It's getting weird. The only reason for Gonzales to maintain he went to Aschcroft about another program would be to promote the fiction of Congressional support for the "Terrorist Surveillance Program". Why do that?

Since it is obvious these various assertions, about the hospital raid, about the Gang of 8 meeting, etc. would not hold, Gonzales is being made to do this. What would be the result of simply telling the truth?

Let's see: it would mean that the program was less legal than one would like, if Justice wanted to drop it, but it has been supposedly brought into compliance, now, so what's to defend? Not the fact of its existence, and not the fact of the dissent--that was public long ago.

The truth might also mean acknowledging that the hospital hit was for the intent of overturning the wishes of Congress and Justice. Well, that's also obvious, but not exactly illegal, just shameless and idiotic.

So why? Why force the AG to twist in the wind? Is he a decoy?