To connect the dots, you have to see the dots  —  Here are two news stories from the end of last week.  The first one you may have heard about.  As "The Today Show's" Matt Lauer put it:  —  "Does the government have your number?  This morning a shocking new report that the National Security Agency …

Bush Approval Rating Jumps Six Points  —  President Bush's job approval rating has jumped six points in the wake of a media barrage of criticism over his administration's telephone records collection program.  —  A Harris Interactive poll published in The Wall Street Journal Online on Friday …

Hold the Phone  —  Big Brother knows whom you call.  Is that legal, and will it help catch the bad guys?  —  May 22, 2006 issue - In the difficult days after 9/11, White House officials quietly passed the word through Washington's alphabet soup of intelligence agencies: tell us which weapons you need to stop another attack.

Leahy on Blitzer  —  On the lawfulness of the NSA wiretapping program, which Gen. Hayden publicly defends  —  LEAHY: No, I don't believe it's lawful.  I do believe that General Hayden is a very competent, highly intelligence trained officer.  And I appreciate that.  But this is a question that goes beyond him.

Leadership  —  Leading Democrats tell the New York Times that it would be better if the party doesn't win in the fall —  and if it has the sad misfortune to do so, it would be better off not holding any investigations into the Bush administration.  —  And if, somehow, the party does unfortunately win …

Beheading  —  For those who don't know me, I write a blog called Roger Ailes .  Jane has graciously asked me to contribute a Sunday Morning Heads Recap post to firedoglake, and I'd like to thank her for the opportunity.  Yesterday at 4:00 p.m., I was praying that I do a better job than Tim Russert.