Reply #6: In "Fat Tony's" mind he is. Fat Tony talks about him, as though by mentioning his name, he

[MADem]

can conjure the guy up and no jury will convict him, after all!!

To Fat Tony, he IS Sutherland, and Sutherland is Bauer.

Which illustrates, sadly, what a pathetic mess we have on the Supremes bench these days.

And as far as Sutherland is concerned, his socialist leanings only lean so far--he's responsible for the popularization of the callousness and cruelty we see touted these days, and a thoughtful little discussion about the differences between him and his character may be nice, but it sure ain't putting those socialist politics ahead of that paycheck.

Now, that's HIS choice. I'm not suggesting that he "do" anything other than what he does. Far be it from me to nanny the guy; he can live with it, and he's gotta eat--can't live off daddy forever. But I find his angst-filled parsing a bit lame and disingenuous. He knows what his reputation is as a result of the program, and that goes with taking the gig. Ask James Gandolfini.