james comey

* jane gives some kudos to james comey. apparently Comey refused to authorise the illegal snooping when he was acting AG (ashcroft was in hospital). i think comey probably deserves some kudos too - but it took me a long, long time to get over his performance announcing the padilla 2.0 charges.

* the nyt has this question: "It was unclear whether the White House ultimately persuaded Mr. Ashcroft (in hospital) to approve the program or whether the White House moved ahead without his concurrence."
concurrence, indeed.