In other wars, he would have been charged with treason - without the gnashing of teeth we've seen from the media and left.

I've got no problem with charging enemy collaborators with treason. I just think even accused traitors are entitled to the rights we deemed inalienable in our Declaration of Independence.

Sometimes the system fails. This wasn't that:

I've long criticized the Bush Admin for their handling of the GWOT. But along with the ineptitude is a recognition that whatever they did, people like Sully and SockPuppet (and a host of congresscritters) would play the blame game. Given his conviction on all counts, it is fairly clear to me that the Admin felt that Padilla was a willing combatant against the country. In other wars, he would have been charged with treason - without the gnashing of teeth we've seen from the media and left. And that's my point. To them, Padilla was merely a bludgeon with which to pummel Bush. (BDS is an apt description - there are far to many people whose visceral hatred of Bush prevents rational thought.)

these same folks wailing about Padilla are as unconcerned about other transgressions as they claim the Bush Admin was regarding Padilla.

Nifong's handling of the Duke case has been almost universally assailed and Nifong has been disbarred and will likely face criminal charges and a civil suit. The others got due process.

Sometimes the system fails. This wasn't that: It was an outrageous circumvention of the system by the executive. The no man shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process is at the foundation of our country. Padilla was denied his basic rights on the whim of the government for three years.

People have spent 30 years in prison only to be uncermoniously released when new info is uncovered/revealed - h3ll, the Duke Lacross team was smeared for a year with entirely unfounded allegations just so Nifong could run a 'racially compassionate re-election campaign'. And yet these same folks wailing about Padilla are as unconcerned about other transgressions as they claim the Bush Admin was regarding Padilla.

This is not to say that the Administration dropped the ball with Padilla, merely that the Sullivans and Greenwalds of the world could not give a damn other than how a situation furthers their agendas.

Ultimately, this was the right verdict. The process that got us to this point, however, was not a proud one.

In fact, what is most troubling is the fact that the Padilla example has not been entirely successful in deterring Islamic terrorist activity in the US.

For instance, the administration has been curiously silent after the recent murder of a journalist by radical Islamic terrorists in Oakland two weeks ago.

It is indicative of the administration's lack of concern that no high-level representatives attended yesterday's memorial service for the latest victim of radical Islamic terrorism.

The process that got us to this point, however, was not a proud one.

Quite, which is why Padilla's sentence should be time served.