Bush: Now, we'll get warrants

Alberto Gonzales says that from now on, the NSA wiretapping program will be done with warrants, pursuant to F.I.S.A. Or did he? The word "warrant" doesn't seem to be used in the press release. Just that a judge has approved a plan:

The Justice Department announced today that the National Security Agency's controversial warrantless surveillance program has been placed under the authority of a secret surveillance court, marking an abrupt change in approach by the Bush administration after more than a year of heated debate.

In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said that orders issued on Jan. 10 by an unidentified judge puts the NSA program under the authority of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, a secret panel that oversees most intelligence surveillance in the United States.

So, what's up? I have a few hypotheses:

1) The elections are over, and Bush is not running in 2008, so there is no need to eavesdrop on Democrats anymore.

2) Bush can now argue that further oversight over what did happen is unnecessary since it is no longer happening.

3) They plan to continue to eavesdrop without warrants. They're just going to lie about it. After all, they lied about it for three years before it leaked out.

4) All of the above.


I vote for (4), but please feel free to add your own.