The Supreme Court’s refusal to consider the claims of Maher Arar, an innocent Canadian who was sent to Syria to be tortured in 2002, was a bitterly disappointing abdication of its duty to hold officials accountable for illegal acts.

Since he took office, President Obama has refused to fully examine the excesses of his predecessor, but surely this case was a chance to show that those who countenanced torture must pay a price.

Nope. The Dems aren't interested in redressing an actual case of improper extraordinary rendition because it would be controversial and therefore doesn't serve their political interests.

NYT:

Surely the case of Maher Arar was a chance to show that those who countenanced torture must pay a price.

Malcolm Gladwell:

Free is just another price.

Bill Gurley:

Customers seem to really like free as a price point.

Martin Kaplan:

What we really need are leaders with more character, followers with more discrimination, deciders who hear as well as listen and media that know the difference between the public interest and what the public is interested in.

Merlin Mann:

I love when [...] people unfollow me. It delights me, because that is the sound of my audience getting better.

William Deresiewicz:

Excellence isn't usually what gets you up the greasy pole. What gets you up is a talent for maneuvering.

James Lileks:

The Apple tablet is the Barack Obama of technology. It's whatever you want it to be, until you actually get it.

Viktor Chernomyrdin:

We wanted the best, but it turned out as always.

The Economist on Obama, from November 2008:

He has to start deciding whom to disappoint.

NYT:

There is no excuse for the Obama administration's conduct.

Lucian K. Truscott IV, in 2005:

If you [...] tell them the truth even when it threatens their beliefs, you run the risk of losing them. But if you peddle cleverly manipulated talking points to people who trust you not to lie, you won't merely lose them, you'll break their hearts.

Kathleen Parker:

Giving up being liked is the ultimate public sacrifice.