For the administration of President Bush, diversion seems to be a favorite tactic.

And finding out who leaked news of Bush's eavesdropping program is more important to the administration than finding out if it's legal or not.

Officials in Bush's administration have denied the call of several Democrats in the House of Representatives who want a special council. The special council would investigate the legality of Bush's program, which currently doesn't require a warrant.

Bush has said monitoring of phone calls and e-mails is only done when a suspicion of terrorist activity exists and when it is necessary to preserve national security. He also claims the authority to approve the monitoring under the power of being commander in chief.

Regardless of how one feels about the eavesdropping plan, who are Republicans to complain about leaking information?

Isn't this the same administration of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, who has been indicted for his alleged involvement in leaking the name of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame?

By crying out that the leak needs to be investigated, the Bush administration is trying to create a diversion from the real topic, which is whether the program is legal or not.

It's avoiding the issue it knows might make Bush look bad.

The Bush administration, including Democrats and Republicans, needs to focus on the issue of whether this is legal or not and whether it is necessary in safeguarding America against terrorism.

The people who have been taped are probably not average citizens just going about their daily lives. They probably are people who are suspected of being involved in terrorism, but we don't know.

That's the problem.

The level of secrecy that surrounds the program and the whole Bush administration makes it hard to know anything about it and whether it's illegal.

Transparency in government means the people of this country know what the president they elected is doing and that he is following the letter of law.

No president, regardless of political party, is above the law.

Some kind of investigation, whether it's a special counsel of some other kind of process should be taken to investigate the eavesdropping.

Republicans must realize it's not the leak, but rather what was leaked, that needs to be investigated.

Both sides must stop skirting the issue with diversions.