TERRORISM: Why Choices of Judges Is So Important (UPDATED)

Washington State has been seriously diseased with "liberalism" for many years. Congressional and state representatives reflect that orientation, and many in the state feel unrepresented in Washington, DC. Whether state or federal, the court system in Western Washington State reflects dangerous liberalism.

Today's decision regarding the Algerian terrorist who renigged on his information sharing deal comes from a dewy-eyed, tearful (a la Sen. Voinovich) judge. This judge's statements focus more on his personal animus against George W. Bush than the issue at hand. U. S. District Judge Coughenour warbled, choked, and even teared up, according to reporters present as he sentenced Ressam. He got all noble sounding about his preserving the Constitution, while he gave the finger to the war in Iraq, the war on terror, and to the policies of the Bush administration. Actually, he gave the finger to America.

The judge's compromise sentence guarantees no further cooperation from Ressam who should have been threatened with absolutely all the law had to give him, i.e., 35 years and careful placement in prison to become "bubba's bitch." Instead this judge's "sensitivity" killed the cases against two other terrorists. Ressam had stopped giving information about them, so they will probably be LET GO INTO SOCIETY. To do what, again?

This is the same judge, by the way, who refused to carry out the death penalty of hanging on a chronic murderer a few years ago. Why, you ask? It seems that the murderer weighed well over 400 pounds. The judge concluded that the murdered was TOO HEAVY TO HANG. Yes, that's right.

Read this monument to liberalism and redouble your efforts to make sure about what kind of judges to choose and which to avoid.

My Way News, Would-Be Millennium Bomber Gets 22 Years, Jul 27, 6:47 PM (ET) , By GENE JOHNSON

SEATTLE (AP) - An Algerian who plotted to bomb the Los Angeles airport on the eve of the millennium was sentenced to 22 years in prison Wednesday by a judge who used the opportunity to sternly criticize the Bush administration's anti-terrorism tactics.

"We did not need to use a secret military tribunal, detain the defendant indefinitely as an enemy combatant or deny the defendant the right to counsel," U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour said. "The message to the world from today's sentencing is that our courts have not abandoned our commitment to the ideals that set our nation apart."

The sentence against Ahmed Ressam was significantly lower than the 35 years recommended by prosecutors, but it could have been even shorter had Ressam agreed to testify against two of his alleged co-conspirators.

Ressam, 38, cooperated with the government for about two years, but had quit by 2003, claiming the many months of solitary confinement had taken their toll on his mental state.

The sentencing hearing may be best remembered for the judge's strong remarks against the Bush administration's efforts to hold some terrorism suspects indefinitely without charges.

"The tragedy of September 11th shook our sense of security and made us realize that we, too, are vulnerable to acts of terrorism," Coughenour said. "Unfortunately, some believe that this threat renders our Constitution obsolete ... If that view is allowed to prevail, the terrorists will have won."

After noting that Ressam's sentence would be "perhaps the most important sentence this court has ever had," Hamilton told the judge that Ressam's reluctance to cooperate should weigh heavily.

"You can't be a cooperator and a terrorist," he said. "When he stopped cooperating, he went back to being what he was."

With credit for time served and three years off for good behavior, Ressam could be out of prison in 14 years.