Reply #22: I would have preferred it

[gratuitous]

And I would have wanted him to get the best possible representation for a court of law, conducted openly under the rules of evidence and procedure established under the United States Code. Then, when he was fairly tried, if a conviction was obtained, sentence would be imposed. We would then exhibit to our own people, and to the nations of the world, that despite everything, even in the face of a terrorist attack, we did and do believe in our Constitution and our form of government as superior to anything that can be thrown at us. We didn't, and we won't, compromise our principles or our ideals of freedom and liberty and trust the laws that make those ideals possible. Those laws and our faith in them are durable, sustainable, and will stand up to whatever those who would destroy them can inflict on us.

Now? Well, I guess we can say that "They did it, too! We're no worse than the terrorists!" But surely we can't claim to be any better.