They've Got a Secret -- Lots, Actually

Since President Bush took office, the press and members of Congress have complained about his administration's extraordinary secrecy -- and the American public has yawned.

But last week's flap, over what Bush was told in August about Osama bin Laden's designs to hijack American airplanes, may be different. Americans don't blame the president for doing too little to prevent an attack, but they are displeased that the White House sat on the information for eight months. In a USA Today/CNN poll, 68 percent said the administration should have disclosed this information earlier.

The guarding of the hijacking information for eight months -- and acknowledging it only after a leak -- brought predictable outrage from Democrats, who had been urged by the White House to postpone and restrict probes. "Why was it not provided to us, and why was it not shared with the general public for the last eight months?" Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) demanded.