Let’s get this straight: President George W. Bush breaks the law by ordering the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on American citizens’ overseas calls. The New York Times, after keeping the matter quiet for a year at the request of the Bush administration, finally publishes the story.

And as a result … we begin impeachment proceedings against Bush? We order all NSA staffers who complied with an obviously illegal order to be fired and prosecuted, for violation of the 14th Amendment? We have congressional hearings in how such an appalling abuse of Americans could be allowed to occur?

Nope. The Department of Justice announced it was opening an investigation into who leaked the material to the Times in the first place.

Are we dreaming?

Instead of calling off his Justice Department, to say nothing of apologizing for breaking the law and resigning in shame, Bush seems to be OK with the probe. “The leaking of classified information is a serious issue. The fact is that al Qaida’s playbook is not printed on Page One when America’s is, it has serious ramifications,” said White House spokesman Trent Duffy.

Not so serious, of course, as a president who has violated his oath of office and committed one of the most serious constitutional violations in American history. But still, serious.

The Times declined to comment on the investigation, but the question we have is, what took the paper so long to reveal what it knew? The official line is publication was delayed because of the administration’s request and to verify sources, but waiting for a year? Who knows if the story could have swung the 2004 election to U.S. Sen. John Kerry?

Either way, the Times belatedly did its journalistic duty. Now it should stand by its principles, refuse to identify any leakers and lead the nation’s newspapers in calling for Bush to resign or be impeached for high crimes.