'Merchant of Death' Viktor Bout Sentenced to 25 Years; Trial Ignored His Ties to U.S. & Dick Cheney

[gratuitous]

3. I feel so old-fashioned

I keep thinking that the Constitution and our nation's laws and treaties should apply to everyone. So, you know, when someone like Mr. Bout is prosecuted for his special crimes, his associates and accomplices should be in the dock too. Of course, I think that everyone is entitled to be informed of the charges against them and should they be subject to arrest, have an opportunity to defend themselves in open court under established rules of evidence and procedure. But I know for a fact that that is not the popular notion anymore, and it's now perfectly acceptable for the United States to carry out an international program of summary executions of anyone our faultless government and military designate (before or after the fact, it's immaterial) as very, very bad persons.