I didn't vote for a Card Table-in-Chief

November 2009 - Rule of law good:

"I think we have to break is this fearful notion that somehow our Justice system can’t handle these guys…

I think that it is important for the American people to have confidence in ourselves and to recognize that when people carry out venal acts like this that we are able to handle it." -- Barack Obama

March 2010 - Rule of law optional, but we're still good:

President Obama's advisers are nearing a recommendation that Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, beprosecuted in a military tribunal, administration officials said, a
step that would reverse Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.'s plan to try him in civilian court in New York City.

The president's advisers feel increasingly hemmed in by bipartisan opposition to a federal trial in New York and demands, mainly from Republicans, that Mohammed and his accused co-conspirators remain under military jurisdiction, officials said. While Obama has favored trying some terrorism suspects in civilian courts as a symbol of U.S. commitment to the rule of law, critics have said military tribunals are the appropriate venue for those accused of attacking the United States.

I am beginning to wonder why all the spittle-flecked Teabaggers out there continue to rave about impeaching Obama at every opportunity. At this point, there's a compelling argument to be made that leaving him in office will permit the success of every right-wing goal while still paving the way to attack Democrats for whatever happens, regardless.

When you look at what's at stake, "reversal" doesn't begin to go far enough to describe this situation. We're not talking about changing a timetable, reducing previously projected appropriation amounts, or reprioritizing one agenda item ahead of another. This is the abandonment of a process that was professed to be required--demanded, even--if we were to adhere to bedrock principles of justice and a commitment to our law. By extension, it's nothing less than an abandonment of those principles and commitments, themselves.

And it's happening due to popularity polls and political attacks from individuals committed to attacking this President, no matter what he does.

If this comes to fruition--and there's simply no real reason to doubt that it will--Obama will transcend mere weakness and reveal himself to be a man, not only bereft of spine, but of any integrity or fundamental values.

(Glenn Greenwald over at Salon did a must-read breakdown earlier today...)