Questions of Credibility

" 'And with an important election coming up, people need to know just how we view the most critical questions of national security, and how we propose to defend the nation that all of us, Republicans and Democrats, love and are privileged to serve,' Cheney said."

Here's the text of Cheney's pugnacious speech. He also said: "I recognize that some have claimed the fight in Iraq is somehow a distraction from the war on terror. But that leaves me to wonder: Which part of the war on terror do they consider worth fighting? Even on the home front, where the attacks actually occurred, we're seeing attempts to undermine vital protections put in place after 9/11 to track our enemies and disrupt their plans."

Plot Twist

I wrote in yesterday's column about Bush's sudden, suspiciously-timed revelation of formerly classified details related to a four-year-old alleged terror plot to fly a plane into Los Angeles's Library Tower.

Here's the transcript of Bush's speech at the National Guard building.

Peter Baker writes in The Washington Post that "several U.S. intelligence officials played down the relative importance of the alleged plot and attributed the timing of Bush's speech to politics. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to publicly criticize the White House, said there is deep disagreement within the intelligence community over the seriousness of the Library Tower scheme and whether it was ever much more than talk.

"One intelligence official said nothing has changed to precipitate the release of more information on the case. The official attributed the move to the administration's desire to justify its efforts in the face of criticism of the domestic surveillance program, which has no connection to the incident."

Bush's Bust

Peter Baker writes in The Washington Post: "President Bush's time in the Texas Air National Guard has been immortalized in bronze. The National Guard Association of the United States yesterday unveiled a bust of a young Lt. George W. Bush. . . .

"Bush's service may still be a bit of a sore subject for him, though. He seemed no more eager to talk about it yesterday than he did in his 2004 reelection campaign, when critics questioned whether he manipulated his guard service to avoid having to serve in Vietnam."

Here's a picture .

Reader Questions

And now, some of your questions for Bush. Thank you for sending them, and I'm sorry I wasn't able to respond to all of your personally.

On Wiretapping

From Bradford H. Gray:

"Mr. Bush: In your speech on the Patriot Act in Buffalo on April 20, 2004, you said the following: