Decius wrote:

... the implication is that increased NSA spying was a policy of the Bush administration that was unrelated to 9/11.

... This is not about whether or not the NSA should be surveilling Al Qaeda.

... This is about whether or not there are checks and balances in our system of government wherein the actions of the executive are reviewed or authorized by the judicial and or the legislature.

Your implication may be true, and I agree with your statement of What This Is About. But perhaps the implication conflates a few things, and it ends up either: giving the administration undue credit for an insight that wasn't theirs; or painting the picture of a grand conspiracy that seems far too sophisticated to be credible, given the actors. Consider an alternative:

The IC hunts Islamic extremists throughout the 90's. They fail to prevent the embassy bombings, though law enforcement succeeds in prosecuting conspirators in the case. Several times, they get close to capturing (or killing) bin Laden, but they fail to get the green light. Too much political risk, and no way to sell the story.

A new administration arrives, and with the shift change at the top comes a lot of uncertainty ... about direction, about policy, about priorities. The military and bureaucratic leadership make their pitch about What They Need. It's the same pitch they've been giving for years. It's an establishment idea. It's not the brand-new brainstorm of a political appointee.

What's new is that when the pros say, "the threat is real, we need this, NOW", the official response is "Just make it happen." This causes some discomfort, but the need is real, and with the impression of top-cover, much of it moves ahead. This is where those checks and balances should have kicked in, but instead of working groups, requirements documents, position papers, integrated product teams, conference committees, off-site meetings to socialize the concepts and get buy-in from the key stakeholders, etc., you get Just Do It.

This is certainly not an excuse. To highlight just one among countless things, the whole business with Gonzales at the hospital is profoundly disturbing. However, many of the deepest problems are systemic, and they aren't going to disappear magically in 463 days. Unless and until the process of government can be more than endless skirmishes between Team A and Team B, things aren't to improve markedly. It's a devil's choice; pick your poison.

What This Is About