A WIN FOR THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION as wiretapping survives a court challenge:

A federal appeals court Friday ordered the dismissal of a lawsuit challenging President Bush’s domestic spying program, saying the plaintiffs had no standing to sue. . . .

U.S. Circuit Judge Julia Smith Gibbons, one of the two Republican appointees who ruled against the plaintiffs, said they failed to show they were subject to the surveillance and therefore do not have standing for their claims.

U.S. Circuit Judge Ronald Lee Gilman, a Democratic appointee, disagreed, saying he felt the plaintiffs were within their rights to sue and that it was clear to him that the surveillance program violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978.

You know, reporting who appointed judges this way makes everything seem rather political. Orin Kerr has more, and observes that the opinions in the case “neatly match a political narrative.”

Too much of that and people will start wondering why we don’t just elect federal judges, if it’s all political anyway.