Isn't what Tamm did illegal and isn't the rule of law to be applied impartially? Or just when the "right" people say so?

Well then, by that reasoning, you should be leading the pack in calling for Bush, Cheney, Gonzales, and the others to be prosecuted immediately for high crimes and misdemeanors, right? Surely then you believe those who commissioned the crimes are much more important to convict and imprison than the one who revealed it was going on, right?

Right?

Right?

Right?

You're a complete and utter idiot, right?

Right?

Right.

BTW, while I absolutely cannot afford to spend any extra money on nonessentials right now given my current situation, I am going to turn in my change jar if I have to in order to send $100 to Tamm's defense fund.

I hope many others here will support this true American Hero. After the courage he's shown in upholding the ideals of this country, it's the least we can do for him in his hour of need.

"Change we can all believe in that really isn't change at all."

I know that's a lot more words than the campaign actually used, and it didn't fit neatly on slogan signs, but that's what they were really talking about. Don't you remember that, Glenn? They clearly opaquely and without reservations announced that with reservations when Obama caved on FISA after saying he wouldn't cave on FISA.

Look for this behavior in everything he does for the next 4 years. There will be so much triangulation that Rubik's will invent a new puzzle and the Olympic rings will go all Delta on us....

This is exactly why, IMO, something more radical than "training better democrats" is needed to turn this country around. It's like throwing antacid tablets into a vat of sulfuric acid the size of an olympic swimming pool.

You are an incredibly effective attack dog for common sense and intellectual honesty, Glenn. It is why I read you every single day.

Speaking of criticizing him where needed, you should consider criticizing the intelligence of some of the initial details coming out of his economic camp regarding his initial moves to stimulate the economy:

1) A $500 tax break for individuals and $1,000 break for families is not going to do much of anything to relieve families' financial woes, get them out of foreclosure, or help find them a job. I (and most others) will certainly take it, but I look at it as a pittance of a return for the billions of dollars robbed from the economy and the vast majority of citizens by the Bush tax cuts for the rich,

2) Obama wants the other $350 billion from the TARP fund. Where in the HELL did the first $350 billion go, and why is there no accounting for it? IT IS OUR MONEY FOR SHIT'S SAKE! Why are banks allowed to refuse to answer how they're using the money? What good has come from this treasury hijacking that has or will affect the average taxpayer in any meaningful way? Is he going to do to better track where the rest of the money goes, besides putting his ear to the wall and listening for the loud flushing noise that's surely to come?

3) I would gladly give up my $500/$1000 tax credit, refund, or future-generation IOU (whatever you want to call it) if he'd put that money aside for fixing healthcare, or better yet, funding an independent investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the billions stolen, wasted, and misappropriated from the Iraq War, starting with Halliburton, Blackwater, Bechtel, Boeing, and others. It's all there in the GAO reports, plain as day. The money wasted by these frauds alone would fund a new healthcare system, rebuild our roads and bridges, or help real citizens save their homes and jobs during this downturn. And yet by ignoring this problem, it will only go on bigger and better in the future, ensuring our MIC swallows more and more of the wealth of our nation.

Why are such basic questions either going unasked, or worse, unanswered when they ARE asked?

The real problem is we have a gov't that is not accountable for anything and everything it does. And it is ruining the country, brick by brick.

Put some real shark's teeth into accountability, Mr. Obama. Until you do, our country's slide into financial, political, and moral ruin will go on unabated.

At The Washington Monthly, Hilzoy amply documents why the one issue left unresolved by the Obama/Guantanamo leaks to the NYT -- namely: whether to create a special, new process to allow use of "tainted evidence" against Guantanamo detainees -- may be the most important issue of all. She argues eloquently why doing so would be a catastrophic decision. Obama, as reflected by his Sunday comments, is clearly contemplating something like that, and it's because of issues like this one that it's so vital that pressure on Obama be maintained, criticisms of him be voiced when merited, and praise be expressed only when earned.

Glenn, I'm no constitutional lawyer or scholar, but Barack Obama supposedly is. Given that, how is this issue NOT something he summarily dismisses out of hand? The implications to our Constitution and justice system and the way it's been run for the past two hundred + years would be fundamentally changed and blatantly rigged against everyone if this precedent were set. Even I, the lowly mouth-breathing peon voter can easily see this. Where is the debate in this issue?

And if "tainted evidence" is no longer a prohibited means of jailing and convicting people, what's next? See "The Minority Report" for more details.

This appears to prove that there is nothing, no matter how sacred to the people or the country that is above political triangulation and negotiation. If that is the case, I am deeply afraid of where this country is headed. If you thought there was no justice for the little guys before, just wait until something like this gets proposed and garners "vast, bi-partisan support" throughout the halls of Congress.