Use your head for a moment. If the NYT had this story for "over a year" it means they likely had it prior to the November elections.

If there was any meat to it, they would have aired it then, so as to give Kerry a fighting chance.

Reporters are called all the time to the White House, especially when it may disclose some operation pertinent to national security.

Like it or not, terrorist sympathisers and Al Qaeda operatives live and work in our nation. Like it or not, police, state and judicial instruments are often corrupt and unreliable tools in maintaing high levels of secrecy.

Therefore Bush (likely), shortly after 9-11 issued an Executive Order permitting the use of domestic surveillance by certain agencies of the Federal government. A flurry of eyes only level post 9-11 Presidential Executive Orders were so issued--most of which have assisted our government in halting terrorist attacks prior to their fulfillment.

Much like the patriot act and visions of John Ashcroft finding out what books you're checking out, this is just another appeal to the hysterical and unhinged who harbor a paranoid fear someone is staring at their dirty laundry.

The story is a non-story and journalists hold inconsequential stuff like this for when they think it will actually help drive poll numbers or when its a slow news cycle, and they need generic Bush-bashing pieces to fill their rag and satiate the paying leftists who subscribe and want to read such pseudo-scandal dog droppings.