That's America's justice system in a nutshell: the President who deliberately and knowingly violated our 30-year-old law making it a felony offense to eavesdrop on Americans without warrants has the entire political and media class eagerly defend him against prosecution. Those who enabled him -- in both parties -- block investigations into what was done. Ruth Marcus and Cass Sunstein and friends offer one excuse after the next to justify this immunity. But the powerless and defenseless -- though definitively courageous -- public servant who blew the whistle on this lawbreaking is harassed, investigated, and pursued by the DOJ's Criminal Division to the point of bankruptcy and depression, while the lawbreakers and their enablers stand by mute and satisfied.
Actually, even when it comes to something as relatively petty (and misguided) as their pledge to exclude Burris from entering the glorious, imperial Senate, Senate Democrats -- "led" by Harry Reid -- can't avoid capitulating completely... When you look at the people who have led both parties for the last eight years, was there any outcome even theoretically possible for the country other than what we got: total disaster in every realm?
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One of the most inane claims of the last eight years -- and that's obviously saying something -- was the hysterical accusation that national security had been harmed, that our "intelligence capabilities" had been revealed to The Terrorists, all because The New York Times informed the country that the President was eavesdropping without the warrants required by law rather than with them.
Tamm's "crime" is having told the press of Bush's crime (it's not as if it would have done any good to go to the justice department with the story). The NYT sat on the story until shortly before Eric Lichtblau's book on the matter was to be published.
Tamm is a courageous truth teller, whose actions remind me of Daniel Ellsburg's release of the Pentagon Papers, and Ron Ridenhour's one-man letter writing campaign to 30 members of congress which eventually resulted a probe of the My Lai Massacres in Viet Nam.
Consider the number of people who knew about the warantless wire taps. Consider the number of people who knew about the various lies told to the American public about our invasion and occupation of that country. Consider the number of people who knew about the massacre at My Lai.
And now consider the number of people who had the courage of their convictions to report these stories to someone who could get these stories out, into the light of day.
To understand the American people, just reflect on this: WE reelected George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
