Circle Jerk

That is, in those "circles" that praised the assministration for its "openness" while it was furiously beating back attempts to investigate its illegal actions.

White House Working to Avoid Wiretap Probe

At two key moments in recent days, White House officials contacted congressional leaders just ahead of intelligence committee meetings that could have stirred demands for a deeper review of the administration's warrantless-surveillance program, according to House and Senate sources.

In both cases, the administration was spared the outcome it most feared, and it won praise in some circles for showing more openness to congressional oversight.

But the actions have angered some lawmakers who think the administration's purported concessions mean little. Some Republicans said that the White House came closer to suffering a big setback than is widely known, and that President Bush must be more forthcoming about the eavesdropping program to retain Congress's good will.

Congress has been bamboozled by the old Bush bait-and-switch so many times; why would they believe they can trust anything these pathological, serial prevaricators promise? Our insensible representatives don't realize Dubya is slowly raising the heat and boiling them alive.

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