Mona, Andy: Like you, I don’t know whether the rumors about Sandy Berger’s health are true. However, if there were mitigating factors on the grounds of health that led to the very modest punishment, they should have been announced as such in the plea agreement: Justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done.
That’s why the Berger case affronts people: Had Joe Schmoe done what the former National Security Adviser did, he’d be rotting in jail. So, absent any mitigating circumstances, the Berger wrist-slap stands as a rebuke against the principle that every man should be equal before the law.