, the only thing outrageous about this policy is the outrage itself. Yep, the president actually has the constitutional authority to collect foreign intelligence, there was a clear vital need to do so (September 11 and all that in case the critics forgot about that), obtaining necessary warrants takes too long and some groups just don't have a"reasonable expectation of privacy."  So why all the outrage, the shock, shock absolute shock? The contretemps its revelation has caused reveals much more about the chattering classes' fundamental antipathy to strong government in general, and strong executive...(Read Full Post)