In his new book, Tom Ridge claims that as secretary of Homeland Security he was pressured days before George Bush’s relection in 2004 to raise the national threat level. If this is true, it is inexcusable.

After Osama bin Laden released a threatening videotape four days before the election, Attorney General John Ashcroft and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld pushed Mr. Ridge to elevate the public threat posture but he refused, according to the book. Mr. Ridge calls it a “dramatic and inconceivable” event that “proved most troublesome” and reinforced his decision to resign.

More (much more) on this from Glenn Greenwald at Salon.