BTW, Attorney General Holder argues that trying KSM in New York upholds a legal tradition about trying a perp at the locale where the crime occurred. Is he serious or does he think is sounds good? This is some lame since it is hardly legal bedrock. Trying a case at the victim’s AND THE PERP’S locale was simple practicality (in days gone by) in terms of shared local culture, communications, and transportation, and is not an over-riding legal principle.

On the other hand, if he is acquitted, it will seem to have been a serious misstep, since they will have to release him (and probably find someone else to arrest him). Already it is hard to understand how they miss the obvious outcome – given a future choice of bombing, say, a remote installation or another US city, why not choose the city and thus arrogate to yourself all the constitutional protections that only citizens used to have, and get the high-priced free representation? It’s a guarantee that anyone who can hit is here, will.

Chess is a dangerous analogy for any real world action because in chess the players have perfect information about the state of the board. The rules are well known. The only mystery in chess is what the other player will do next. Absolutely nothing is unknown except what the other player will do next.

Poker is a better analogy for life. Poker is a game about dealing with unknowns. Not only does each player have to guess what the other players will do but none of the players know the complete state of the deck. Each player sees a different set of cards so each player has a different perspective on each hand. Each player has a different pot and different goals with each hand. Even the players and the number of players can change as the game evolves.

This administration not only misunderstands the human elements but, even further, cannot understand the simple aspects of war, peace, and justice. The “mathematical imagination” of those in power is badly skewed.