The question behind Gonzo

I'm as curious as anyone as to what level of political purging took place at the Justice Department, but Dan Froomkin's recent column highlights what I consider the biggest question of the Bush presidency:

Soon after 9/11, the administration started eavesdropping on Americans. By March 2004, Bush's own Justice Department had decided that the program was clearly illegal, and top department officials couldn't find a way to rationalize it. After a rebellion led by Comey -- and backed by a hospitalized John Ashcroft -- the White House agreed to make some changes. The revised program, still controversial, was described in the New York Times in December 2005. The White House christened it the "Terrorist Surveillance Program." And in January 2007, Bush agreed to put the revised program under court jurisdiction -- although it's not clear exactly what that means.

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One of the chief unanswered questions, as I wrote in my May 17 column: What was the program like when it was illegal even in the opinion of Bush's own Justice Department? What was the government doing to its citizens for two and a half years -- starting soon after 9/11 through the spring of 2004?

That's really the question, isn't it? No real answers in the press, no driving line of inquiry in Congress - but honestly:

What the hell was our government up before Comey and the DOJ finally stood up to the White House? I'd like to resist projecting my suspicions on an administration that I view as dangerously irresponsible, but their track record is pretty abysmal.

They've ordered torture, secret prisons, indefinite detention without trial, and pre-emptive war.

Why would warrantless surveillance in defiance of Constitutional protections slow them down in the slightest?