Criminal, No Question

I am not going to spend any time on the domestic intelligence crime. I need only say that there were legal ways to get the job done that were put in place specifically for cases like these. There was no reason for the actions the President took other than to thumb his nose at the Congress. He has admitted doing it and it is an impeachable offense and far, far worse than lying about an extramarrital affair for Goddess' sake. We have to draw the line somewhere and this is about as good a place as any.
ReddHedd and Jane at Firedoglake and Jeralyn at TalkLeft are far better at relaying the nuances of all this than I am. I do agree with Ezra Klein though, and think is was a 'Screw You, I'm the Prez and don't you forget it' moment when Bush admitted the crime.

Quoting Ezra:

This is Bush's "fuck you" moment. He lost on the PATRIOT Act, lost on Social Security, is losing on the war, leaking popularity, lacking political capital, and finding his second term to be a series of very hard punches to the face. The mounting failures and multiplying blows finally became too much for him and so, finally, he's dispensed with political strategy and high-polling pretense and finally said what he'd been wanting to say all along.

Fuck you.

It's been the message rumbling beneath his administration for months now. The belligerence on torture, the hysteria on the PATRIOT Act, the McCarthyism against the war critics. But each time, at that last crucial moment, Bush backed down. Right when he seemed ready to let loose a flurry of invective, his handlers would coax him off the roof. He backed down before McCain's anti-torture legislation, started appending disclaimers affirming the patriotism of his critics too his speeches. He didn't crack. He kept following the strategists, calling for tactical retreats. Till now.

Nuff Said.