Bush Admits Criminal Act

Well, he just did it. I don't think the press has yet to understand what's going on here, typically. This isn't simply about whether spying on Americans without warrants is constitutional or even if it is the right or wrong policy, it's about whether the executive has the power to do whatever it wants. As Digby wrote:

Look, the problem here, again, is not one of just spying on Americans, as repulsively totalitarian as that is. It's that the administration adopted John Yoo's theory of presidential infallibility. But, of course, it wasn't really John Yoo's theory at all; it was Dick Cheney's muse, Richard Nixon who said, "when the President does it, that means it's not illegal."

This was not some off the cuff statement. It was based upon a serious constitutional theory --- that the congress or the judiciary (and by inference the laws they promulgate and interpret) have no authority over an equal branch of government. The president, in the pursuit of his duties as president, is not subject to the laws. Citizens can offer their judgment of his performance every four years at the ballot box.

Bush just admitted guilt, proudly. Stunning, really.