Patrick Fitzgerald is an anti-democratic freak who needs to be restrained. First he masterminded the prosecution of attorney Lynne Stewart for representing a terrorist client to the best of her ability. Then he put reporter Judith Miller in jail for 85 days for protecting her source in the Valerie Plame leak case. Now he's the lead prosecutor against Rod Blagojevich, and he announced his indictment just one day after Blagojevich appeared on a picket line to protect Illinois workers against the Bank of America's attempt to force their employer out of business. Whether Blagojevich is innocent or guilty, Fitzgerald's scorched-earth prosecution tactics and eagerness to try this crime in the media instead of the courtroom deserve to be condemned.

Oh Good Grief. If there was ever a situation that actually DOES call for preaching, this is it.

And Rhenquist iand Brennan were Judges, not prosecutors. Huge difference.

I frankly HOPE Patrick Fitzgerald has political ambitions. I'm not from Illinois, but if I were, I'd start a "Draft Fitzgerald for Governor" movement in a second.

You seem to imply that Justice Rehnquist was right to criticize Justice Brennan for a "patronizing civics lecture". Mr. Rehnquist was NOT a John Marshall - far from it - in fact he was a mediocre intellect and neo-con parrot. If any Justice has made a career of "civics" education it is Justice Kennedy...and I applaud him for it.
As for Fitzgerald, I only wish we had MORE officials with his integrity and eagerness to rid our nation of crooks like Scooter Libby, Cheney, and Blagovich. Fitzgerald would be a great US Attorney General.

I disagree with the idea that prosecutors should refrain from sermonizing when indicting people, and particularly elected officials.

Mr. Fitzgerald’s description of Governor Blagojevich’s alleged crimes adds color and dimension that help to not only clarify Blagojevich’s intentions, but Mr. Fitzgerald’s as well. We live in democracy, and our elected officials are all we’ve got to run our government, and the public demands to know every nook and cranny of their moral consciences. It is only right that we expect the same from those who want to take them down. If voluntary colorful language helps to do that, all the better.

Though I would like to see Mr. Fitzgerald give a further explanation as to why Blagojevich’s arrest was truly necessary, it seems clear to me from his characterization that a severe and grotesque abuse of power has taken place in Illinois, though Governor Blagojevich is still entitled to a fair trial.

Likewise, the colorful language of Justice Department prosecutor Brenda Morris, who prosecuted Senator Stevens for his supposed vast criminal scheme to conceal the true cost of his home renovations, and thereby skirt Senate ethics laws, provides a window into her mentality and intentions.

During the Stevens trial, prosecutor Morris made appeals to class resentments of the jurors; appeals that had nothing whatever to do with Senator Stevens’ indictment. For example, Morris grilled Catherine Stevens, the senator’s wife, during the trial about the couple’s use of Senate staff for personal errands, a practice that is not uncommon on Capitol Hill and elsewhere. Again, this had nothing to do with the indictment against Senator Stevens, but it nevertheless put on full display this prosecutor’s personal animus toward Ted and Catherine Stevens, which certainly comes in handy for concerned citizens who are trying to figure out why the $160,000 that Ted and Catherine Stevens paid for renovations on their very modest home was considered insufficient, and indeed criminal, by the U.S. Justice Department.

Thus, full-throated prosecutors — and particularly those who set their sights on taking down our duly-elected officials — are necessary for basic democratic accountability and oversight. These people are not robots, but human beings; some are good, and some are clearly not. Their own language and behavior can help “We the People” in our discernment process of their personal character.

Mr. Fitzgerald’s colorful language helps me as a citizen to understand the severity of what allegedly took place with respect to Governor Blagojevich; Brenda Morris’ language in the Ted Stevens trial helps me to understand that this lady is not at all after truth and justice, but simply grinding her vengeful ax and showing everybody in Washington who’s boss.

Timothy Rieger