Every once in a while I go over to National Review to get my dose of anti-LRC. Andrew McCarthy's piece is great in this respect. He's totally right, the press would have gone nuts even if Bush had gone through the FISA courts. (The article is clever because he makes the fictitious text look like an actual news story.)
But on the other hand, why is he wasting his time making such a point?? That would be analogous to defending the cops who sodomized Abner Louima by saying, "Give me a break! All these ACLU types are up in arms about sticking a broom handle up his bum. But you know what? If the cops had shoved a screwdriver up there, these liberals would still be crying foul."