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It may not necessarily be a crime that Pravda printed this information, (although it was foolish, juvenile and dangerous beyond their feeble mental capacity can grasp) but somewhere along the way, a crime was committed to provide them this information. It needs to be investigated to the fullest extent whether Pravda was complicit in this crime.

NYT is only the messenger.

Remember, this is material from nearly a dozen top current and former intelligence officials in the US government who were alarmed that the Bush administration was violating the 1978 FISA and the 2001 Patriot Act.

And remember, as the Times reporter tried to confirm their leaks, even Bush appointees were shocked that something like this was going on.

In the meantime -- I've yet to hear a single conservative explain how exposing ILLEGAL wiretaps on Americans hurts our national security.

Does it tell the terrorists Bush is spying on US instead of THEM?

Certainly, they are clever enough to figure their calls would be tapped here in the states -- so it didn't expose any security measures.

Certainly it's not as bad as exposing an entire CIA operation that say, tracks black market nuclear material that might be used in an atomic or "dirty" bomb. That's what the Plame leak did.

Hey RR--The president is concerned with U.S. citizens who are talking to AQ (and rightly so). Looks like the people are with the prez on this one. But feel free to continue this misguided outrage. The elections are coming up.

Actually, the people are not with the President on spying on Americans.

You refer to the Rasmussen Poll which shows 64% of Americans favor wiretapping terrorists.

The question failed to ask if they favored illegal wiretaps on NON-TERRORISTS.

Bush's big problem here is that after wiretapping 4,000 AMERICANS, there have been NO arrests.

That has to raise some serious flags about WHO Bush ordered wiretapped and WHY CIA, NSA, and FBI bigwigs blew the whistle on the administration. Because, that's who did it.

We know from DoD and FBI documents, the government has been diverting counter intel resources from spying on terrorists to spying on Catholic high schools and Quaker meeting houses.

Perhaps why there are now as many REPUBLICANS in Congress as DEMOCRATS demanding an investigation of the President on breaking the 1978 FISA and the 2001 Patriot Act.

Hey, if the government wants to listen in on my phone and then finds out where I'm going to dinner, or find out that I do indeed love my husband and call him to make sure he got to work OK, or any of the other every day calls I make...WHO CARES!! I have nothing to hide. But if my neighbor is using the phone to make terroristic plans, wouldn't you be the first to be glad that those plans were intercepted?

Its war time people. Wire the F****ng phones! get over your pathetic whining selves and deal with REALITY! Just because you are too stupid to see that we are in a war and there are people out there that want to end our lives as we know them, doesn't mean you should ruin it for me!

Hey, I might be willing to side with RR on this one.

But only if they strat by dragging Jimmah Carter and Billy Bob Blowjob in front of a firing squad over this. After all, they're guilty of the exact same supposed-crime. Right, RR (Really-Retarded)?

Umm...Like releasing the Barrett Report, maybe? How about it, RR--let's see what real illegal action looks like, with the secret service and IRS to boot.

RR neglects to mention that there has been no determination on the legality or illegality of this program. It's all speculation on our parts. And especially on the part of everyone who is just begging for another reason to scream, "Impeach!" Does anyone here really think that that the President didn't involve top constitutional scholars before hand? Or the fact that Congressional members were informed at the beginning and throughout the entire process. Many of whom are lawyers and should have, at the very least, a strong understanding of constitutional rights. And if they don't, did any of them ASK about the legality of the program?

I, for one, am sick and damn tired of the meme adopted by so many of our representatives, "We were tricked!" "We were lied to!" If they're that damn gullible, perhaps they should find another job.

"Hey, I might be willing to side with RR on this one.

But only if they strat by dragging Jimmah Carter and Billy Bob Blowjob in front of a firing squad over this. After all, they're guilty of the exact same supposed-crime. Right?"

Nope, you're wrong.

Carter was the last president to conduct warrantless wiretaps. The 1978 FISA outlawed them.

Clinton never conducted ANY warrantless wiretaps. He did order a warrantless search of Aldrich Ames' house. That was allowed under FISA.

But Congress closed that loophole in 1995.

FISA was written to apply to ALL parties in the government -- including the President.

On top of that, the 2001 Patriot Act also required the President and other government officials to get a warrant to wiretap.

So, since it's spelled out in the law, and Bush admits he broke those two laws -- the illegality has been established.

Now, as to who has been spied on with these warrantless wiretaps.

At least 4,000 people have been tapped. No one -- zero, zilch, zip -- has been arrested.

But reports are now coming out that the people spied on include a Democratic Governor who may run for President in 2008 and two Assistant Secretaries of State who disagreed with some of the neo-cons in the Bush administration.

As for Von Oyster -- Bush bases his entire claim for violating the Federal Intelligence Survelliance Act and the Patriot Act on the Congressional authorization to use force in Afghanistan.

No one in Congress involved in drafting the authorization nor anyone who voted on it says they ever intended to void FISA. The fact they later passed the Patriot Act -- again requiring the President to get warrants -- would indicate that was Congress' will.

As far as notifying Congress, Bush only informed four members -- the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House and the Senate Intelligence Committees.

That's only 4 people.

They were not allowed to discuss it with their staffs, lawyers, nor any other Congress members.