Douthat comma Ross expresses perhaps an all too common view, that abuse of power, ex post, is okay because it is a 'learning experience':
Not so that we can prosecute – unless the Democratic Party has taken leave of its senses – but so that we can learn, and pass judgment, and struggle toward consensus.
-RD, in NYT
-RD, in NYT
We'd prosecute someone who stole a loaf of bread or disturbed the peace and fine someone who was DUI.
The "legal process" is one from which we can "learn, pass judgment, and struggle toward consensus."
Perhaps, what is required is leniency in the penalty phase. I always thought that stripping these "Patriots" of their citizenship was one apt penalty. If they didn't represent a security risk, that seems to have a special elegance to it, if you think about it. Banishment is a little old-fashioned, but ...
