Mark: The buzz being put out by (presumably) the White House is that the govt. feels that Ramos and Compean should do SOME time for violating their rules of engagement, but that one year’s jail time will likely do it, and the President will pardon the guys next Christmas. O’Reilly repeated this line on his show last night. Possibly it’s true. I don’t think anyone wants the agents to get off scot free; but there’s an awful lot of distance between an administrative reprimand and twelve years in the slammer.

What has really outraged people is the effort and resources poured into this case by the feds, by comparison with the effort and resources so conspicuously NOT poured into enforcing immigration laws. However theoretically justifiable considered in isolation, the full court press on Ramos and Compean is just grossly disproportionate to federal efforts in other areas of the immigration issue. That’s what really has people ticked off–that, and the smirking face of the Mexican drug smuggler who is apparently our Justice Department’s pet foreigner of the month.

I have heard, but been unable to confirm, that during court proceedings the prosecutor told the jury that Ramos and Compean had “turned their back on their own people.” If that is true, it is absolutely scandalous, coming from a federal prosecutor. I should very much like to see it confirmed or denied dispositively. Can anyone locate the court transcripts?