Bush's illegal warrantless domestic spying in historical perspective

John Dean:

In some two hundred and seventeen years of the American presidency, there has been only one President who provides a precedent for Bush's stunning, in-your-face, conduct: Richard Nixon. Like Bush, Nixon claimed he was acting to protect the nation's security. Like Bush, Nixon broke the law - authorizing, among other things, illegal wiretaps. ...

Nixon also claimed he was only doing what his predecessors had done. That was not untrue - but what had, in the past, been the exception to the rule became standard operating procedure under Nixon. ...

In the end, this issue is going to be resolved by the 2006 midterm election. If Republicans lose control of either the House or Senate, the investigations of the Bush/Cheney White House will begin. It won't be pretty. It will make dealing with lying about sex look like High School hazing. It will even make Richard Nixon look like a piker when it comes to staying within the law. ...

The big question is whether there will be an "October Surprise" - a dramatic event that will bump up Bush's currently dismal polling numbers, and help his party. ... If you have any knowledge of how White Houses operate, you can be sure they are working night and day to pull off such a surprise.

I can see it now. Early September 2006: Judith Miller appears on FOX News with hot new information that Iran is weeks, possibly days away from completing an arsenal of nuclear bombs. And that the Shi'a ayatollahs are planning to immediately turn over the government of Iran to the Sunni jihadists of Al Qaida.

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